Everything and Nothing : The Dorothy Dandridge Tragedy [Paperback]

Earl Conrad (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 26, 2000

Dorothy Dandridge's life story is the stuff Hollywood dreams--and nightmares. Completed shortly before her tragic death in 19665, Everything and Nothing recounts her rags-to-riches-to-rags story form her personal point of view. Dandridge recalls her humble beginnings in Depression-era Cleveland, Ohio, her rise to fame and success as the first African American to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination (for her role in Carmen Jones), the disappointments and pain of her childhood and family life, and her downward spiral into alcoholism and financial troubles, Everything and Nothing is a mesmerizing and harrowing journey through the life and times of one of Hollywood's most unforgettable stars.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Coauthor Earl Conrad has published more than twenty works of biography, history, criticism, and fiction, including Errol Flynn's My Wicked, Wicked Ways. He lives in California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (April 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060956755
• ISBN-13: 978-0060956752
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #270,022 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Full of Dandridge's effusive and self-deprecating humor!, April 28, 2000

By 

Valerie A. Hawkins "valsadie" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Everything and Nothing : The Dorothy Dandridge Tragedy (Paperback)

Dandridge's take on her life is very different from the other 2 well-known biographies -- if for no other reason that her book is full of her effusive and self-deprecating humor!

But don't be fooled; Dandridge's life is a very complex one. Basically this is a memoir, but it's so much else. It's a story of love and marriage and motherhood and divorce and lust (and yes, in that order!). There's the joyful laughter of nostalgia mixed with the bitter tears of regret. There's the realization of hard-fought ambitions, there's haughty glamour, there's acute despair. In some ways Dorothy was the queen of self-preservation, yet you could almost call this book the world's longest suicide note. Dorothy truly had everything and nothing and that is bluntly yet gracefully explained in this book.

Dorothy was a star at a time when talent, ambition, beauty, class, and ability was in no way valued in a black woman, just was not asked for by the larger society, much less encouraged, cherished, and held dear. The real tragedy of her life is that she is not remembered by more people. Reading about her has convinced me more than ever that we all need to listen, hear, and heed the story of Dorothy Dandridge.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars an eyeopener!!! a bit depressing..., August 19, 2001

By 

robbin (ATLANTA, GEORGIA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everything and Nothing : The Dorothy Dandridge Tragedy (Paperback)

i recently completed reading this book i found dorothy's own story a completely modern and intelligent account to be in accord with many of the same ugly problems that face us today...racism and sexism...how devastating it was for her to be so talented and beautiful yet...she was treated like ... because of her color and men only wanted to treat her like a prostitute because to them yes she was very beautiful and famous...but she could not be treated with dignity and respect because she was a black woman...she found this overwhelmingly frustrating that these powerful, handsome men did not want the human dorothy dandridge with feelings and intelligence...they just wanted to be seen with her or just to try her out sexually then put her back right away in the dump somewhere...dorothy tried and she stated in her book that many times she thought things would be different for her...she deserved to be loved..yet... no fault of her own she lived a life without love from day one...her mom just wanted to make money off of the child dorothy and her sister vivian...her mother let a obviously jealous and abusive stranger have full control over young dorothy and sibling something that dorothy could not ever understand ... her mom would just come along to collect the dough that the children made and go...her father only shows up after absolutely no contact at all to see the successful adult dorothy now in her twenties and a fast rising star...leaving dorothy to wonder would he contact her after all of these years if she was a criminal or doing badly...her first philandering husband was another user...he offered no support to dorothy or their disabled daughter in any kind of way...after several disfunctional relationships her sister does not even bother to contact dorothy...in between a string of user lovers,an abusive gold digger husband no#2, bad investments, aging and a fledging career...topped with crippling racism in that era and in her field of entertainment...dorothy dandridge's lonely heart simply could not take any more...her mind could not find rhyme or reason to anymore letdowns..she was tired of life and did not stick around for the next blow because she was too fragile for anymore heartache...all of this lead up to her untimely death...while lena horne went through similar heartbreaks, racism and letdowns...lena horne was a stronger person than dorothy dandridge and lena refused to let the people and situations created by them destroy her...nevertheless this is a beautiful and bittersweet account of an angel named dorothy dandridge...may we read and learn from this story and pray for dorothy dandridge's soul and thank her for that legendary knockout portrayal as Carmen...showing that the 50's black woman in hollywood could be shown as more than a fat, greasy and homely domestic with bad english

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Unhappy Life of the 1st Black Movie Glamour Girl, June 18, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Everything and Nothing: The Dorothy Dandridge Tragedy (Hardcover)

Dorothy Dandridge was a contemporary of Lena Horne who didn't make it - she died a suicide, unhappy for reasons that proceeded her life in Hollywood. The book covers her childhood through her movie career and failed marriage - and tells the "rest of the story" as to why someone who would seem to have had it all was actually so miserable she wanted to die. Thus the title "Everything and Nothing". There are only a small number of books dealing with the pathology of "black rage" in the 20th century. This is a good story of how demons handed down in the family tree - a product of conditions often found in black culture - managed to destroy someone who outwardly looked happy and prosperous. Lena Horne survived her own troubles and went on to become an astounding (and very wise) old lady with a long life of accomplishment. Dandridge didn't make it. After reading this well written biography - completed and published posthumously by a friend of Dandridge's - you'll wonder what she would have become if she'd overcome her depression. Books like these give an insight into problems most people would never realize are going on in "successful" blacks. (See also "Black Rage" by Price Cobbs MD.