Customer Reviews

The Legs Are the Last to Go: Aging, Acting, Marrying, and Other Things I Learned the Hard Way

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Back in the 80s when she was appearing on Dynasty ,one of the hottest shows in the country, Diahann Carroll wrote "Diahann", her first autobiography detailing her life, careers and loves up until that point. Although interesting and informative, the book's prose seemed stilted and overly dramatic at times. In addition, one got the impression that Miss Carroll was holding back in some areas perhaps over fear of repurcussions to her career.

Her latest book, The Legs Are The Last To Go, is informative but even more interesting as it comes from a woman who now seems comfortable enough in her own skin to speak her mind about her 50 year career. In this book, Miss Carroll is more frank in telling her story . Her demeanor is also looser. After reading the first book, I didn't expect her to be such a funny storyteller but I found myself laughing out loud at her recollections of working with Pearl Bailey as well as a fleeting encounter with a certain music superstar of the 70s.

Her recollections and updates on her relationships with her daughter and former husband Vic Damone are candid but not exploitative. Instead they reveal her emotional growth. Many readers will relate to the stories about her aging parents who she comes to recognize as flawed but good people. Even as a veteran actress, Carroll isn't totally jaded about the entertainment business. You can feel her excitement and appreciation when she writes about meeting and working with Shonda Rhimes, the creator of Grey's Anatomy.

I strongly recommend this book. Hopefully, Miss Carroll will have more stories.

I've known and loved Diahann Carroll for quite some time, so I was more than happy to read "Diahann Unplugged" in The Legs Are the Last to Go! She is quite funny, always glamorous, and very honest in this memoir that covers her entire life. The photos are great, and whether you know her from Broadway, from TV, or her singing career, this is a great read!

I am too young to remember Diahann from her heyday, but my mother was a fan and she was still definitely a household name for me growing up. This book not only made me laugh, it also taught me a lot about Old Hollywood, especially in its pre-politically correct days. If you like Nora Ephron's I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK, THE LEGS ARE THE LAST TO GO is similar but with more substance, and more glamour! So many entertainment legends cross these pages. It's a must read not only for Diahann's fans but all Hollywood and Broadway buffs.

I thoroughly enjoyed Diahann Carroll's second memoir "The Legs Are the Last to Go..." Her first was published in the 80s when she was at the height of her Dynasty fame. I first learned about Diahann Carroll when I was child watching her on the opulent tv series, Dynasty. I always thought she looked so beautiful and regal. When I learned that this book was coming out, I thought it would be an interesting read. It definitely did not disappoint.

Ms. Carroll outlines her life from growing up in Harlem to the experiencing success in theater and film to her re-emergence in the 80s at age 50. Not only does she highlight significant points in her career, but she also discusses the many men (and failed marriages) that have made her a much stronger woman overall.

Now a woman in her 70s, Diahann Carroll looked back at her life and realized that while it was a good run, people and relationships suffered in the process. She makes a point to stress the importance of family, which is now a huge part of her life. She also learned that she doesn't have to have a man in life, a lesson that took quite a long time to learn.

Overall, I thought this was a wonderful book from an African-American legend of film, theater, and tv. I highly recommend this book!

Hollywood has no use for a woman over forty - but actress Diahann Carroll isn't conventional and her career defied the norm. Any who have followed her films will find her autobiography The Legs Are the Last to Go is a gripping story of her career, her professional and personal relationships, the lessons she's learned from Hollywood and life, and racial politics in Hollywood. Any comprehensive film library needs this.

Normally, I don't read other reviews, when I'm reading a book. But, being so connected with this book, I was curious what others thought.

I'm shocked by the assumptions and generalizations in some of the reviews
for this book.

When I saw Robin Roberts interviewing Diahann Carroll about this book, I said, "I gotta get that book. I want to know what Diahann Carroll's thoughts were, and the challenges, as well as triumps she went through."

This book is wonderful, because from cover to cover, she takes readers on a journey, with strength, humility and humor. You can almost hear her voice.

Often, there's not only thoughts that she expresses about her experiences. There's also thoughts that seem to come from her mind (follow up thoughts).

And even though she's rooting for a different presidential candidate than who I would think she would root for, I'm happy to say that I can put that aside, and focus upon the dialogues that she has created in this great book.

This book is a welcome conversation, replete with lessons for everyone, and in particular those who aspire to go well beyond now, in their life's journey - just because we all deserve to endlessly grow, with balance in our lives.

I always liked and respected Diahann Carroll, so I was predisposed towards her new book. She always conducted herself with such dignity and grace and I just enjoyed her singing and acting. Reading both her autobiographies ("Diahann!" was the 1st one) was startling in that it was a big shock to find out that she had made a lot of poor choices in men, for whatever reason. Guess it was daddy issues; she just couldn't bear being without a man in her life all the time and so she put up with whoever had come along at that time. To her, they were better than being alone. Seems like if we don't get what we need when we're small, then we'll spend the rest of our lives looking for it. Although her public persona was very serene and regal, her private life was something else entirely.

Anyway, this latest book was a lot of fun to read. Some reviewers were put off by the constant obsessing over clothes, but I think she meant it to be funny and so it was amusing to me. This is just a woman with a finely-tuned fashion sense born and bred deep into her bones and she makes light of it at the same time she's promoting it. Some women just wouldn't ever even dream of setting one foot outside the front door without being immaculately put together and she's one of them. It might be just to go to the mailbox, and even if this 5 minute excursion is the only time they leave the house for the entire day, they still can't conceive of doing it without looking perfect. Obviously, Ms Carroll is just one of those women, only she has a lot more wherewithal than most. Her detailed descriptions of her countless gorgeous outfits are delivered with a wink, as if she knows how silly and shallow it all is, but she obviously can't help herself. Its just a part of her and she has a lot of fun with it, so why not? These women can be a big pain in the butt (and she cheerfully admits that she is), but we all have our own little idiosyncracies, I'm sure.

Ms Carroll undoubtedly knows countless great stories, but a 267-page, large-font book only allows for a few to be told. I especially enjoyed her accounts of the occasions in her professional life when she stood up for herself and insisted on always being treated with respect. In these grandiose, overly politically correct times its easy to forget what all she went through. She always maintained her integrity and stood her ground and never let the b*****ds grind her down.

My personal favorite of her stories was when a good friend recently coerced her into attending a private screening of "Porgy and Bess". She had an extremely low opinion of the movie itself and the experience of making it (she'd been forced to wear a bandanna!!!), but she went along to appease her friend. When they arrived, she was the only black person in the audience and they all had to listen to some liberal blather before the film began. When it did start, she was so embarrassed and bored she could only stand part of it and slipped out quietly. I guess the significance here is that the white audience just saw it as a classic musical (and the music itself is beautiful) but she was too close to it and had quite a different perspective. While reading this, I wondered what those tolerant white people would've made of her opinion. Apparently, they never even knew it was her with them there in the theater.

At any rate, Ms Carroll is a fine story-teller with a fantastic story to tell. I recommend this book highly and thought it was an excellent, interesting, absorbing read (the same goes for her 1st book, "Diahann!"). But like I said, I'm definitely biased.

The legs may be the last to go..BUT this story will not leave you after you finish these CDS

You have to bless Harper Collins audio lately..Robert Wagner, Maureen McCormick and now this audio biography written and read by Diahann Carroll.

Like the others before, this audio presentation is the author herself. She knows her way around a microphone. She seems so comfortable in her narration, it feels like she is talking directly to you.

This book is an honest slice of the entertainment community. Ms Carroll shows where Hollywood and broadway is a town of egos and prejudious people. She speaks about where and how she faced it..naming names like Sir Andrew Llyod Webber, Pearl Bailey, Sidney Poitier and James Earl Jones.

She tells this audio biography honestly. She recants about her stage mother Mother and her father, her relationship with her daughter and her grandchildren. She relaxes and tells how a woman in her senior years (SEE Diahann I didnt reveal your age..I promise I wont tell either.) She talks about the process of auditioning for plays including Sunset Blvd, which she did in her 60's. She talks about how some thought she should not play Julia (for example producer Hal Cantor) to Dyanasty to the role she was nominated for an emmy in Grey's Anatomy.

Her voice is like fine classic audio crystal..soft, tingly and with many facets which the light plays upon..and it doesnt shatter. I could have listened to more and more of her narration

I hope Harper Collins audio is smart and can get her to read some Africian American novelists. She would be so great and force to narrate in that work or any other audio work...If not, it is all our losses.

I lift my crystal goblet to the lady with style. The Legs may be the last to go....Ah but what life you have lead and shared on CD

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

Do yourself a favor & buy this book!
Diahann Carroll is still amazing today...
70+ yo & going strong.

Ms. Carroll has written anything but your run-of-the-maill autobiography this time around. In THE LEGS ARE THE LAST TO GO, Diahann Carroll proves that she is as smart as she is talented and beautiful.

It is quite refreshing to read a book where the person takes both credit and blame for their own life. Whether discussing her absentee parenting or her four failed marriages, Diahann Carroll always accepts her fair share of blame. What's more, instead of lamenting on her losses or crying over what could have been, in THE LEGS ARE THE LAST TO GO, the author accepts everything with more than just a grain of salt. Instead of crying into her champagne (read the book and you will know she is too classy for beer), she takes everything as a learning experience.

This makes the book not only entertaining but a useful guide on how to survive.

Bravo Diahann!