Everything and Nothing: The Dorothy Dandridge Tragedy

Mrs Slaughter says, "Dorothy Dandridge's book is filled with hilarious laughter and oceans of tears. It is evident to me that she wrote this book when she had reached the utter end of her tether. I think there is much to learn from her life. Importantly that success has nothing to do with how much fame or money one is able to amass but rather peace of mind and a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment which can only be achieved intrisically through one's own ability to love themselves enough to give themselves the very best of this love without relying on external factors. Dorothy was an obviously beautiful, talented and intelligent woman who lost all she had in a quest to derive happiness and acceptance through circumstances and people which she was unable to control. This unfortunately led to much self-loathing and the eventual demise of one of our age's most important African American icons. A brilliant read and excavation into the complex mind of Dorothy Dandridge."

I recently completed this book. In my opinion, this version of events about Miss Dandridge's life meant more to me than any other biography written by others who claimed to know her & her struggles. I say this because this was the one literary piece she left behind before she died. This was from HER. This was her story. Only she can explain her feelings about the ups and downs of her life. Her disappointment with her first husband, her mixed emotions of love & burdensome feelings about her retarded daughter, all of the trists with strange men who treated her like a dog treats a fire hydrant, and last but not least, her heartbreak of her "friends" lethal words & non-support of her wish to tell the world her story. It was very clear to me that she was heading down a path of destruction & death. She candidly spoke of wanting to commit suicide more than once. I wish she could have lived on into the next few decades & was able to witness the changes in society & Hollywood's portrayal of black people. I think she could have been saved & able to one day say "I am finally free from being the female negro role model" as Lena Horne was able to say. I felt as if I knew Miss Dorothy. For the life of me, I could not fatham why she would engage in affairs with physically disgusting looking men like Otto Preminger ( I've seen him ) and Mr. Tyner, the millionaire with the spit foam in the corners of his mouth. These actions of hers proved contradictary to the fact that thru-out the book she kept saying that physical attractiveness in a male is very important to her. I guess when it all boiled down to it, she just wanted a man around and to be married. What a terrible loss this is. For those trully interested, read this book before any others about Dorothy Dandridge ( i.e. Donald Bogle, Earl Mills ). This one is from Dorothy in her own words before she died.

This book captivates you the moment you open it. Dottie's openess and honesty about her life totally humanizes this legend. So many important issues of today are discussed like how racism played a role in her career. The other part is she connects with other women with tales of her desire to be a wife and mother. Riveting.

I agree w/ the comments made above. I love Dorothy Dandridge & have always been curious about her life & when i read this book i was shocked. Mostly at how frank & completely honest she was about the events of her life. She named names & told it like it was & beleive me it was not a pretty picture.....but i was intrigued from start to finish w/ this book. i also have to say it was probably one of the saddest books i ever read. This is no sunny tale folks but a honest & realistic story of what it was like to be a black female superstar in 1950's Hollywood when there were no Black female Superstars at all.

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.