In Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams, Donald Bogle tells–for the first time–the story of a place both mythic and real: Black Hollywood. Spanning sixty years, this deliciously entertaining history uncovers the audacious manner in which many blacks made a place for themselves in an industry that originally had no place for them.Through interviews and the personal recollections of Hollywood luminaries, Bogle pieces together a remarkable history that remains largely obscure to this day. W...

From the author of the bestselling Dorothy Dandridge comes a dazzling look at one of America's brightest and most troubled theatrical stars.Almost no other star of the twentieth century reimagined herself with such audacity and durable talent as did Ethel Waters. In this enlightening and engaging biography, Donald Bogle resurrects this astonishing woman from the annals of history, shedding new light on the tumultuous twists and turns of her seven-decade career, which began...

The book that inspired the MGM+ docuseries, Hollywood Black is a sweeping overview of the Black experience in film from the silent era through Black Panther, with striking photos and an engrossing history by award-winning author Donald Bogle.Filled with photographs and stories of stars and filmmakers on set and off, Hollywood Black tells an enthralling, underappreciated history as it's never before been told. Explore the rise of independe...

Available once again, the definitive biography of the pioneering Black performer—the first nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award—who broke new ground in Hollywood and helped transform American society in the years before Civil Rights movement—a remarkable woman of her time who also transcended it.“An ambitious, rigorously researched account of the long-ignored film star and chanteuse. . . . Bogle has fashioned a resonant history of a bygone era in Hollywood and passionately do...

From Donald Bogle, the award-winning author of Hollywood Black and leading authority on Black cinema history, this is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive and lavish biography of Hollywood’s first African American movie goddess.Lena Horne’s life and career are truly remarkable in American film history. She was the first Black performer to become a true star—to receive the kind of glamour treatment at the fabled MGM that the studio had previously given to the ...

Discover the unique, profound, and unlikely yet enduring friendship between two of the most prominent and beloved celebrities of all time—Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson—in this “exhaustively researched…consistently absorbing” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) biography.From the moment Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson met, they were fascinated by one another. He peered into her violet eyes and was transfixed; she, in turn, was dazzled by his talent...

"Insightful . . . a valuable chronicle," the first comprehensive history of African Americans on network television ( New York Times Book Review ).A landmark study by the leading critic of African American film and television, Donald Bogle's Primetime Blues examines the stereotypes, which too often continue to march across the screen today, but also shows the ways in which television has been invigorated by extrao...

The films, the stars, the filmmakers-all get their due in Hollywood Black, a sweeping overview of blacks in film from the silent era through Black Panther, with striking photos and an engrossing history by award-winning author Donald Bogle.The story opens in the silent film era, when white actors in blackface often played black characters, but also saw the rise of independent African American filmmakers, including the remarkable Oscar Micheaux. It...

Available once again, the definitive biography of the pioneering Black performer—the first nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award—who broke new ground in Hollywood and helped transform American society in the years before Civil Rights movement—a remarkable woman of her time who also transcended it.“An ambitious, rigorously researched account of the long-ignored film star and chanteuse. . . . Bogle has fashioned a resonant history of a bygone era in Holl...

Ethel Waters’s His Eye Is on the Sparrow stands as perhaps the greatest autobiography of a Black female performer, capturing both the horror and the joy of the African American woman’s experience through the often bitter yet always forgiving voice of an indomitable spirit. This edition is supplemented with a new historical preface.

From Donald Bogle, the award-winning author of Hollywood Black and leading authority on Black cinema history, this is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive and lavish biography of Hollywood’s first African American movie goddess.Lena Horne’s life and career are truly remarkable in American film history. She was the first Black performer to become a true star—to receive the kind of glamour treatment at the fabled MGM that the studio had previously given to the ...

From the moment Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson met, they were hooked on each other. Soon a deep friendship blossomed, unexpectedly unlike anything either had ever experienced. Through thick and thin, through their various emotional upheavals, through the peaks and valleys of their careers, through their personal traumas and heartaches, through the unending health issues and extreme physical pain that each experienced, and through the glare of the often merciless public spotlight, the...