At the height of his theatrical career, the actor Leo Proudhammer is nearly felled by a heart attack. As he hovers between life and death, Baldwin shows the choices that have made him enviably famous and terrifyingly vulnerable.For between Leo's childhood on the streets of Harlem and his arrival into the intoxicating world of the theater lies a wilderness of desire and loss, shame and rage. An adored older brother vanishes into prison. There are love...

Will Smith's transformation from a West Philadelphia kid to one of the biggest rap stars of his era, and then one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood history, is an epic tale-- but it's only half the story. His whole family was at the pinnacle of the entertainment world-- only they felt more like star performers in his circus, a seven-days-a-week job they had not signed up for. Here he shares his journey of self-knowledge, telling how he mastered...

"In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever. This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond. This is the path I took to finding my purpose but also my voice in a world that didn't always see me. As I wrote [this book], my eyes were open to the truth of how our stories are often not given...

Written by the late, iconic actor before his death, this candid and moving memoir of hard-won success, struggles with addiction and a lifelong mission to give back tells the story of his whole life in his own voice, in his own words, as only he could.

Part 2 explores the Black underground film industry featuring footage from the 1920s through the 1950s. Features respected western actor Bill Pickett, who starred in the firest Black western, "The bull dogger" in 1921. Also represented is Herbert Jeffries, also know as The Bronze Buckaroo and the first cinematic Black cowboy star.

In this inspirational memoir, Grey's Anatomy actor Isaiah Washington explains how filling in the gaps of his past led him to discover a new passion: helping those less fortunate. DNA testing revealed that Washington was descended from the Mende people, who today live in Sierra Leone. For many people, the story would end with the results of the search; for Isaiah, it had just begun. Discovering his roots has given him a new purpose, to lead an inspirational...

The actress known for such films as "Foxy Brown" and "Jackie Brown" tells her personal stories for the first time, from her army-brat upbringing to her relationships with Richard Pryor and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to her battles against racism, sexism, and cancer.

Growing up Black and gay in America has never been easy. Before Porter was winning Emmys, Tonys and Grammys, he was a boy in Pittsburgh who was seen as different, who didn't fit in. At five years old Porter was sent to therapy to 'fix' his effeminacy; he was endlessly bullied at school, sexually abused by his stepfather, and criticized at his church. This is his story: of a boy whose talent and courage opened doors for him, but only a crack. Of a...

Beginning with his earliest memories of growing up a shy boy in New Orleans, Perry recalls the moments of grace and beauty in a childhood marked by brutality, deprivation, and fear. With tenderness he sketches portraits of the people who sustained him and taught him indelible lessons about integrity, trust in God, and the power of forgiveness: his aunt Mae, who cared for her grandfather, who was born a slave, and sewed quilts that told a story of...