Henry Darrow: Lightning in the Bottleby Jan Pippins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite .
Henry Darrow was originally born as Enrique Tomas' Delgado in New York City. His parents were Puerto Rican immigrants that settled in New York. This biography tells the story of Henry's life, his name change and his passion for acting. He studied acting in school, even getting a scholarship to earn his college degree in acting. He worked numerous jobs, only to be told he was too ethnic for a part and not ethnic enough for the next. Jan Pippins pulls no punches in the telling of Henry's story. The double-standards and stereotypes that he had to deal with as a Puerto Rican person. The over riding factor in his success was the fact that he was a brilliant actor. He became an icon for many minority groups, and was a trailblazer.
Henry Darrow: Lighting In A Bottle takes you into the life of Henry, his upbringing and schooling. His career and marriage, his acting and failures. It is well written and gives a true to life view of how things where in the time period when Henry made his mark on the world. He could be called the acting world's Jackie Robinson. Not only does the book tell of his life, his biggest break came when he was cast to play on a tv series called The High Chaparral. This show followed on the success of Bonanza, but yet in a different way. There is one whole section of the book that is dedicated to the time he was shooting this show. Now only giving insight into him, but others of the time as well. Jan Pippins does a remarkable job of bringing to life the story of a men who blazed a new trail for minority actors, and became a legend in the doing. This is a great read for anyone who needs encouragement to do something they don't think they can do.
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