Blackface to Blacklist: Al Jolson, Larry Parks, and 'The Jolson Story'

The Jolson Story, a landmark Hollywood musical biography, brought has-been blackface singer Al Jolson one of show business' great comebacks, made a star of Larry Parks, the young "B" movie actor who played him, and spawned a sequel. For the first time, McClelland tells the story of how these films were made. Subsequently, in the anti-Communist climate of 1951 America, Larry Parks's career was destroyed when he admitted he had been a Communist. The story of Parks's downfall is a major section of the book, as is the graphic portrayal of that dark period in American history. With biographical profiles of all significant contributors to the Jolson sagas and many rare photos.