Viola Davis, an American actress and producer, is one of the few performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony (EGOT). Davis's memoir 'Finding Me' illustrates that the hard-won accolades resulted from determination, hard work, talent, luck, and encouragement from the occasional mentor.
Viola Davis
Viola was born in South Carolina, the fifth of six children belonging to Dan and Mae Alice Davis. When Viola was very small, the Davis's and their three youngest children moved to Central Falls, Rhode Island, where Dan Davis worked as a horse groomer at racetracks. The older children were raised by their grandparents until Mae Alice could no longer stand to hear stories of them being beaten in school, and sent for them to come to Rhode Island.
Young Viola Davis
Most of the people in Central Falls were white, and Viola was the butt of vicious racist slurs since she was a child. When Viola told her Mama the boys in her third grade class chased her every day, calling her black, ugly, n****r, her Mama told her, "Vahla, don' you run from those bastards anymore....They mess with you, you jug [stab] 'em.....Don't come back here crying 'bout those boys or I'll wop yo' ass." Mae Alice Davis was a woman with six kids, who didn't have time to go to school every day to fight her children's battles.
Viola Davis with her mother Mae Alice Davis
Viola Davis with her father Dan Davis
Viola's home life was difficult as well. Dan Davis was a raging alcoholic who brutally beat his wife and had open affairs. The Davis family also lived in grinding poverty: they often went hungry; didn't have coins for the laundromat; lacked heat and telephone service; and had rats all over the apartment.
Viola writes, "At night, we sisters would huddle on a top bunk for warmth, horrified at the sounds of rodents eating pigeons on the roof, eating our toys, squealing. We would wrap bedsheets around our necks to protect ourselves from bites. Going to the bathroom at night in the midst of this was not an option....So, we just peed [the bed]." Viola admits she was a bet-wetter until she was fourteen. Thus the Davis children reeked of urine, to the point where Viola's teacher whispered in her ear one day, "You need to tell your mother to get some soap and wash you! The odor is horrible!"
On top of all that, Viola and her sisters were often the victims of sexual abuse. Viola recalls, "Sexual abuse back in the day didn't have a name. The abusers were called "dirty old men"...and [abuse] was shrouded in silence. What made us sitting ducks was our lack of supervision and lack of knowledge." The abuse ranged from random old men on the street trying to get a kiss, to men at birthday parties playing catch the girl, to older neighborhood boys who 'babysat', to Viola's brother - whose sexual curiosity crossed the line to penetration of two of his sisters.
In spite of all this, Viola was a good student. She recalls, "School was our salvation. We coped by excelling academically." Viola could have done well in many areas, but the acting bug bit her when she saw Cicely Tyson in 'The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman." Viola writes, "I wanted to be a great actor like Miss Tyson....Then Ron Stetson, a young actor and coach, came into my life when I was fourteen." Stetson was Viola's acting coach in the federally funded Upward Bound program. Ron taught his students to act and gave them a safe space to share their feelings. Viola notes, "The emotional release acting allowed gave me great joy."
Then, shortly before Viola graduated high school, she was selected to go to Miami, Florida for the 'Arts Recognition and Talent Search' competition. There Viola was named a 'Promising Young Artist' which eventually led to a scholarship to Rhode Island College.
Teenage Viola Davis
Viola Davis (far right) with her siblings
College started badly for Viola, who felt she could not permit herself to study acting. Viola feared an entertainment career would not help her support herself, and she didn't want to live in poverty like her parents. Thus Viola took English classes and fell into a deep depression. In sophomore year, Viola found her courage, decided to be a theater major and was on her way career-wise. Nevertheless, college was a challenge in other ways.
At Rhode Island College, there was a food program during the week, but not during the weekends. So, to eat regularly, Viola had a lot of jobs during school. These included working as an RA and counselor in the summer Preparatory Enrollment Program; working in the college library; working the Rhode Island College front desk; working at a drug store in Central Falls; and more. Viola writes, "Working hard is great when it's motivated by passion and love and enthusiasm. But working hard when it's motivated by deprivation is not pleasant."
Additionally, Rhode Island College was less than one percent 'other' when Viola attended, other being Hispanic, Asian, Black, and Middle Eastern. The rest were white, and many students were blatantly racist.
Nevertheless, Viola persevered and graduated after five years, part of it spent in the theater program at the California Polytechnic University in Pomona, on a student exchange plan. For a year after graduating from Rhode Island College, Viola participated in various theater programs and did miscellaneous odd jobs to support herself. At the time, Viola wanted to grow up. She writes, "I never had sex, never had a boyfriend, never lived on my own. I never traveled overseas..... I wanted to experience life. I wanted my life to be as expansive as I felt my mind was, my imagination was."
Following her gap year, during which Viola became a "professional actress", she went on to Juilliard School in New York City. She also entered into relationships with the wrong men - self-centered men who didn't treat her well.
Viola Davis
Juilliard was grueling, both academically and psychologically, in part because it was geared to white actors. To counterbalance, Viola spent one summer in Africa with dance choreographer Chuck Davis, studying the Wolof Jola, Mandinka, and SouSou tribes. The trip galvanized Viola. She notes, "There was no mistaking the transformation that was happening. Suddenly the anxiety that always existed in the pit of my gut went away completely."
Viola graduated from Juilliard, and....nothing happened. She writes, "I was a poor kid and now I was a poor adult. I had a hot-shot agent and....I would audition, get a callback, and then someone else would get it....I was too young, too old, too dark, not sexy." Moreover, Viola had to confront the one-two punch of colorism and sexism. Though Black rom-coms were happening, none of the 'cute Black girl' characters looked like her.
Though Viola may have faced more obstacles than some other actors, she admits her struggles were universal. She says, "Here's the truth....Our profession at any given time has a 95 percent unemployment rate. Only 1 percent of actors make $50,000 a year or more and only 0.04 percent of actors are famous." To be a big success, an actor has to be extremely talented and extraordinarily lucky.
Viola Davis in 'Fences' on Broadway
To work in her field, Viola took jobs that were given to her, mostly in the theater. Viola felt the need to support herself AND help her family. She writes, "I have gotten more calls than I can remember to pay gas bills, grocery bills....I didn't know how to say no to requests for food, money, payment for utilities." Viola writes a good bit about her family and their ongoing struggles, which she did her best to mitigate. When Viola's father was 70, he got pancreatic cancer, wasted away, and died. Viola writes, "We were his dream; his children and grandchildren....we were the baton they were passing as they were sinking into the quicksand of racism, poverty, Jim Crow, segregation, injustice, family trauma, and dysfunction." Privation affected Viola's health as well, and some time later she had fibroid surgery and a hysterectomy.
Career-wise, after Viola got a role in the 1998 HBO movie 'The Pentagon Wars', there was a domino effect, and more television work came along. Still, many roles eluded Viola because, in her words, she wasn't "pretty enough."
Viola Davis in 'The Pentagon Wars'
Viola prayed to meet a good man, and finally, on the set of 'City of Angels', she met Julius Tennon, whom she later married. Viola recalls, "As soon as he came into my life, my life got better because I created a family with him, with someone who loved me....I was no longer solely defined by the family that raised me and my childhood memories."
Viola Davis with Julius Tennon
Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, and their daughter Genesis
In 2001 Viola won a Tony Award for King Hedley II, and then the 2008 movie 'Doubt' marked her transition from stage actor to film/Hollywood actor. Viola writes a good deal about her subsequent successes and accolades, which include an Oscar for 'Fences' in 2016 and many other honors and awards.
Viola Davis accepting the Tony Award for King Hedley II
Viola Davis in the film version of 'Fences'
Viola Davis with her Oscar for Fences
Viola Davis in 'Doubt'
Viola Davis in 'The Help'
At the age of forty-seven Viola got one of her best known roles, playing Annalise Keating in the television series 'How to Get Away With Murder.' Annalise was described as a sexual, smart, vulnerable, possibly sociopathic, highly astute, criminal defense attorney. Viola writes, "The eight-year-old girl who had never been told 'You're worthy; you're beautiful' suddenly found herself as a leading lady, and a mouthpiece of all the women who looked like her."
Viola Davis as Annalise Keating in 'How to Get Away With Murder'
As a powerful symbol for Black women, Viola writes, "We are complicated. We are feminine. We are sexual. We are beautiful. We're pretty. There are people out there who desire us. We are deserving." Viola's life and career proves her point.
In addition to being a story about Viola's personal journey, this memoir can serve as a primer for aspiring actors, because it provides information about what to expect and how to maneuver in show business.
Viola is very honest about her life and career, and her numerous anecdotes include stories that are scary; shocking; embarrassing; humorous; sad; happy; romantic; joyful; and more.
This is a well-crafted, important story, highly recommended.
Viola Davis
Viola was born in South Carolina, the fifth of six children belonging to Dan and Mae Alice Davis. When Viola was very small, the Davis's and their three youngest children moved to Central Falls, Rhode Island, where Dan Davis worked as a horse groomer at racetracks. The older children were raised by their grandparents until Mae Alice could no longer stand to hear stories of them being beaten in school, and sent for them to come to Rhode Island.
Young Viola Davis
Most of the people in Central Falls were white, and Viola was the butt of vicious racist slurs since she was a child. When Viola told her Mama the boys in her third grade class chased her every day, calling her black, ugly, n****r, her Mama told her, "Vahla, don' you run from those bastards anymore....They mess with you, you jug [stab] 'em.....Don't come back here crying 'bout those boys or I'll wop yo' ass." Mae Alice Davis was a woman with six kids, who didn't have time to go to school every day to fight her children's battles.
Viola Davis with her mother Mae Alice Davis
Viola Davis with her father Dan Davis
Viola's home life was difficult as well. Dan Davis was a raging alcoholic who brutally beat his wife and had open affairs. The Davis family also lived in grinding poverty: they often went hungry; didn't have coins for the laundromat; lacked heat and telephone service; and had rats all over the apartment.
Viola writes, "At night, we sisters would huddle on a top bunk for warmth, horrified at the sounds of rodents eating pigeons on the roof, eating our toys, squealing. We would wrap bedsheets around our necks to protect ourselves from bites. Going to the bathroom at night in the midst of this was not an option....So, we just peed [the bed]." Viola admits she was a bet-wetter until she was fourteen. Thus the Davis children reeked of urine, to the point where Viola's teacher whispered in her ear one day, "You need to tell your mother to get some soap and wash you! The odor is horrible!"
On top of all that, Viola and her sisters were often the victims of sexual abuse. Viola recalls, "Sexual abuse back in the day didn't have a name. The abusers were called "dirty old men"...and [abuse] was shrouded in silence. What made us sitting ducks was our lack of supervision and lack of knowledge." The abuse ranged from random old men on the street trying to get a kiss, to men at birthday parties playing catch the girl, to older neighborhood boys who 'babysat', to Viola's brother - whose sexual curiosity crossed the line to penetration of two of his sisters.
In spite of all this, Viola was a good student. She recalls, "School was our salvation. We coped by excelling academically." Viola could have done well in many areas, but the acting bug bit her when she saw Cicely Tyson in 'The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman." Viola writes, "I wanted to be a great actor like Miss Tyson....Then Ron Stetson, a young actor and coach, came into my life when I was fourteen." Stetson was Viola's acting coach in the federally funded Upward Bound program. Ron taught his students to act and gave them a safe space to share their feelings. Viola notes, "The emotional release acting allowed gave me great joy."
Then, shortly before Viola graduated high school, she was selected to go to Miami, Florida for the 'Arts Recognition and Talent Search' competition. There Viola was named a 'Promising Young Artist' which eventually led to a scholarship to Rhode Island College.
Teenage Viola Davis
Viola Davis (far right) with her siblings
College started badly for Viola, who felt she could not permit herself to study acting. Viola feared an entertainment career would not help her support herself, and she didn't want to live in poverty like her parents. Thus Viola took English classes and fell into a deep depression. In sophomore year, Viola found her courage, decided to be a theater major and was on her way career-wise. Nevertheless, college was a challenge in other ways.
At Rhode Island College, there was a food program during the week, but not during the weekends. So, to eat regularly, Viola had a lot of jobs during school. These included working as an RA and counselor in the summer Preparatory Enrollment Program; working in the college library; working the Rhode Island College front desk; working at a drug store in Central Falls; and more. Viola writes, "Working hard is great when it's motivated by passion and love and enthusiasm. But working hard when it's motivated by deprivation is not pleasant."
Additionally, Rhode Island College was less than one percent 'other' when Viola attended, other being Hispanic, Asian, Black, and Middle Eastern. The rest were white, and many students were blatantly racist.
Nevertheless, Viola persevered and graduated after five years, part of it spent in the theater program at the California Polytechnic University in Pomona, on a student exchange plan. For a year after graduating from Rhode Island College, Viola participated in various theater programs and did miscellaneous odd jobs to support herself. At the time, Viola wanted to grow up. She writes, "I never had sex, never had a boyfriend, never lived on my own. I never traveled overseas..... I wanted to experience life. I wanted my life to be as expansive as I felt my mind was, my imagination was."
Following her gap year, during which Viola became a "professional actress", she went on to Juilliard School in New York City. She also entered into relationships with the wrong men - self-centered men who didn't treat her well.
Viola Davis
Juilliard was grueling, both academically and psychologically, in part because it was geared to white actors. To counterbalance, Viola spent one summer in Africa with dance choreographer Chuck Davis, studying the Wolof Jola, Mandinka, and SouSou tribes. The trip galvanized Viola. She notes, "There was no mistaking the transformation that was happening. Suddenly the anxiety that always existed in the pit of my gut went away completely."
Viola graduated from Juilliard, and....nothing happened. She writes, "I was a poor kid and now I was a poor adult. I had a hot-shot agent and....I would audition, get a callback, and then someone else would get it....I was too young, too old, too dark, not sexy." Moreover, Viola had to confront the one-two punch of colorism and sexism. Though Black rom-coms were happening, none of the 'cute Black girl' characters looked like her.
Though Viola may have faced more obstacles than some other actors, she admits her struggles were universal. She says, "Here's the truth....Our profession at any given time has a 95 percent unemployment rate. Only 1 percent of actors make $50,000 a year or more and only 0.04 percent of actors are famous." To be a big success, an actor has to be extremely talented and extraordinarily lucky.
Viola Davis in 'Fences' on Broadway
To work in her field, Viola took jobs that were given to her, mostly in the theater. Viola felt the need to support herself AND help her family. She writes, "I have gotten more calls than I can remember to pay gas bills, grocery bills....I didn't know how to say no to requests for food, money, payment for utilities." Viola writes a good bit about her family and their ongoing struggles, which she did her best to mitigate. When Viola's father was 70, he got pancreatic cancer, wasted away, and died. Viola writes, "We were his dream; his children and grandchildren....we were the baton they were passing as they were sinking into the quicksand of racism, poverty, Jim Crow, segregation, injustice, family trauma, and dysfunction." Privation affected Viola's health as well, and some time later she had fibroid surgery and a hysterectomy.
Career-wise, after Viola got a role in the 1998 HBO movie 'The Pentagon Wars', there was a domino effect, and more television work came along. Still, many roles eluded Viola because, in her words, she wasn't "pretty enough."
Viola Davis in 'The Pentagon Wars'
Viola prayed to meet a good man, and finally, on the set of 'City of Angels', she met Julius Tennon, whom she later married. Viola recalls, "As soon as he came into my life, my life got better because I created a family with him, with someone who loved me....I was no longer solely defined by the family that raised me and my childhood memories."
Viola Davis with Julius Tennon
Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, and their daughter Genesis
In 2001 Viola won a Tony Award for King Hedley II, and then the 2008 movie 'Doubt' marked her transition from stage actor to film/Hollywood actor. Viola writes a good deal about her subsequent successes and accolades, which include an Oscar for 'Fences' in 2016 and many other honors and awards.
Viola Davis accepting the Tony Award for King Hedley II
Viola Davis in the film version of 'Fences'
Viola Davis with her Oscar for Fences
Viola Davis in 'Doubt'
Viola Davis in 'The Help'
At the age of forty-seven Viola got one of her best known roles, playing Annalise Keating in the television series 'How to Get Away With Murder.' Annalise was described as a sexual, smart, vulnerable, possibly sociopathic, highly astute, criminal defense attorney. Viola writes, "The eight-year-old girl who had never been told 'You're worthy; you're beautiful' suddenly found herself as a leading lady, and a mouthpiece of all the women who looked like her."
Viola Davis as Annalise Keating in 'How to Get Away With Murder'
As a powerful symbol for Black women, Viola writes, "We are complicated. We are feminine. We are sexual. We are beautiful. We're pretty. There are people out there who desire us. We are deserving." Viola's life and career proves her point.
In addition to being a story about Viola's personal journey, this memoir can serve as a primer for aspiring actors, because it provides information about what to expect and how to maneuver in show business.
Viola is very honest about her life and career, and her numerous anecdotes include stories that are scary; shocking; embarrassing; humorous; sad; happy; romantic; joyful; and more.
This is a well-crafted, important story, highly recommended.
Rating: 4 stars
