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Upper Cut: Highlights of My Hollywood Life
Shampoo meets You'll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again in a rollicking and riveting memoir from the woman who for decades styled Hollywood's most celebrated players.
I was living a hairdresser’s dream. I was making my mark in this all-male field. My appointment book was filled with more and more celebrities. And I was becoming competition for my heroes . . .
Behind the scenes of every Hollywood photo shoot, TV appearance, and party in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, there was Carrie White. As the “First Lady of Hairdressing,” Carrie collaborated with Richard Avedon on shoots for Vogue, partied with Jim Morrison, gave Sharon Tate her California signature style, and got high with Jimi Hendrix. She has counted Jennifer Jones, Betsy Bloomingdale, Elizabeth Taylor, Goldie Hawn, and Camille Cosby among her favorite clients.
But behind the glamorous facade, Carrie’s world was in perpetual disarray and always had been. After her father abandoned the family when she was still a child, she was sexually abused by her domineering stepfather, and her alcoholic mother was unstable and unreliable. Carrie was sipping cocktails before her tenth birthday, and had had five children and three husbands before her twenty-eighth. She fueled the frenetic pace of her professional life with a steady diet of champagne and vodka, diet pills, cocaine, and heroin, until she eventually lost her home, her car, her career—and nearly her children. But she battled her way back, getting sober, rebuilding her relationships and her reputation as a hairdresser, and today, the name Carrie White is once again on the door of one of Beverly Hills’s most respected salons. An unflinching portrayal of addiction and recovery, Upper Cut proves that even in Hollywood, sometimes you have to fight for a happy ending.
I was living a hairdresser’s dream. I was making my mark in this all-male field. My appointment book was filled with more and more celebrities. And I was becoming competition for my heroes . . .
Behind the scenes of every Hollywood photo shoot, TV appearance, and party in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, there was Carrie White. As the “First Lady of Hairdressing,” Carrie collaborated with Richard Avedon on shoots for Vogue, partied with Jim Morrison, gave Sharon Tate her California signature style, and got high with Jimi Hendrix. She has counted Jennifer Jones, Betsy Bloomingdale, Elizabeth Taylor, Goldie Hawn, and Camille Cosby among her favorite clients.
But behind the glamorous facade, Carrie’s world was in perpetual disarray and always had been. After her father abandoned the family when she was still a child, she was sexually abused by her domineering stepfather, and her alcoholic mother was unstable and unreliable. Carrie was sipping cocktails before her tenth birthday, and had had five children and three husbands before her twenty-eighth. She fueled the frenetic pace of her professional life with a steady diet of champagne and vodka, diet pills, cocaine, and heroin, until she eventually lost her home, her car, her career—and nearly her children. But she battled her way back, getting sober, rebuilding her relationships and her reputation as a hairdresser, and today, the name Carrie White is once again on the door of one of Beverly Hills’s most respected salons. An unflinching portrayal of addiction and recovery, Upper Cut proves that even in Hollywood, sometimes you have to fight for a happy ending.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published September 20, 2011
26 people are currently reading
1766 people want to read
About the author
Carrie White
7 books4 followersCARRIE WHITE was born and raised in Southern California. With a career that has spanned more than forty-five years, shes styled everyone from Elvis Presley and Ann-Margaret to Sandra Bullock and Brad Pitt. Her work has appeared in Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, In Style, Allure, Vanity Fair, Ladies Home Journal, Mademoiselle, and Glamour. The mother of five, Carrie today owns and operates Carrie White Hair in Beverly Hills."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
December 7, 2025
i am SO glad i finally found a copy of this book. i have been wanting to read it ever since i listened to the FF interview with carrie white in like 2022. did not disappoint. and yes i believe carrie when she says she wrote every word — you can tell because she left countless ellipses, which many people of a certain age love to use. carrie, if you can read goodreads reviews in heaven, i just want to say that i think you are a legend
October 3, 2011
WOW! Carrie's young years were surely tough, Carrie details her abuse by her stepfather and mistreatment by her alcoholic mother in some detail, and leads us into the not-so-glamorous backside of Hollywood. The world of stars, drugs and alcohol, and the abuse that comes along with the celebrities. I was afraid that this would be another poorly written "tell all" that leads the reader no where. Boy was I wrong!
Carrie White has poured her heart and soul into telling her life story. She's not looking for sympathy, she tells things as they were in her world. The names were not "dropped" - the famous people were as normal to her as our neighbors are to us. White doesn't use names to create sensational gossip. She's sharing her life and her fight to gain control of her own world.
Upper Cut is so well written and so addictive in itself that I couldn't put it down. I was thrilled to have a printed galley because I did carry it around with me and it was way too easy for me to reach into my tote and bring it out to read immediately!! No turning up the e-reader and waiting for it to load it. There's something to be said for a printed book. Instant read!
I was into the read from the first page, although the bits about her abuse by her stepfather, Johnny, were hard to read, I didn't skim a word.
It's great to read about someone's life that ends on the right note, where they do pull themselves up. The path along the way is sometimes hard to read, sometimes hard to understand why she chose what she did, but it's never dull and always entertaining.
I highly recommend Upper Cut, it's so nice to see someone survive to share her story so others can see it's possible for people to succeed.
4 out of 5 stars!
Carrie White has poured her heart and soul into telling her life story. She's not looking for sympathy, she tells things as they were in her world. The names were not "dropped" - the famous people were as normal to her as our neighbors are to us. White doesn't use names to create sensational gossip. She's sharing her life and her fight to gain control of her own world.
Upper Cut is so well written and so addictive in itself that I couldn't put it down. I was thrilled to have a printed galley because I did carry it around with me and it was way too easy for me to reach into my tote and bring it out to read immediately!! No turning up the e-reader and waiting for it to load it. There's something to be said for a printed book. Instant read!
I was into the read from the first page, although the bits about her abuse by her stepfather, Johnny, were hard to read, I didn't skim a word.
It's great to read about someone's life that ends on the right note, where they do pull themselves up. The path along the way is sometimes hard to read, sometimes hard to understand why she chose what she did, but it's never dull and always entertaining.
I highly recommend Upper Cut, it's so nice to see someone survive to share her story so others can see it's possible for people to succeed.
4 out of 5 stars!
May 20, 2015
Carrie White's debut book Upper Cut is a memoir, but not just any memoir: it's chalk full of celebrities she worked with during her sudden rise to success as a hairdresser coupled with a gradual dependence upon alcohol and drugs that unravels everything she has built: an A list clientele, a family and an unlimited future. The result is a blend of the celebrity memoir with the popularly growing recovery memoir. A page-turner, White delivers her story with sparse, conversational prose as if you were sitting at her chair, while she works her magic on your hair, only she does this on the page.
Beginning with the childhood memory of her father walking out of the room and never returning, White delivers the successive tragedies of her neglected and abused life growing up in Pacoima with an alcoholic mother. The author's voice remains objective, yet still intimate, which has the effect of allowing the reader to grow up in her shoes as opposed to through the author's reflection of pathos for the obvious consequences her circumstances have on her psyche. Like White herself, we don't have the luxury of reflecting upon how dysfunctional her upbringing is: we just move on to the next thing White has to do in order to survive. She is a chameleon, cleverly fitting in to whatever environment she finds herself, including drugs and alcohol when she arrives at Hollywood High School.
From high school, White dives into the world of hairdressing, a field dominated by men. We watch her drive for success keep her from being present for her own children. Again, the consequences are not spelled out until the children themselves are old enough to begin articulating their disappointment. The reader sees the train wreck, but the character does not, which is the case in life, and allows the reader to sympathize with a little girl who becomes the alcoholic mother from whom she disconnected. But there's hope, throughout the book, there are angels that enter White's life, spiriting her through the next chapter until she eventually finds grace (which is ironically her mother's name) as White points out is defined as "an unmerited divine assistance."
With the "writer" out of the way, the character gets to tell the story, a feat difficult enough in fiction, but quite an accomplishment with a story as personal as a memoir.
Beginning with the childhood memory of her father walking out of the room and never returning, White delivers the successive tragedies of her neglected and abused life growing up in Pacoima with an alcoholic mother. The author's voice remains objective, yet still intimate, which has the effect of allowing the reader to grow up in her shoes as opposed to through the author's reflection of pathos for the obvious consequences her circumstances have on her psyche. Like White herself, we don't have the luxury of reflecting upon how dysfunctional her upbringing is: we just move on to the next thing White has to do in order to survive. She is a chameleon, cleverly fitting in to whatever environment she finds herself, including drugs and alcohol when she arrives at Hollywood High School.
From high school, White dives into the world of hairdressing, a field dominated by men. We watch her drive for success keep her from being present for her own children. Again, the consequences are not spelled out until the children themselves are old enough to begin articulating their disappointment. The reader sees the train wreck, but the character does not, which is the case in life, and allows the reader to sympathize with a little girl who becomes the alcoholic mother from whom she disconnected. But there's hope, throughout the book, there are angels that enter White's life, spiriting her through the next chapter until she eventually finds grace (which is ironically her mother's name) as White points out is defined as "an unmerited divine assistance."
With the "writer" out of the way, the character gets to tell the story, a feat difficult enough in fiction, but quite an accomplishment with a story as personal as a memoir.
September 21, 2011
It’s almost beyond belief that one person has held so many famous heads in her hands—Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Sandra Bullock, Brad Pitt, and Michael Crichton, among many others. Carrie White, hairdresser to the stars, includes a list of her famous clients in Upper Cut, and I wonder if it wouldn’t have been easier to list the names she hasn’t done.
So many wonderful stories in White’s memoir. Some included Jay Sebring, a renowned hair stylist who most of us know only by his death as a Manson family victim. White did Sharon Tate’s hair for her wedding to Roman Polanski and had visited their LA home, giving her a unique perspective on the Manson murders.
White is a delightful storyteller, and I laughed out loud at several anecdotes. Her insider’s look at the world of hair reveals things my hairdresser probably never wanted me to find out.
But if Upper Cut made me laugh, it also made me cry. White’s descriptions of her sexual abuse as a child and her own behavior while addicted to drugs are disturbing and truly heartbreaking. Her candid clarity makes the book emotionally difficult to read at times, but that clarity is essential for readers to understand Carrie White’s story.
That story not only illuminates her personal experience, it provides some insight into the prevalence of drug abuse in the entertainment world of the 1960s and ‘70s. Musician Robbie Robertson, in a May 2011 interview in Mojo, said:
“It was something that you were lucky to get out alive is what it was...in the late ‘70s, especially, everybody went into a tunnel with drugs and some came out of the other end and some didn’t.”
Carrie White came out of that tunnel, and she tells of her journey without trying to excuse or explain her destructive behavior. The 60+ photos (which, judging from the file size, are not included in the digital edition) are dazzling with their array of celebrities. But I found myself most affected by the post-recovery photos of Carrie White with her children and with her granddaughter. I’m glad she found her way back.
(Disclosure: Carrie White sent me an advance copy of Upper Cut, and I have communicated her via email, though not about my review of her book.)
So many wonderful stories in White’s memoir. Some included Jay Sebring, a renowned hair stylist who most of us know only by his death as a Manson family victim. White did Sharon Tate’s hair for her wedding to Roman Polanski and had visited their LA home, giving her a unique perspective on the Manson murders.
White is a delightful storyteller, and I laughed out loud at several anecdotes. Her insider’s look at the world of hair reveals things my hairdresser probably never wanted me to find out.
But if Upper Cut made me laugh, it also made me cry. White’s descriptions of her sexual abuse as a child and her own behavior while addicted to drugs are disturbing and truly heartbreaking. Her candid clarity makes the book emotionally difficult to read at times, but that clarity is essential for readers to understand Carrie White’s story.
That story not only illuminates her personal experience, it provides some insight into the prevalence of drug abuse in the entertainment world of the 1960s and ‘70s. Musician Robbie Robertson, in a May 2011 interview in Mojo, said:
“It was something that you were lucky to get out alive is what it was...in the late ‘70s, especially, everybody went into a tunnel with drugs and some came out of the other end and some didn’t.”
Carrie White came out of that tunnel, and she tells of her journey without trying to excuse or explain her destructive behavior. The 60+ photos (which, judging from the file size, are not included in the digital edition) are dazzling with their array of celebrities. But I found myself most affected by the post-recovery photos of Carrie White with her children and with her granddaughter. I’m glad she found her way back.
(Disclosure: Carrie White sent me an advance copy of Upper Cut, and I have communicated her via email, though not about my review of her book.)
September 22, 2011
http://charlotteswebofbooks.blogspot....
Upper Cut is one of those memoirs that you just can NOT put down. Once Carrie is out of high school and the A-List celebrities start showing up on the pages, you just can not stop reading. We know what Carrie is doing is wrong, but she is such an empathetic character that you just HAVE to finish reading because you just HAVE to see how it turns out. I mean anyone who goes knocking on *THE* Ann-Margaret's door asking to borrow money for drugs most certainly has a tale to tell. Upper Cut is a well written memoir that could easily rival the most decadent of rock-star's memoirs. If you love the type of juicy memoir that drops names of the rich and famous, I strongly urge you to run right out and pick up Upper Cut.
Upper Cut is one of those memoirs that you just can NOT put down. Once Carrie is out of high school and the A-List celebrities start showing up on the pages, you just can not stop reading. We know what Carrie is doing is wrong, but she is such an empathetic character that you just HAVE to finish reading because you just HAVE to see how it turns out. I mean anyone who goes knocking on *THE* Ann-Margaret's door asking to borrow money for drugs most certainly has a tale to tell. Upper Cut is a well written memoir that could easily rival the most decadent of rock-star's memoirs. If you love the type of juicy memoir that drops names of the rich and famous, I strongly urge you to run right out and pick up Upper Cut.
August 18, 2011
maybe not the best written book, but quite good. ms. white is uber honest about her life, her rise to fame, her crash, her burn and her come back. at the beginning, i thought it was all going to be celebrity gossip, and at times, the story seems to just be names of famous people who she came across. but it ended up being a genuinely heartfelt memoire. i'm glad for ms. white and for her success. i recommend to anyone who likes celebrity memoires and anyone who is interested in hollywood in the 60's and 70's.
July 19, 2011
Not only is Carrie White a Hollywood legend, she's also a fantastic storyteller. You will rip through this book and marvel at her accomplishments, honesty and determination.
February 10, 2012
Another can't put down great book I read in 11.
October 18, 2022
Name-drop central! As an esteemed Hollywood hairdresser, Carrie White’s fingers have held hands with the hair of many a celebrity. I found her upbringing, the rise (and temporary fall) of her career, and the will she had to reshape her life into what she believed it could be to be an entertaining and endearing read.
January 15, 2023
I had never heard of Carrie White, nor am I interested in hair, but what a life! I found Carrie’s story to be fascinating. She did everyone’s hair, and I mean EVERYONE. Sharon Tate, Elizabeth Taylor, Natalie Wood, Elvis and Priscilla, Farrah Fawcett, Nancy Reagan, David Bowie, and Marlon Brando to name a few.
December 2, 2024
okay i wanted to like this book so much because it’s such a cool story, but im way too young for this book. the hype over her clients was lost on me. i almost wish someone else wrote it because i could’ve got through it better
June 18, 2018
The author (and her writing coach) do a great job telling the story of her career and addiction.
Want to read
September 27, 2022This is being turned into a movie with Carrie being played by Julia Fox. Gotta read it first!
Want to read
September 29, 2022Recommended by skinny confidential
February 24, 2012
This book didn't need to be well written. Between the drama, the drugs, and most of all, the amazing parade of artists, writers and Hollywood stars that submit to Carrie White's scissors, White could have just phoned in her story. But it turns out she's a terrific writer, and this is a compelling read. It's not all Hollywood fantasy; White's story begins with parental neglect and abuse, and as an adult, her champagne-fueled career eventually goes off the rails when she becomes addicted to heroin. It amazes me that she lived to tell the tale, let alone write about it with such gripping detail and perspective.
July 11, 2012
The 60s/70s were a crazy time full of excesses and hairdresser Carrie White was right in the middle of it all in Los Angeles. White documents and tells the tale of her life. It is not your usual memoir though there is a lot of name dropping. In White's case, she name drops as a touchstone to keep place in her life and experience.
She has touched a lot of hair and styled every strand of so many famous names. She has lost everything and crawled back out, clawing for purchase, to soberness. She is a survivor and has lived to tell the story of her life, in it's passing blur. I liked this book for that reason.
She has touched a lot of hair and styled every strand of so many famous names. She has lost everything and crawled back out, clawing for purchase, to soberness. She is a survivor and has lived to tell the story of her life, in it's passing blur. I liked this book for that reason.
November 7, 2011
I have to say this is probably one of the worst books I have ever read. I even skipped about 60 pages just to get to the end of it. While I do feel for the author's childhood trauma, I don't understand why she would bring the same to her own children. I did not find her at all likable. She name drops on every single page at least once if not more. And to make it even worse as an afterthought she lists at least 800 famous people who's hair she has done. The name dropping, the drinks, the drugs, and the sex made a very boring book.
November 3, 2011
I was fascinated by the rags to riches to rags and back on her way up to riches story of Carrie White! Even though I'm a bit young to know all of the famous personalities she references in her book, this memoir was riviting. The struggle Carrie details about her dark decent into the world of heavy drug use and the strength she demonstrates in climbing out of her own personal hell are an uplifting reminder of the power of the human spirit.
January 6, 2012
I can never say that I didn't enjoy reading someone's history, I feel like that is insensitive and unfair. Because of that, i did enjoy reading this memoir and it was fun to read the celebrity names that appear throughout. However, the book did get long at times and it would've been nice to read more about the recovery process as well.
April 16, 2012
I'm not much of a biography reader or even autobiographies but this book was smashing. I am very busy and managed to find time to read this in a few days and keep thinking about it even though it's now in my past. Her life is thrilling and juicy and "friends of Bill" would really really love it. Also hairdressers. Or actors. Or people that live in Los Angeles.
September 20, 2015
Uppercut is a riveting book about an aspiring Hair Stylist who is much like any other girl who aspires to bigger dreams and is very smart and very talented and creates many very big movie star clients falls into the 70s and 80s heyday of drugs and rock and roll falls down the rabbit hole to never be seen again only to crawl back out of it and become a success again a great great story.
December 30, 2011
This won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm a sucker for Hollywood gossip. It wasn't the best (considered giving it 2 stars - and would have given it 2.5 if I could have), but it was an entertaining quick read, right up my alley for a quiet few days off.
April 18, 2012
A wild ride.
Too, wild for most to believe, but you just cannot make this life up.
This is a true story of survival, and surviving with style to spare.
A reminder to save our own Self.
She did, and she done good too.
Too, wild for most to believe, but you just cannot make this life up.
This is a true story of survival, and surviving with style to spare.
A reminder to save our own Self.
She did, and she done good too.
July 20, 2012
Honest and heart-felt, Carrie tells her story from her youth in a tough childhood home to her adult success in the Hollywood hills. Salon, hair, celebrities, travel, family, kids and the dark turn to drugs and addiction. Can't wait for the next book.
November 22, 2011
Loved it.
I love a good memoir and am quite willing to forgive less than perfect writing if the stories being told are intriguing enough.
I love a good memoir and am quite willing to forgive less than perfect writing if the stories being told are intriguing enough.
March 9, 2012
Really enjoyed the journey of her career.
January 30, 2012
Really interesting. Sad beginnings, unbelievable career accomplishments, horrible downward spiral, then a seemingly fast recovery. Pretty shocking experiences.
September 30, 2012
An autobiography from one of the most interesting and lovely people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
April 26, 2023
Highly recommend this biography. Carrie White had an incredibly interesting life which at parts felt like fiction.
January 2, 2012
zzzzzzzzzzzzz boring
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews