Louise Brooks

Page history last edited by ErikaS 2 years, 9 months ago

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE

SILENT FILM STAR

"There is no other occupation in the world that so closely resembled enslavement as the career of a film star.”

- Louise Brooks

Louise Brooks made few films which are seldom seen and exists in our minds as fragments, never whole for she turned her life into a basis for speculation and conjuring. And yet, despite what little she left for us, her magical and ethereal presence continues to exert a whole on all who have ever glimpsed her on the big screen.

She was the quintessential 20's flapper. A dancer turned actress who lived by her own rules. She rose to fame in silent pictures, only to disappear unusually for decades. Her story is one of the most intriguing Hollywood stories and not well known by many.

Who: Mary Louise Brooks, more commonly known by her stage name, Louise Brooks.

Date of Birth: November 14, 1906

She was a dancer, model, and silent screen actress, known for her bobbed haircut. She starred in 17 silent films and is known for her work in Pandora's Box, Diary of A Lost Girl, and Prix de Beaute (Miss Europe).

She was the quintessential flapper-- epitomizing the brash behavior of women in the 1920s who bobbed their hair, smoked, drank, and treated sex casually.

Louise is absolutely exquisite-- you should check out some of her films if you get a chance. She's a great actress. She also has a dream haircut that many got and want.

"In my dreams I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.”

"Most beautiful dumb girls think they are smart and get away with it, because other people, on the whole,

aren't much smarter."

Louise Brooks 1928

Age 28

The Canary Murder Case

"I never gave away anything without wishing I had kept it; nor kept it without wishing I had given it away."

TRIVIA

As a child one of her best friends was Vivian Vance who played "Ethel" in "I Love Lucy".
Her father was a lawyer
Her favorite actress was Margaret Sullavan
She was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#44).
She was the 4th most written about actress at the time after Clara Bow, Joan Crawford, and Colleen Moore.
Considered three of her favorite films to be An American in Paris (1951), Pygmalion (1938) and The Wizard of Oz (1939).
She had once written an autobiography, titled- Naked On My Goat- but only bits of it survived but only after it was thrown into the incinerator- by its own author-of course.
Filed for bankruptcy on February 6, 1932.
After retiring from cinema in 1938, she was found working as a $40-a-week salesgirl at Saks Fifth Avenue.
After retiring, went on to write many witty and intelligent essays on the film industry.