Charlotte Greenwood was unfashionably tall at 5'10"". Her early aspirations to become a great dramatic actress led her to the field of comedy. This biography looks at her colorful life. It relates her struggles with ill health, her social difficulties caused by her then unusual height and her realization of her ambition to become an actress.

Table of Contents Acknowledgments       Foreword by Brian Kellow      Preface      Introduction      Part One 1. “I come from a long line of Philadelphia barbers!”      2. Illness and Abandonment      3. Near Death in Boston, New Life in Virginia      4. “Show people were my people”      5. The White Cat      6. A Wayburn Girl      7. Two Girls and a Piano      8. The Passing Show of 1912      9. The Birth of Letty      10. Love and War      11. Trotting Tintypes and the Music Box Revue      12. “My darling”      13. Mrs. Martin Broones      14. Back to Hollywood      15. “Life is just a circus”      16. To London on the Santa Fe Express      Part Two 17. Wild Violets      18. Toast of the West End      19. “Charlotte Greenwood, the actress”      20. The Late Christopher Bean      21. Gay Deceivers      22. Letty’s Last Dance      23. “To the Antipodes and back”      24. Battle Drums      25. Zanuck and Stardust      26. Down Argentine Way      27. The Stars at War      28. Home in Indiana      29. Mrs. Eddy      30. Doris Day      31. Out of This World      32. Oklahoma!      33. “She knew what she had and she knew who she was”      34. Farewell Performance      Epilogue      Afterword by William Luce      Appendix A: Greenwood’s Performance History      Appendix B: Known Vocal Recordings of Greenwood      Appendix C: Lyrics Credited to Greenwood      Appendix D: Shows with Songs or Scores by Martin Broones      Appendix E: Martin Broones Filmography      Appendix F: Known Piano Recordings of Martin Broones      Appendix G: GUPPA (Greenwood’s Unusual Painless Pound Annihilator)      Appendix H: Greenwood’s Family Circle      Chapter Notes      Bibliography      Index     

“a first-rate biography...Grant Hayter-Menzies does his subject proud”—The Slide Area; “extensively researched”—Vancouver Voice; “a unique talent and an overlooked chapter in show business history, diligently researched and informatively written. Beloved Charlotte Greenwood has been brought back to life with candor and charm. A movie lover’s must-read!”—Rex Reed, journalist, New York Observer; “Charlotte Greenwood was a tough and bright show-biz cookie who broke the rules and wrote her own. Grant Hayter-Menzies chronicles her zig-zags, public and private, with remarkable passion and compassion, precision and perception. Those who only know Greenwood at twilight, essentially as sweet old Aunt Eller, are in for some happy jolts”—Martin Bernheimer, music critic, Financial Times, London.