Charlotte Greenwood The Life and Career of the Comic Star of Vaudeville, Radio and Film
Produktdetaljer
Om bidragsyterne
Biographer Grant Hayter-Menzies lives in British Columbia. His works include biographies of Charlotte Greenwood, Princess Der Ling, Sarah Pike Conger, Pauline Benton, and Lillian Carter, along with the life of a dog, military mascot Rags of the First Division in World War I. He is the literary executor of playwright William Luce.“a first-rate biography...Grant Hayter-Menzies does his subject proud”—<i>The Slide Area</i>; “extensively researched”—<i>Vancouver Voice</i>; “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, <i>New York Observer</i>; “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, <i>Financial Times</i>, London.
Charlotte Greenwood never intended to become a comedienne, but she was unfashionably tall at 5' 10" and her early aspirations to become a great dramatic actress eventually led her to the field of comedy. Greenwood, whose early life had taught her nothing if not how to be optimistic, stifled her disappointment and used her considerable skill to become one of the greatest comedic actresses of the early twentieth century.
Based on Greenwood's unpublished memoirs, this biography presents a personal, detailed look at her colorful life. Beginning with her early years in Philadelphia, Boston and Norfolk, 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. The main focus of the work is her career, which spanned more than 50 years and ranged from vaudeville to the dramatic stage and, finally, to films (during the World War II years she starred in Twentieth Century Fox musicals with Cesar Romero, Betty Grable, Edward Everett Horton, Jack Haley, Don Ameche, and Carmen Miranda). Her roles in a variety of works including The Passing Show of 1912, So Long Letty (both stage and film), and I Remember Mama are also discussed. Special emphasis is placed on her career-defining (and best-known) role as Aunt Eller Murphy in the 1955 film adaptation of Oklahoma! Charlotte Greenwood's performance history, a list of her known recordings, and a filmography for her husband Martin Broones are also included, along with a collection of rare photographs and memorabilia.
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