Mary Van Notes

I picked up a book at the used book store called Funny Ladies: 100 Years of Great Comediennes by Stephen M. Silverman.  I’m always a bit sad when I learn of comediennes I’ve never heard of.  Why is it that we know George Burns but not Gracie Allen?  Charlie Chaplin but not Mabel Normand?  I’ll be featuring these funny ladies as soon as I go about learning about them.  First up is Fanny Brice, whose photo on the back cover of Funny Ladies made my heart jump.  Could I please have that dress, pretty pretty please?

Fanny Brice started in burlesque revues and went on to radio and TV. Her career spanned from 1910 to 1950.  From Funny Ladies:

Fanny was intuitive: “I never worked out any business ahead of time,” she declared of her performance technique. “It would only happen when I hit the audience, because they speak so much louder than my mind.”

Photos courtesy of Google Images.

She was one hilarious and beautiful phenom. A true entertainer. Watch Fanny Brice with Judy Garland, as she plays her famous Baby Snooks character: Why, Because

This entry was posted on Monday, March 29th, 2010 at 3:50 pm and is filed under Gavin Really Wants Me, I Heart Vintage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.