Louise Brooks

Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American actress who worked in film during the 1920s and 1930s. She is now seen as a symbol of flapper culture, largely because of the bob haircut she helped make popular at the height of her fame. She started dancing at 15, touring with the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts and performing alongside Ted Shawn. After being let go, she worked as a chorus girl in George White's Scandals and as a semi-nude dancer in the Ziegfeld Follies in New York City. While in the Follies, Paramount Pictures producer Walter Wanger noticed her and signed her to a five-year contract. She played supporting roles in several Paramount films before landing the lead in *Beggars of Life* (1928). During this period, she became close friends with actress Marion Davies and joined the elite social circle of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst at Hearst Castle in San Simeon. Unhappy with the minor parts she was getting in Hollywood, Brooks moved to Germany in 1929 and starred in three films that made her an international star: *Pandora's Box* (1929), *Diary of a Lost Girl* (1929), and *Miss Europe* (*Prix de Beauté*) (1930); the first two were directed by G. W. Pabst. By 1938, she had appeared in 14 silent films and 10 sound films. After she stopped acting, she struggled financially and became what she called "a kept woman" for three wealthy men. For the next twenty years, she battled alcoholism and suicidal thoughts. When film enthusiasts rediscovered her movies in the 1950s, the reclusive Brooks began writing articles about her career; her sharp, thoughtful essays earned high praise. She published her memoir, *Lulu in Hollywood*, in 1982. Three years later, she died of a heart attack at age 78. **Early life**

Brooks was born in Cherryvale, Kansas. Her father, Leonard Porter Brooks, was a lawyer often absorbed in his work. Her mother, Myra Rude, was artistic and said any "squalling brats she produced could take care of themselves." A talented pianist, Rude played the latest Debussy and Ravel for her children, instilling in them a love of books and music. Brooks described her childhood hometown as a typical Midwestern community where people "prayed in the parlor and practiced incest in the barn." When she was nine, a neighborhood man sexually abused her. Beyond the immediate physical harm, the event had lasting psychological effects on her personal life and career. She later said the abuse made her incapable of real love, explaining that "nice, soft, easy men were never enough — there had to be an element of domination." When she finally told her mother about the incident years later, her mother suggested it must have been Louise's fault for "leading him on." In 1919, the family moved to Independence, Kansas, then to Wichita in 1920. Brooks began her entertainment career as a dancer, joining the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts modern dance company in New York at age 15 in 1922. The company included founders Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, as well as a young Martha Graham. As part of the traveling troupe, Brooks spent a season in London and another in Paris. In her second season, she advanced to a starring role opposite Shawn. But a long-simmering personal conflict with St. Denis boiled over, and St. Denis fired her in the spring of 1924, telling her in front of the others: "I am dismissing you from the company because you want life handed to you on a silver salver." The words stuck with Brooks; when she outlined a planned autobiographical novel in 1949, she titled the tenth and final chapter "The Silver Salver." She was 17 at the time. Through her friend Barbara Bennett (sister of Constance and Joan Bennett), she quickly found work as a chorus girl in George White's Scandals, then as a semi-nude dancer in the 1925 Ziegfeld Follies at the Amsterdam Theater on 42nd Street. Her Follies work caught the eye of Walter Wanger, a Paramount Pictures producer. Infatuated, Wanger signed her to a five-year contract with the studio in 1925. Soon after, she met Charlie Chaplin at a cocktail party Wanger hosted. Chaplin was in town for the premiere of *The Gold Rush* (1925) at the Strand Theatre on Broadway. They had a two-month affair that summer while Chaplin was married to Lita Grey. When it ended, Chaplin sent her a check; she did not write a thank-you note. **Career**

**Paramount films**

Brooks made her screen debut in the silent *The Street of Forgotten Men* in an uncredited role in 1925. She soon played female leads in several silent light comedies and flapper films over the next few years, starring with Adolphe Menjou and W. C. Fields, among others. After her small roles in 1925, both Paramount and MGM offered her contracts. At the time, she had an on-and-off affair with Wanger, who was married to actress Justine Johnstone. Wanger tried to persuade her to take the MGM contract to avoid rumors that she got the Paramount deal because of their relationship. Despite his advice, she accepted Paramount's offer. During this period, Brooks gained a cult following in Europe for her pivotal vamp role in the 1928 Howard Hawks silent buddy film *A Girl in Every Port*.