Examiner: Louise Brooks’ private journals to be revealed
Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 6:47 pm
http://www.examiner.com/louise-brooks-i ... e-revealed
Thomas Gladysz
Louise Brooks Examiner
Louise Brooks’ private journals to be revealed
October 2nd, 2010 8:00 pm ET
Louise Brooks was more than just a pretty face.
As fans of the actress are well aware, she was considered “smart” by her Hollywood peers. She was also a gifted writer, and later in life authored a number of well thought of articles for various film magazines as well as a highly-regarded and still in print 1982 memoir, Lulu In Hollywood.
The Pulitzer Prize winning novelist considered Brooks the best writer to have come out of Hollywood. Her essays have been collected into anthologies of the best writing about the movies by the likes of Roger Ebert, another Pulitzer Prize winner.
Brooks passed away in August of 1985. Before her death, she bequeathed her private journals to the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York with instructions they remain sealed for 25 years. Brooks lived in Rochester in the last years of her life.
A quarter century has now passed. And today, David S. Cohen reports in Variety that the actress’ journals have been unsealed and that "Eastman staffers have been poring over the journals before making them available to the public."
Not surprisingly, the journals include commentary by Brooks regarding the cinematic performances of her contemporaries. According to the article in Variety, Brooks wrote about Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and others.
Brooks kept private journals from 1956 until her death. Her witty and sometimes harsh critiques also included her own work in film.
Brooks appeared in 24 films between 1925 and 1938. She is best known for her role as Lulu in the 1929 German silent film, Pandora’s Box. Though never a major star in her day, Brooks is today one of the most popular and revered of all silent film stars.
For more info: Examples of Louise Brooks’ writing can be found inLulu in Hollywood (University of Minnesota Press) and Jan Wahl’srecently published Dear Stinkpot: Letters From Louise Brooks (BearManor). Other short pieces and letters can be found in an out-of-print 1977 book edited by Rolland Jaccard, Louise Brooks: Portrait of an Anti-Star. Each are recommended.
Thomas Gladysz is a longtime fan of Louise Brooks, so much so that in 1995 he founded the Louise Brooks Society, an internet-based archive and fan club devoted to the silent film star. Gladysz has contributed to books on the actress, organized exhibits, appeared on television, and introduced her films around the country. Recently, he edited and wrote the introduction to the “Louise Brooks edition” of Margarete Bohme’s The Diary of a Lost Girl.
Thomas Gladysz
Louise Brooks Examiner
Louise Brooks’ private journals to be revealed
October 2nd, 2010 8:00 pm ET
Louise Brooks was more than just a pretty face.
As fans of the actress are well aware, she was considered “smart” by her Hollywood peers. She was also a gifted writer, and later in life authored a number of well thought of articles for various film magazines as well as a highly-regarded and still in print 1982 memoir, Lulu In Hollywood.
The Pulitzer Prize winning novelist considered Brooks the best writer to have come out of Hollywood. Her essays have been collected into anthologies of the best writing about the movies by the likes of Roger Ebert, another Pulitzer Prize winner.
Brooks passed away in August of 1985. Before her death, she bequeathed her private journals to the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York with instructions they remain sealed for 25 years. Brooks lived in Rochester in the last years of her life.
A quarter century has now passed. And today, David S. Cohen reports in Variety that the actress’ journals have been unsealed and that "Eastman staffers have been poring over the journals before making them available to the public."
Not surprisingly, the journals include commentary by Brooks regarding the cinematic performances of her contemporaries. According to the article in Variety, Brooks wrote about Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and others.
Brooks kept private journals from 1956 until her death. Her witty and sometimes harsh critiques also included her own work in film.
Brooks appeared in 24 films between 1925 and 1938. She is best known for her role as Lulu in the 1929 German silent film, Pandora’s Box. Though never a major star in her day, Brooks is today one of the most popular and revered of all silent film stars.
For more info: Examples of Louise Brooks’ writing can be found inLulu in Hollywood (University of Minnesota Press) and Jan Wahl’srecently published Dear Stinkpot: Letters From Louise Brooks (BearManor). Other short pieces and letters can be found in an out-of-print 1977 book edited by Rolland Jaccard, Louise Brooks: Portrait of an Anti-Star. Each are recommended.
Thomas Gladysz is a longtime fan of Louise Brooks, so much so that in 1995 he founded the Louise Brooks Society, an internet-based archive and fan club devoted to the silent film star. Gladysz has contributed to books on the actress, organized exhibits, appeared on television, and introduced her films around the country. Recently, he edited and wrote the introduction to the “Louise Brooks edition” of Margarete Bohme’s The Diary of a Lost Girl.