Louise Brooks (born Mary Louise Brooks; November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was one of the notable stars of the Silent Film era, whose smoldering eyes and dark bobbed hair helped to codify the screen image of The Flapper.
Born in Kansas, she was known in her youth for her dancing ability prior to landing several roles in Follies and other theater acts under Florenz Ziegfeld. She signed a contract with Paramount in 1925 (against the wishes of her friend and studio producer Walter Wanger, who feared that the perception would be he curried favor with her signing). By 1928, she was disenchanted with Paramount and quit when the studio wouldn't give her a raise.
She subsequently moved to Germany, joined with director GW Pabst, and starred in her Star-Making Role as Lulu in Pandora's Box. She'd follow it up with Diary of a Lost Girl the next year but both films would be flops at the box office thanks to the transition and immediate rise of the talkies in theaters. Brooks made some poor career decisions around this time, such as refusing to dub lines when Paramount flick The Canary Murder Case (1929) was converted into a talkie, and, worse, turning down the female lead in The Public Enemy (1931). That proved the death toll to her movie career, although she struggled on in a few cheap B Movies. Her last film, the Poverty Row western Overland Stage Raiders, had her looking unrecognizeable
◊ in long hair, appearing opposite an obscure, unknown cowboy actor named John Wayne.
Brooks spent the rest of her life mostly reading, painting, and authoring several autobiographies including Lulu In Hollywood, still considered one of the best movie memoirs ever written.
The biography Brooks by Barry Paris is a must-read for anybody wanting to learn more about her.
Filmography:
- The American Venus (1926)
- Its The Old Army Game (1926)
- The Show Off (1926)
- Just Another Blonde (1926)
- Love Em And Leave Em (1926)
- Rolled Stockings (1927)
- Now Were In The Air (1927)
- A Girl In Every Port (1928)
- Beggars Of Life (1928)
- Pandora's Box (1929)
- The Canary Murder Case (1929)
- Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)
- Miss Europe (1930)
- It Pays To Advertise (1931)
- Gods Gift To Women (1931)
- Empty Saddles (1936)
- When Youre In Love (1937)
- Overland Stage Raiders (1938)
Tropes associated with her work:
- '20s Bob Haircut: This is currently the page image for good reason.
- Deadpan Snarker: Could be this at times. Also served as a Silent Snarker at times in her films.
- The Flapper: One of the quintessential models of the concept in the 1920s.
- Method Acting: A rare and very notable inversion. Brooks has said she'd never even read a script and had a very laidback attitude towards acting and directors on set.
- Money, Dear Boy: Why she returned to Hollywood in the 1930s despite openly despising the place.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Was known for her pale skin and jet-black hair, the latter of which stood out due to her hairstyle.
- Silent Movie: Most of her work is categorized as this due to the era she worked in.
- The Vamp: Utilized this role most famously in Pandora's Box.
- What Could Have Been:
- She turned down the lead female role in The Public Enemy (1931) to take a trip to New York City to see George Marshall, owner of the Washington NFL franchise, and the role instead went to Jean Harlow, who then began her own rise to stardom, while in the opinion of biographer Barry Paris, "turning down Public Enemy marked the real end of Louise Brooks's film career." Although Brooks later claimed she declined the role because she "hated Hollywood," film historian James Card, who came to know Brooks later in her life, stated that Brooks "just wasn't interested."
- At one point, she was attached to star in an adaptation of The Blue Lagoon that was going to be produced by Herbert Wilcox. However, the onslaught of The Great Depression halted these plans.
