Fanny Brice

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the life of Fanny Brice, a legendary performer in the 1920s and 30s who performed on Broadway, in burlesque and in the famous Ziegfeld Follies. The paper shows how Fanny Brice was a remarkable entertainer and woman. The paper relates that she was incredibly talented and learned how to perform by gauging her audience and finding what worked for her own personality, looks and talents. The paper notes that she was one of the first successful Jewish comediennes who is still remembered for her wit and outrageous characters.

From the Paper:

"Fanny Brice was born in New York City in 1891. Her parents were immigrants who owned saloons, and her real name was Fania Borach. She began performing early in her life, and aspired to be a serious actress, but her Semitic looks always forced her into character parts. In fact, while she often sang humorous songs with a Yiddish accent, in reality she did not even speak Yiddish (Editors, 2006). She was also tall and skinny, which made her stand out from most of the chorus girls of the time, who were more statuesque (Sorel, 1986, p. 81). In 1906, she won an amateur night contest at a famous vaudeville theater at the age of fourteen, and her career in the theater got its start. She dropped out of school after the eighth grade to concentrate on her career."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Editors. (2006). Fanny Brice. Retrieved from the jewishvirtuallibray.org Web site: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/brice.html 4 Dec. 2006.
• Epstein, L. J. (2001). The haunted smile: The story of Jewish comedians in America. New York: Public Affairs.
• Grossman, B. W. (1991). Funny woman: The life and times of Fanny Brice. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
• Sorel, N. C. (Jan 1986). Fanny Brice and Florenz Ziegfeld. In The Atlantic, 257, p. 81.

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