Neve Campbell plans to portray Louise Brooks

This news item has been making the rounds . . . . 

"Neve Campbell plans to portray Louise Brooks, the bob-haired beauty who emerged from George White's Scandals and the Ziegfeld Follies and escaped flapper roles in Hollywood to achieve acclaim in Germany in G. W. Pabst films like Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl (both 1929) before becoming a recluse. Ms. Campbell has bought Lulu, a biographical screenplay by Peter Nickowitz and Bill Oliver, titled after the nymphomaniac portrayed by Brooks (1906-1985) in Pandora's Box. Ms. Campbell is looking for a director and for financing, according to a Reuters - Hollywood Reporter report."

Barry Paris on WQED

I just clicked on the WQED link on the Barry Paris page of Louise Brooks Studies and noticed that the station is once again being broadcast over the internet. Barry Paris has a show on this radio station on Sunday afternoons. Check it out.

Diana Serra Cary ("Baby Peggy")

Two books I recently finished reading - and really enjoyed a whole lot - are Jackie Coogan: The World's Boy King by Diana Serra Cary, and What Ever Happened to Baby Peggy?, also by by Diana Serra Cary. After having read the Coogan book - I wanted more, and so immediately turned to the author's equally compelling autobiography. Each were very charming, anecdotal-filled stories of success and hardship. In the 1920's, Diana was an actress known as "Baby Peggy." And next to Jackie Coogan (whom she knew back then!), Diana was one of the most famous child movie stars in the whole world. In both books, she offers an insider's perspective on fame and fortune.

I really admire the author, who is now in her eighties. I have had the pleasure of meeting her on a few occasions. She has written four books to date, and I would recommend them to anyone.

                      

Paul Robeson

Recently viewed Paul Robeson: Here I Stand, an excellent 1999 documentary which originally aired as part of the American Master's series on PBS. I thought this film was one of the better documentaries I have seen, and very interesting as well. 

A footnote: according to Martin Duberman's biography of the singer and actor, Robeson once met Louise Brooks. Sometime around April 21, 1925, Robeson met Brooks at a party at the apartment of writer / photographer Carl Van Vechten, according to Essie Robeson's diary. Essie Robeson wrote of Brooks, she "was very late and I couldn't wait for her, but . . . Paul said she was very conceited and impossible."

Italian website devoted to Brooks

There are a number of web pages and websites devoted to Louise Brooks. One of the best is this multi-page site from Italy, which contains biographical information, articles, interviews, obituaries, pictures and much more. If you haven't already checked it out, please do so.

Happy Birthday, Louise Brooks!

Mary Louise Brooks was born on this day in Cherryvale, Kansas in 1906. The Cherryvale Daily News ran a small item on the front page of newspaper.