Charlotte Greenwood: The Life and Career of the Comic Star of Vaudeville, Radio and Film
- Author: Hayter-Menzies, Grant
Charlotte Greenwood was a tough and bright show-biz cookie who broke the rules and wrote her own. Grant Hayter-Menzies chronicles her zig-zags, public and private, with remarkable passion and...
Charlotte Greenwood: The Life and Career of the Comic Star of Vaudeville, Radio and Film
- Author: Hayter-Menzies, Grant
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Charlotte Greenwood was a tough and bright show-biz cookie who broke the rules and wrote her own. Grant Hayter-Menzies chronicles her zig-zags, public and private, with remarkable passion and...
About
Charlotte Greenwood never intended to become a comedienne, but she was unfashionably tall at 5' 10" and her early aspirations to become a great dramatic actress eventually led her to the field of comedy. Greenwood, whose early life had taught her nothing if not how to be optimistic, stifled her disappointment and used her considerable skill to become one of the greatest comedic actresses of the early twentieth century.
Based on Greenwood's unpublished memoirs, this biography presents a personal, detailed look at her colorful life. Beginning with her early years in Philadelphia, Boston and Norfolk, it relates her struggles with ill health, her social difficulties caused by her then unusual height and her realization of her ambition to become an actress. The main focus of the work is her career, which spanned more than 50 years and ranged from vaudeville to the dramatic stage and, finally, to films (during the World War II years she starred in Twentieth Century Fox musicals with Cesar Romero, Betty Grable, Edward Everett Horton, Jack Haley, Don Ameche, and Carmen Miranda). Her roles in a variety of works including The Passing Show of 1912, So Long Letty (both stage and film), and I Remember Mama are also discussed. Special emphasis is placed on her career-defining (and best-known) role as Aunt Eller Murphy in the 1955 film adaptation of Oklahoma! Charlotte Greenwood's performance history, a list of her known recordings, and a filmography for her husband Martin Broones are also included, along with a collection of rare photographs and memorabilia.
Contents
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Foreword by Brian Kellow
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part One
- 1. “I come from a long line of Philadelphia barbers!”
- 2. Illness and Abandonment
- 3. Near Death in Boston, New Life in Virginia
- 4. “Show people were my people”
- 5. The White Cat
- 6. A Wayburn Girl
- 7. Two Girls and a Piano
- 8. The Passing Show of 1912
- 9. The Birth of Letty
- 10. Love and War
- 11. Trotting Tintypes and the Music Box Revue
- 12. “My darling”
- 13. Mrs. Martin Broones
- 14. Back to Hollywood
- 15. “Life is just a circus”
- 16. To London on the Santa Fe Express
- Part Two
- 17. Wild Violets
- 18. Toast of the West End
- 19. “Charlotte Greenwood, the actress”
- 20. The Late Christopher Bean
- 21. Gay Deceivers
- 22. Letty’s Last Dance
- 23. “To the Antipodes and back”
- 24. Battle Drums
- 25. Zanuck and Stardust
- 26. Down Argentine Way
- 27. The Stars at War
- 28. Home in Indiana
- 29. Mrs. Eddy
- 30. Doris Day
- 31. Out of This World
- 32. Oklahoma!
- 33. “She knew what she had and she knew who she was”
- 34. Farewell Performance
- Epilogue
- Afterword by William Luce
- Appendix A: Greenwood’s Performance History
- Appendix B: Known Vocal Recordings of Greenwood
- Appendix C: Lyrics Credited to Greenwood
- Appendix D: Shows with Songs or Scores by Martin Broones
- Appendix E: Martin Broones Filmography
- Appendix F: Known Piano Recordings of Martin Broones
- Appendix G: GUPPA (Greenwood’s Unusual Painless Pound Annihilator)
- Appendix H: Greenwood’s Family Circle
- Chapter Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Awards and reviews
Charlotte Greenwood was a tough and bright show-biz cookie who broke the rules and wrote her own. Grant Hayter-Menzies chronicles her zig-zags, public and private, with remarkable passion and compassion, precision and perception. Those who only know Greenwood at twilight, essentially as sweet old Aunt Eller, are in for some happy jolts
