Fanny Brice

Fanny Brice Born October 29, 1891 in New York City, New York, USA Died May 29, 1951 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA (cerebral hemorrhage) Birth Name Fania Borach Height 5' 6" (1.68 m) Mini Bio (1) Fanny Brice was a popular and influential American comedienne, singer, theatre and film actress, who made many stage, radio and film appearances but is best remembered as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series, The Baby Snooks Show. Thirteen years after her death, she was portrayed on the Broadway stage by Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl. The show was made into a musical film in 1968. Born Fania Borach, in New York City, she was the third child of Rose (Stern) and Charles Borach, relatively well-off saloon owners of Hungarian Jewish descent. In 1908, she dropped out of school to work in a burlesque revue, and two years later she began her association with Florenz Ziegfeld, headlining his Ziegfeld Follies from 1910 into the 1930s. In the 1921 Follies, she was featured singing "My Man" which became both a big hit and her signature song. She made a popular recording of it for Victor Records. The second song most associated with her is "Second Hand Rose". She recorded nearly two dozen record sides for Victor and also cut several for Columbia. She is a posthumous recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for her 1921 recording of "My Man". Her films include My Man (1928), Be Yourself! (1930) and Everybody Sing (1938) with Judy Garland. Brice, Ray Bolger and Harriet Hoctor were the only original Ziegfeld performers to portray themselves in The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and Ziegfeld Follies (1946). For her contribution to the motion picture industry, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at MP 6415 Hollywood Boulevard. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous Spouse (3) Billy Rose (8 February 1929 - 27 October 1939) ( divorced) Julius Wilford Arndtstein (5 April 1919 - 17 September 1927) ( divorced) ( 2 children) Frank White (14 February 1910 - 15 August 1913) ( divorced) Trivia (19) Starred in every Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway from 1910 until 1936. Starred in the widely popular 1940s' US radio comedy series as its title character, "Baby Snooks". Pictured on one of five 29¢ US commemorative postage stamps celebrating famous comedians, issued in booklet form 29 August 1991. The stamp designs were drawn by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. The other comedians honored in the set are Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy; Edgar Bergen (with alter ego Charlie McCarthy); Jack Benny; and Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Believed that pearls should not be taken off and needed to be lived in and so she would sleep in hers at night. Barbra Streisand played her in the musical Funny Girl (1968) and the sequel Funny Lady (1975). Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 60-61. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387 Children with Arnstein: Frances (August 12, 1919-May 31, 1992) and famed abstract artist/painter William (April 23, 1921-March 3, 2008). Mother-in-law of Ray Stark. Following her death, she was interred in the Chapel Mausoleum at the Home of Peace Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Following the death of her daughter Frances, she was reinterred at Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. The birth name of her second husband, better known as Nick Arnstein, was actually Jules W. Arndt Stein. Dropped out of school after the eighth grade to work in a burlesque revue, "The Girls from Happy Land Starring Billy Watson". (12/31/37) Radio: Appeared in MGM production of "Good News of 1938" on NBC Network. Also in cast: 'Myrna Loy', James Stewart, Wallace Beery, Bruce Cabot, Frank Morgan, Freda Starr, Gilbert Russell, Judy Garland, Dennis O'Keefe, Lewis Stone, Guy Kibbee and Cliff Edwards. She was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6415 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Radio at 1500 Vine Street in Hollywood, California. Profiled in the book "Funny Ladies: 100 Years of Great Comediennes" by Stephen M. Silverman (1999). Returned to work two months after giving birth to her daughter Frances in order to begin performing on the Broadway production of "Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic". Returned to work two months after giving birth to her son William in order to begin performing on the Broadway production of "Ziegfeld Follies of 1921". Was three months pregnant with her son William when she ended her run on the Broadway production of "Ziegfeld Follies of 1920". Was a staunch liberal Democrat. Became pregnant by her future husband Nick Arnstein prior to his divorce and their 1919 marriage, but she had an abortion. Personal Quotes (7) Men always fall for frigid women because they put on the best show. With Nick Arnstein, I was miserably happy. With Billy Rose, I was happily miserable. I am not sorry. I will tell anybody that, and it is the truth. I lived the way I wanted and never did what people said I should do or advised me to do. And I want my children to do the same. Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you? [summing up her career] Listen, kid. I've done everything in theatre except marry a property man. I've been a soubrette in burlesque and I've accompanied stereopticon slides. I've acted for Belasco [David Belasco] and I've laid 'em out in rows at the Palace. I've doubled as an alligator; I've worked for the Schuberts; and I've been joined to Billy Rose in the holy bonds. I've painted the house boards and I've sold tickets and I've been fired by George M. Cohan. I've played in London before the king and in Oil City before miners with lanterns in their caps. [on Esther Williams] Wet, she's a star. Dry, she ain't. There is no thrill more wonderful than that which comes with the feel of a friendly audience, and it is a thrill that comes more than once in a lifetime. It is subconscious but powerful, much like sensing the presence of a friend in the darkness. An audience reflects an actor's attitude as faithfully as a mirror. If he is relaxed and sure of himself his audience gives him its heart. But if he feels fear or works too hard for his effects there is thrown over the house the chill of discomfort. You give the audience everything you need. They tell you. There is no director who can direct you like an audience. You step out on the stage and you can feel it is a nervous audience. So you calm them down. I come out before an audience and maybe my house burned down an hour ago, maybe my husband stayed out all night, but I stand there. I'm still. I don't move. I wait for the introduction. Maybe I cough. Maybe I touch myself. But before I do anything, I got them with me, right there in my hand and comfortable. That's my job, to make them comfortable, because if they wanted to be nervous, they could have stayed home and added their bills. See also Other Works | Publicity Listings | Official Sites View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro Pro Name Page Link Getting Started | Contributor Zone »