System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Fanny Brice
1891 - 1951
Fanny Brice, a star of Broadway and radio, died May 29, 1951. She was 58.
Brice was born Fannie Borach in New York City on October 29, 1891. Her first show business success was at age 13 when she won a talent contest at Keeney's Theater in Brooklyn, New York. She sang "When You Know You're Not Forgotten by the Girl You Can't Forget".
A natural comedian, Brice began to sing, dance and do comedy in local burlesque houses. Florenz Ziegfeld took notice and signed Brice to a contract. She became a top draw in the Ziegfeld Follies over the next dozen years.
In the intervening years, she became a top Broadway star. In addition to the Follies, she appeared in The Honeymoon Express, Nobody Home, Music Box Revue and Crazy Quilt.
Brice was not the usual beautiful starlet. She had a plain, some say gawky, appearance. But her on stage performance, complete with its comedy and her songs, endeared her to the audience.
Her signature songs were "When a Woman Loves a Man", and "My Man".
Brice never had a big Hollywood career. She did star in a few movies, including My Man, Night Club, The Great Ziegfeld and Ziegfeld Follies, but her main forte was Broadway and later radio.
For six years, from 1939-45, she played the radio character of Baby Snooks, an impish brat she first introduced in her vaudeville act in 1912.
Brice was married to gambler Nicky Arnstein and show person Billy Rose.
She died of a brain hemorrhage in Los Angeles, California on May 29, 1951. That may have been the end of the story, but Broadway and Hollywood had other ideas.
A long running Broadway musical about Brice's life was made in 1964. Called Funny Girl, it starred Barbara Streisand in the title role. The show went on for 1,348 performances. In 1968, Streisand appeared in the Hollywood version of Funny Girl. A sequel, "Funny Lady", was made in 1975.
