Fanny Brice: The Original Funny Girl (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: royal slave, sweepstakes ticket, annual revue, New York, Fanny Brice, Baby Snooks (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Born Fania Borach, Brice (1891-1951) grew up in relative comfort in New York and New Jersey, played vaudeville and quickly became a star in Ziegfeld Follies revues, but may be remembered best as radio's Baby Snooks, a wisecracking kid. As a person Brice was probably even more appealing than the woman portrayed by Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl and Funny Lady . She was a natural ham and singer, although she had to work at dancing. She lived and dressed elegantly, was straightforward and gregarious. Goldman ( Jolson ) offers a workmanlike but uninspired account of Brice's life, listing in detail her professional appearances and including only a little of the material that made her famous--mostly the early songs. In the end the book fails to provide a strong sense of the earthy Brice, preferring instead to transfer today's psychobabble onto the past, as when Goldman writes, "The necessity of seeing herself as her own role model built Brice's confidence and forced her to make her life with outside friends."p.23 Moreover, his insights aren't particularly insightful. "People often bond because of things they share." Photos not seen by PW .
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Well-written life of the great comedienne, today known best as the original of Barbra Streisand's Funny Girl and Funny Woman; by the author of 1988's well-received Jolson. Goldman, an intense researcher, caps his present bio with a big stageography-filmography-discography-bibliography. Brice (1891- 1951) has had only one previous biography, 1952's The Fabulous Fanny by Norman Katkov, which was adapted from her own unpublished memoirs and had little to say about her career. Aside from Streisand's misleading musical film-bios, she is semi-forgotten and remembered largely for her radio shows as Baby Snooks. But in many ways, her life holds tremendous fascination, and the present work hasn't a dull moment. Brice, born Borach on New York's Lower East Side, showed early comic talents, began earning $30 a week as a kid by winning amateur contests all over Brooklyn and Manhattan and playing in light stage-shows. She grew professionally in vaudeville and burlesque, moving from chorus girl to singer-dancer, was a knockout at Yiddish dialect or throwaway lines of Brooklynese (which Streisand captured perfectly). Then, at only 19, she landed in Ziegfeld's Follies for 1910 and thereafter was featured in every edition but two until 1923. As a singer she could thrill audiences, much like Al Jolson or the later Judy Garland, while her genius for comedy, as in her mock ballet ``The Dying Duck,'' melted them into salty puddles of hysteria. Her fame grew exponentially when her first husband, con man Nick Arnstein, was jailed and later became a world-famous fugitive. His selfishness finally killed the marriage, and Fanny later married impresario Billy Rose, another failed union. Her great hit, a closed-eyes rendition of ``My Man,'' was not the show-stopper of Funny Girl: audiences at the real thing were too wiped out for a huge response. A celebrity bio the way they should be written. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 7, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195085523
• ISBN-13: 978-0195085525
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #350,550 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of the most unbiased, yet loving tributes to a real star, March 12, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

I had the pleasure of reading FANNY BRICE by Herbert Goldman when it first came out in 1992. I am sorry that it is now out of print, as it is one of the most detailed writings on a stage/vaudeville star I have ever encountered. From her early struggles, to the height of her stardom, to her untimely death, this grand lady lead a memorable life that few can ever hope for. This lady conquered every medium she went out for. It should be read by young people aspiring to the arts to show them just how real troupers their ancestors really were......Mr Goldman also wrote the definitive book on another great, Al Jolson..I am looking forward to the one that he is writing now on Eddie Cantor. What a perfect trilogy on old Broadway......Kudos to you Mr Goldman...

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Herbert Goldman's "Fanny Brice: The Original Funny Girl", September 5, 2005

By	Edward Z. Norton (Winston-Salem, NC, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a great biography of a great entertainer. Many beautiful photos of this dear, wonderful performer and
this author does a fine job of telling Fanny Brice's
story! After seeing the two Streisand movies, this book
does an excellent job in providing an unvarnished version.
Entertaining and enlightening. I highly recommend it!

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly done!, November 20, 2009

By	Marlene L. Knox "Marlene" (San Anselmo, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fanny Brice: The Original Funny Girl (Hardcover)

After watching a re-runs of Funny Girl and Funny Lady, I became very curious about the real facts about Fanny Brice so was happy to find this biography. It was brilliantly researched and written in a way that made it a page turner for me. A real find!