Hollywood's Lost Starlet

Louise Brooks was the ultimate heartbreaker. Unable to stay faithful to any of her lovers, she embarked on a pleasure-seeking mission, slipping into the arms of anyone she fancied—men and women alike. With her iconic black bob and celebrity status, Louise felt invincible. Unfortunately, her wild and free-spirited ways led her to an end so tragic, it’s unforgettable.

[boxingguybrian]

A couple of years ago, a friend and I went to find her grave in Rochester, the small stone was completely covered over with grass, we cleaned it off, shined it up best we could and left flowers and our respects for this timeless legend

[JackWilson-kn]

If people are still talking about her today then she wasn't a loser

[JohnLandau-hg]

You left out a great deal of important stuff about Louise's life. She was hired by the Kodak company in the 1950s to collect as many still extant film reels and negatives from silent film era, to catalog them and identify films that had been lost. She performed brilliantly in this role as archivist and librarian for the film industry. I have been unable to find out what has happened to this magnificent filmography collection since the Kodak company ceased to be a significant player in the camera industry. I hope that someone has purchased and rescued it. It is Louise's most enduring legacy.

[Msantie]

Having a "people" surrounding you in life and death is over rated. Considering her life tragedies inflicted on her by other humans, maybe dying alone was the relief and serenity she needed. Being alone does not necessarily equate wirh being "lonely". What a wonderful and fiesty woman. Thank you for sharing her story

[elescritorsecreto]

I had a film school teacher from Toronto who was a Canadian film critic for the CBC for many years. He told me he was friends with Louise Brooks and they would often chat on the phone, and he would visit her in Rochester in the years before she died. He made it sound like she was happy and content with her life. If that’s any consolation.

[alexcanyon]

I once thought Hedy Lamarr was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. But I have to
update that view. In her day Louise Brooks takes 1st Place. Incredible, mesmerizing, beauty.

[MaBer-]

Her face was so beautiful, and it still captivates me.

[jamesthurber]

Not a failure, just someone who didn't fit the available boxes. It happens to many talented people, because they are different from the norm, and are usually misunderstood by others.

[Dominos-elqr]

She was such a good actress too. Very natural in a time when that wasn't the Hollywood style.

[amberpearce]

One of the prettiest actresses, I love her !!

[wardarcade]

In Miss Brooks's small town birthplace of Cherryvale, Kansas- there lived another little girl a few blocks away- Vivian Roberta Jones and the two became good friends while both sets of parents lived in Cherryvale. However, by the time they each were teens, they each family had moved away but both these girls became aspiring performers with Miss Brooks becoming an international film star by the late 1920's while her onetime playmate Miss Jones was still struggling. Long-short is that after decades of struggles when she was past 40, Miss Jones would become world famous herself in the brand new medium of television playing the protagonist's bestie called Ethel Mertz and credited with the name of Vivian Vance while Miss Brooks's own fortunes has waned and she languished in obscurity. Despite the fact that Miss Vance herself had her own struggles with depression which she was rather open about, it's unknown whether these two onetime Kansas small town playmates ever reconnected much less resumed their friendship before Miss Vance's 1979 death. I'd like to think they may have because I think these two could have been solaces to each other in their twilight years.

[prudencepineapple]

Always Lulu for me. She was her own worst enemy and a very complicated woman, which is why I like her. The video of her is from a BBC miniseries called 'Hollywood' which was produced in the early 1980s. It's available here on YT. I think there are 8 episodes of an hour each. To see her and hear her speak is amazing. She still had such a quick wit and to hear her praise Clara Bow, in the early 1980s, was unheard of. Clara was long forgotten then but has since come back to the spotlight. Watch both of Lulus films made with Pabst. They're worth it just for her 'natural' style of acting, the direction, lighting, and cinematography that is pure art.

[martyjourard]

Every now and then someone comes along that has a beauty that is almost from another world. She had it, her look is 100 years old now but is one that a woman today would crave. She had the same "It" attributed to Clara Bow...her image still jumps out of the movie screen.

[stephaniestanley]

Mogul and founder of CBS Bill Paley was kind to her. He employed her and she wrote for a local NY newspaper. Paley provided an income for her for the rest of her life.

[peggyjaeger]

She was so pretty. Loved her hair. I think her childhood abuse scarred her for life. Her story was very similar to her contemporary Clara Bow. Both had such desperate lives, looking for the love they did not get in childhood. I thought they were both so cool I even cut my hair like that when I was a young girl. She had such an iconic look.

[emmylou-yb]

She was interviewed during her days in Rochester and so very forthcoming about her past. But was struck me most was her praise of her fellow actresses. There was something so genuine and kind about her despite the difficulties she encountered. Years ago, I saw Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl at a revival house. They were wonderful and she was magnificent.

[SunshineCatwoman]

Dying alone is not that tragic. I expect I will, too. You don't have to be lonely just because you're alone.

[catpainblackudder]

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark have a song about Louise Brooks called Pandora's Box, it was this song that introduced me to the Beauty that is Louise Brooks, well worth a listen....

[masudashizue]

I used to love looking at Louise Brooks in my Dad's old silent film books. She always used to look so well-groomed and carefree.

[RyanPhelps-pj]

I heard a comment by Liza Minelli that when she was preparing to film Caberet, she asked her father, Vincente Minelli, what she should do. He told her to watch Louise Brooks!