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  1. Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906August 8, 1985) was an American film actress during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an icon of the flapper culture, in part due to the bob hairstyle that she helped popularize during the prime of her career.

    • She Had An Artistic Family
    • She Had An Evil Neighbor
    • She Carried Her Trauma with Her
    • She Had A Disciplined Childhood
    • She Was A Born Performer
    • She Got Her First Taste of Success
    • She Had A Great Rival
    • She Got The Chop
    • She Never Forgot
    • She Bounced Back

    From the moment she was born, Louise Brooks had the arts at her fingertips. Her father, Leonard Brooks, was a lawyer with a magnificent library, and her mother, Myra Rude, was an accomplished pianist with an unrivaled passion for music and books. Surrounded by inspiration, little Louise became a pleasure-seeker at a young age. But although this see...

    When she was only nine years old, Louise met a neighbor known as "Mr. Flowers." However, he was nowhere near as pleasant as his name suggested. In truth, Mr. Flowers was a vicious predator who targeted Louise and mistreated her. This formative experience scarred her psyche forever, haunting her love life in the most unimaginable ways. Laura Loveday...

    Later, Louise cited her horrific run-in with Mr. Flowers as the reason for her inability to find real love and noted that he "must have had a great deal to do with forming my attitude toward...pleasure...For me, nice, soft, easy men were never enough—there had to be an element of domination." Louise earned her hard edges early,but not only because ...

    As much as Louise's mother entranced her children with the tranquil melodies of Debussy and Ravel, she also had a strong rational streak that made her eager to foster a sense of independence in them. She said that any "squalling brats she produced could take care of themselves." In fact, by the time she was 10 years old, her mother had already hone...

    Louise's road to stardom began on the small stages—but even then, people started taking notice of the young girl's magnetic presence. In the beginning, she stepped into the spotlight at local fairs and clubs, and by the time she turned 11, Louise was dazzling audiences with her performances at the neighborhood opera house. But this was only the beg...

    Louise's dancing career truly took off once she moved to New York City—a whole new world that contrasted her small-town upbringing in Kansas. It was here that Louise joined Denishawn, one of America's most renowned modern dance troupes. It thrust a surreal veil over her teenage years as she danced alongside some of the future greats and saw her nam...

    During her second year with Denishawn, Louise climbed the rankings and even landed a coveted role opposite one of the troupe's founders, Ted Shawn. She felt every opportunity open up to her as she continued to hone her skills—learning, dancing, and growing up. There was, however, just one problem. Louise had a rivalry with the other founder, Ruth S...

    To Ruth, Louise seemed like an entitled little princess. So, just as Louise's career with the dancing troupe took off, Ruth turned around and dealt her a brutal betrayal.In front of the other dancers, she singled out Louise and fired her: "I am dismissing you from the company because you want life handed to you on a silver salver." And like most pi...

    Louise never forgot Ruth's insults, and later in her life, while drafting her autobiography, she decided to title the final chapter "Silver Salver." But as disappointing as her banishment from Denishawn was, there were still big things waiting for Louise. Up next? Broadway. Thankfully, Louise managed to bounce back from her dismissal and found some...

    Louise landed work as a chorus girl in George White's Scandals, which helped catapult the careers of other huge stars like The Three Stooges and Ray Bolger. But her prospects didn't end there. In 1925, she was also a featured dancer in the Ziegfield Follies. But even as she danced her heart out in the Scandals, Louise herself was about to be embroi...

  2. Jul 14, 2024 · Only six years after this interview, Brooks died in her home, alone. If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

  3. Louise Brooks (born November 14, 1906, Cherryvale, Kansas, U.S.—died August 8, 1985, Rochester, New York) was an American motion-picture actress who was noted for her seemingly effortless incarnation of corrupt sensuality in silent-picture roles during the 1920s.

    • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
  4. Nov 14, 2023 · Louise Brooks can be seen to have made the most of a raw deal. Undoubtedly, her character, particularly her sexuality, was changed forever when she was molested by an older man at the age of nine. Louise called her molester “Mr. Flowers” and sometimes “Mr. Feathers.”.

  5. Aug 10, 1985 · Louise Brooks, the silent movie actress from small-town Kansas whose helmet of bobbed brunet hair became her trademark and a symbol of the disdainful flapper of the 1920's, died of a heart...

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  7. Jun 3, 1979 · Kenneth Tynan surveys the extraordinary but short-lived career of the film star Louise Brooks, and interviews Brooks herself, a vehement, unself-pitying seventy-one-year-old with perfect recall...