Funny Woman

by Barbara Wallace Grossman

Fanny Brice (1891-1951) was a truly popular entertainer, with a career that spanned four decades. She was a hit in almost every branch of American show business―burlesque and vaudeville, drama and musical revues (including nine Ziegfeld Follies ), film and radio. She is most often remembered for her characterization of the radio brat Baby Snooks, yet Snooks was not Brice's best role. A brilliant comic, Fanny Brice had a significant impact on a field that had been predominantly male, proving that the term "funny woman" was not an oxymoron.

Genres: Biography

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fanny Brice has been dead for over seventy years now and probably would be long forgotten if not for the musical Funny Girl and the film of the same name that followed it. This book might clear up some misconceptions about Brice’s life if you’re a fan of the musical or the movie. They were big hits and gave immediate recognition to Barbra Streisand at the beginning of her career. In reading this book you can see that Brice’s family was very reluctant to give interviews after her death in 1950 and had a lot of control over the Funny Girl productions. Brice herself stretched the truth and spread misinformation during her lifetime.

I was curious about the burlesque background and times she came from and this book supplies some of that information. My big complaint is that it is so UN-funny. Nothing is more dull than an academic rendering of a historic comedienne’s humor. That humor was definitely of its time too. Brice was loved for her broad physical mugging and Jewish humor that could never be considered even remotely politically correct today. It may be a fairy tale, but I’d recommend Funny Girl the musical (probably still touring somewhere) or the movie from 1968.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of an academic read than fun, because it had to be so heavily researched to get accurate info, but in the end gives a great appreciation for Fanny Brice while also clearing up a lot of the misinformation about her.