1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy d Wilson. Uh, Tracy, 4 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: did you watch Can you ever forgive me? I did not. 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: You should because it's great, But I had watched it 6 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:25,759 Speaker 1: in the lead up to the oscars Um, and in it, 7 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: the main character, who's based on a real person, Lee Israel, 8 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:32,880 Speaker 1: claims that she is working on a Fanny Brace biography. 9 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:34,880 Speaker 1: I promised to anybody who has not seen the movie, 10 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:36,920 Speaker 1: this is in no way a spoiler. There is a 11 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: minor spoiler I will give you, which is that one 12 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: other character says, who the heck cares about Fanny Brice 13 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: and I'm like, I do. Uh. So this got me 14 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:48,240 Speaker 1: thinking about how little I actually knew about Fanny Bryce. 15 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: I had seen the fictionalized version of her life, which 16 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: we'll talk about at the end um. But then I 17 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: was like, I wonder how much of that is true? 18 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: So then I fell down the research rabbit hole, and 19 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: now it's a two part of It was one of 20 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,399 Speaker 1: those things where I was like at the word count, 21 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: where we would normally start to be like, Okay, this 22 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: is about an episode long, and I had barely gotten 23 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:15,320 Speaker 1: through like her childhood. I was like, uh oh um, 24 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:17,679 Speaker 1: So then I just kept writing and then paired some 25 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: things down and now it's a two part episode. If 26 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: folks have been listening to the podcast for an incredibly 27 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: long time. She is mentioned in an old episode about 28 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 1: notable of odd billions, but it's like two and a 29 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,680 Speaker 1: half paragraphs, not nearly a thorough look at her at all, 30 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: And her life was very fascinating, like one. She really 31 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: made a space for herself on stage as a comedian, 32 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: primarily because she loved to perform, but she felt that 33 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: she was never going to be pretty enough to be 34 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: taken seriously as an actress or like as even as 35 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: a chorus girl. She was like, I don't fit in 36 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: with these women. And her personal life was a complete 37 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: and total roller coaster. I made a joke to a 38 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: friend of mine while we were talking about me research 39 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: watching this that if you made a drinking game where 40 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: you drank every time Fanny made a poor choice about men, 41 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: you would be utterly hammered by the of her life story. 42 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: Please don't do that, because she really would be dangerous 43 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,679 Speaker 1: at this point. But she really at the same time 44 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: was sort of triumphant, and she remains the original funny girl. 45 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,079 Speaker 1: Too many people making awkward kind of her brand from 46 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 1: the time she was a teenager. She was born on 47 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: October twenty nine, the third of four children born to 48 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,919 Speaker 1: Rose and Charles Borash. Her name when she was born 49 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: was Fania or maybe Fanya. Her immigrant family lived on 50 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: Manhattan's Lower East Side, and her mother, who had been 51 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: born Rose Stern, had moved from Hungary to New York 52 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:49,119 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy seven when she was ten years old. 53 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: She moved to live with an aunt after her mother 54 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: died and worked as a laborer in a series of jobs. 55 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: Her father, Charles, moved to New York in the eighteen 56 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: eighties after serving in the French Army, and it's not 57 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: really clear whether he was discharged from military service or 58 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: whether he deserted. Rose's and charles relationship wasn't entirely romantic. 59 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: Rose had been worried about her prospects with another suitor, 60 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:16,800 Speaker 1: and when Charles, who was a bartender, proposed using his 61 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: sister as a messenger of his intentions toward her, Rose 62 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:23,079 Speaker 1: eventually agreed, thinking it was better for her than any 63 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:26,639 Speaker 1: of her other options and not not one of history's 64 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: great romances um and related to our recent episode on 65 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: cruise ships. Fanny and her family traveled via ocean liner 66 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: to France to visit her father's family in and during 67 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 1: that trip, Fanny, who was traveling in steerage, learned that 68 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: she could go upstairs to the first class area and 69 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: get treats from wealthy passengers by putting on a sad expression, 70 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: sort of her first acting job. Not long after that 71 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: first visit to France, the family opened a candy and 72 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: stationary store in Newark, New Jersey, where they had moved. 73 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: They lived upstairs from the business. Rose ran the business 74 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: and Charles had an ongoing card game in the back room. 75 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: After two years of running the store, Rose open up 76 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:15,119 Speaker 1: bar because that was a much more lucrative business. Rose 77 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:17,479 Speaker 1: started running a lot of other bars as well as 78 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: sort of a roving manager, but Charles struggled with alcohol 79 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:23,919 Speaker 1: and he did not work. Yeah, Charles was kind of 80 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,359 Speaker 1: nicknamed French Charlie, and he was kind of this really 81 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: fun person to have around, but he did not really 82 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: have any sort of work ethic to speak of, so 83 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: Rose was really shouldering all of the burden of basically 84 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:38,600 Speaker 1: every bit of family business, and despite Charles's lack of ambition, 85 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: the family was financially stable thanks to Rose and basically 86 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: middle class because she had a lot of business acumen. 87 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: She worked really, really hard, so much so that Fanny 88 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 1: got in the habit of rating the Boresque family pantry 89 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:54,160 Speaker 1: and then taking things from it to the households of 90 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: friends who were less fortunate. So she would basically just 91 00:04:57,040 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: go take things out of their pantry and bring them 92 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: to a friend's house, and she would tell her friends 93 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:03,760 Speaker 1: that her mother had accidentally bought too much at the 94 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,159 Speaker 1: grocery store and that they needed to give it away 95 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 1: or it would go to waste, because she also didn't 96 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,919 Speaker 1: want people to feel weird that she was compelled to 97 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:14,599 Speaker 1: give them charity groceries. While this behavior was generous, Fanny 98 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: wasn't exactly a model child. Otherwise. She didn't keep her 99 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: thievery exclusive to the pantry. She stole money from her 100 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 1: mother as well and from other family friends, and then 101 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: from stores. She got caught stealing art supplies from a 102 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: department store with her brother, and that scared her straight 103 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: on the matter of shoplifting. But she also exhibited an 104 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: entrepreneurial spirit. As a kid, she had the classic lemonade 105 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:40,719 Speaker 1: stand to make some cash. She gave sewing lessons to 106 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: friends for a small stipend as well, and she kind 107 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: of inherited her mother's proclivity to just hustle all the 108 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: time and always be trying to make money, which is 109 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: really smart and astute. I kind of wish I had 110 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:55,159 Speaker 1: had more of that as a kid. But performing was 111 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: also a part of Fanny's early life, so when her 112 00:05:57,960 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: family had Sunday brunch, they would have it in the 113 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: bar and she would get up on the counter and 114 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: entertain her parents and her siblings. Her performances got applause 115 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: and Nichols from her father, Charles, who thought it was 116 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: all delightful. Her mother was a little less enthused with 117 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: this whole performance. When she was ten, Fanny started working 118 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: in a Newark department store as a gift wrapper. It 119 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:21,680 Speaker 1: was a pretty short engagement because Fanny told her coworkers 120 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,039 Speaker 1: that her mother had died and that her father was 121 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:27,919 Speaker 1: blind and the whole family was destitute. So her coworkers 122 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 1: organized a clothing drive for her, and that got the 123 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,360 Speaker 1: attention of the store management, who contacted her mother. Her 124 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: mother naturally was mortified, and then Fanny's job was over. Yeah, 125 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: Rose was mortified not just because her daughter had lied 126 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,840 Speaker 1: and said she was dead, but also because she was 127 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,039 Speaker 1: a regular customer at this store and had worked really 128 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: hard to be like a middle class woman, and so 129 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: then to have people think she was destitute was horribly embarrassing. Uh, 130 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: there were multiple levels of mortification going on there. Fanny's 131 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: parents separated. The following year, Rose moved out with the 132 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: children and she became a realtor. She left the bar 133 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: business behind. Charles became a bookmaker at the local race track, 134 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 1: and while Charles initially visited the children often, those visits 135 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: were always pretty brief and carefully timed periods when Rose 136 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: was out of the house working, Fanny started her career 137 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: as a professional actress, sort of in quotation marks. During 138 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: that time, she charged her school friends a penny to 139 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: see her perform melodramas in the basement of her house. 140 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: I did this in the basement of my house when 141 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: I was a child, but I didn't charge people a penny. 142 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: I know me too. I'm like I could have been 143 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: making bank off of that. They could also bring a 144 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: piece of fruit if they did not have a penny, 145 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: and she used her acting skills h much the same 146 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: way she had on their crossing of the Atlantic to Europe, 147 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: to get things like free fares on the trolley to 148 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: Coney Island and snacks for herself and her brother Lou 149 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: who was her ongoing accomplice, and all of this mischief. Yeah, 150 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: they were pros it basically like looking like sad destitute 151 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: children and people would be like, oh, do you want 152 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: some candy, a sandwich and apple? Like they were always 153 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: basically like making free ride vacation days for themselves. She 154 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:18,040 Speaker 1: also answered a job listing to work as a page 155 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: in a dress shop running errands in the lake, and 156 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,559 Speaker 1: she skipped school to work there every single day until 157 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: her mother discovered the situation. But that pattern was already set. 158 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 1: Fanny had been so cavalier about attending school that by 159 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,679 Speaker 1: the time she was a teenager, she was four years 160 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: behind her peers, which made her not want to go 161 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:38,320 Speaker 1: because that was embarrassing in a pain in the next 162 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 1: trying to catch up, and so she skipped and fell 163 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 1: even further behind. Most people estimate that, really, in terms 164 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 1: of attending school, eighth grade is about as far as 165 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: she really got. On a Thursday night in Fanny decided 166 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: to try her luck at a Brooklyn Vaudevielle theaters amateur 167 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: night sort of. The plan when she went to the 168 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: theater was just to watch from the audience, but when 169 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,040 Speaker 1: she and her friend got there, they realized they did 170 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: not have enough money for tickets, so Fanny lied and 171 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:08,559 Speaker 1: said that they were performing so that they could get 172 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:11,080 Speaker 1: in through the stage door. They figured they would watch 173 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:13,560 Speaker 1: for a while and then leave, but then she got 174 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:16,320 Speaker 1: pushed onto the stage by the stage manager without any warning. 175 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: This was initially quite scary for the teenager, and she 176 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 1: nearly started crying. Uh. Fanny was a ham, but she 177 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:25,280 Speaker 1: was not expecting any of this to happen, so she 178 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:28,640 Speaker 1: was really ill prepared. But with encouragement that was being 179 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 1: shouted from a few kids in the audience who knew 180 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 1: Fanny and had watched her perform in the neighborhood, she 181 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: eventually asked the orchestra to play a ballad that she knew, 182 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 1: and she started singing, and when it was over, the 183 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 1: crowd cheered and Fanny ended up collecting more than four 184 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,079 Speaker 1: dollars in coins that have been thrown onto the stage 185 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 1: as well as the amateur night prize, which was ten dollars, 186 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:52,960 Speaker 1: and then the theater owner, Frank Keeney, told Fanny that 187 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: she should dry out at other amateur contests as well. 188 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:58,839 Speaker 1: Fanny took this advice and she started performing at other 189 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: amateur nights all around Brooklyn. She won the majority of 190 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 1: them that she entered. She also started developing an actual 191 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:09,280 Speaker 1: act with specific songs and an occasional comedy bit. She 192 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 1: would go to these shows to compete and perform, and 193 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: she would make as much as thirty dollars a week. 194 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:16,200 Speaker 1: She gave most of this to her mother, but she 195 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:18,160 Speaker 1: realized that she would not be able to be an 196 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 1: amateur forever, and she also felt the pull of Manhattan. Yeah, 197 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:25,200 Speaker 1: that habit of giving her money to her mother lasted 198 00:10:25,559 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 1: really almost throughout her life. Um Rose also decided to 199 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,320 Speaker 1: move herself and the kids to Manhattan, so she was 200 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:34,199 Speaker 1: Fanny was not the only one who was thinking she 201 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 1: would like to move there, and they all relocated to 202 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 1: East eight two Street, and once there, Fanny hustled like 203 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,440 Speaker 1: crazy to get a real entertainment career going. She wasn't 204 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: even fifteen yet, but she understood that she had to 205 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 1: make connections if she wanted to get anywhere, so if 206 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:52,480 Speaker 1: she hung out where performers did so that she could 207 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:55,560 Speaker 1: make those connections, and through those connections she was able 208 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 1: to forge She and a friend were able to get 209 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 1: bit parts in the play A million Here's Revenge at 210 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:03,640 Speaker 1: the West End Theater. As part of the play, Fanny, 211 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 1: who appeared under the name Jenny Waters, played an artist's 212 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:10,440 Speaker 1: model who popped out of a pie one night when 213 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,320 Speaker 1: the play was being staged on tour in Pittsburgh. An 214 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: accident tipped the pie stage piece over while Fanny was 215 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: still inside of it. She was cut by the lightbulbs 216 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,439 Speaker 1: that were part of this piece of scenery. That was 217 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 1: the end of her run in A Millionaire's Revenge. And 218 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:27,520 Speaker 1: We're about to get into the next phase of Fanny's 219 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 1: early work in show business, but first we will pause 220 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 1: for a quick word from one of our sponsors. Realizing 221 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,720 Speaker 1: that the amateur night scene in Manhattan wasn't exactly booming, 222 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 1: it wasn't as popular there as it was in Brooklyn, 223 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: Fanny got a day job in a movie house and 224 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 1: during the day she sang and played piano along with 225 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,439 Speaker 1: the images on screen, but she also did all kinds 226 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:57,240 Speaker 1: of odd jobs for them, like making signs and even 227 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: working at the box office. A coworker to Old Fanny 228 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: about a show that needed some chorus girls, and so 229 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 1: she had her mother Collin sick for her and she 230 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:08,120 Speaker 1: went to what she thought was an audition, really that 231 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:10,440 Speaker 1: they just looked her over and asked her to leave 232 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: some information. She was informed by postcard two weeks later 233 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: that she had gotten the job and she needed to 234 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:19,560 Speaker 1: start rehearsals at the new Amsterdam Theater on Broadway. She 235 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:23,200 Speaker 1: annoyed the producers by trying to sing over the other 236 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 1: chorus girls, but then she turned down her himminus to 237 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: try to make them more happy then her dancing skills 238 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: or lack thereof, she had none. They got her fired anyway, 239 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:37,920 Speaker 1: she could not keep up with the other girls in 240 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:40,840 Speaker 1: the chorus um and she ended up. She was so 241 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:42,960 Speaker 1: embarrassed she told her mom that they had fired her 242 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 1: because her legs were too skinny. Um. She used that 243 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,960 Speaker 1: rejection though, as fuel, and she decided that she would 244 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 1: take dancing lessons. But the teacher that she hired was 245 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: really just taking on students to fill roles in her 246 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:58,120 Speaker 1: touring theater company, so essentially she was having people pay 247 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: her instead of her paying them for the work they 248 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,480 Speaker 1: were doing. The students did not get paid and they 249 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:07,079 Speaker 1: had to do off stage work as well. And Fanny 250 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:09,559 Speaker 1: learned really, really quickly through this experience that there were 251 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: plenty of people in the entertainment industry who were happy 252 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:15,480 Speaker 1: to use hopeful as with no intention of ever actually 253 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:18,720 Speaker 1: helping them with their careers. Next, she turned to burlesque, 254 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:21,080 Speaker 1: working as a chorus girl. Still, but she still couldn't 255 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:25,319 Speaker 1: dance all that well. She got cast in the Transatlantic Burlesquers. Anyway, 256 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 1: they put Fanny, who was tall and pretty gawky, into 257 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: the back where nobody could she see if she got 258 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:34,320 Speaker 1: the steps strong. I'm gonna say this is a technique 259 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 1: that directors were still using when I was in theater. 260 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: It's it's the trick as old at time. Yeah, my 261 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 1: mother described to me one time as awkward girl at 262 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:49,559 Speaker 1: the back of the chorus. Oh No. At this point 263 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,120 Speaker 1: we should note it was not burlesque in the sense 264 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:54,480 Speaker 1: that the word is used now. This was a variety 265 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:58,959 Speaker 1: show that was farcical and irreverence, where Broadway hopefuls would 266 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:02,320 Speaker 1: try to learn their craft strip tease acts that might 267 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: be associated more with it today, We're not part of 268 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 1: it then. No, it was still considered really low brown 269 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 1: by a lot of um like Broadway actors, but it 270 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:14,079 Speaker 1: did not have the sexualized connotation that it does today. 271 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:15,920 Speaker 1: Some of their acts were a little bit saucy, but 272 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 1: not not the same thing that you would think when 273 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: you say burlesque now. But even in this burlesque circuit, 274 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 1: fanny shortcomings were an issue. Producers and directors who recognized 275 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: her really really strong singing talent and her natural abilities 276 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,840 Speaker 1: in comedy worked to find ways to use her to 277 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: show those talents off. But that usually meant that she 278 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: was in sort of a stoogy punchline role, and she 279 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:40,440 Speaker 1: wanted to be a real entertainer. She didn't want her 280 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 1: presence to just be a joke, so she tried to 281 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 1: give herself a fresh start and adopted the last name Bryce. 282 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: That was the name of a family that her family 283 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: had been close with. She started touring with a new production, 284 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,480 Speaker 1: still in a pretty jokey role, and she started every 285 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 1: asking everyone from chorus girls to stage hands to teach 286 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 1: her dance steps. She would trade clothing and small amounts 287 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: of money for these lessons. She got good enough in 288 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: the first month of touring that she demanded to be 289 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 1: put back into the regular chorus, and then from there 290 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 1: she quickly progressed into the second row and then to 291 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 1: the front row as she got better and the company 292 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 1: shifted with cast members leaving the production. When she finally 293 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 1: got to play small roles, Fanny was actually really good. Yeah, 294 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:26,440 Speaker 1: she had kind of put together her own kind of 295 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 1: performers boot camp, learning how to dance really quickly and 296 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,760 Speaker 1: practicing everything, so when she finally did kind of get 297 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:35,440 Speaker 1: a shot at a little bit more, she was completely ready. 298 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:38,400 Speaker 1: And she soon moved on to another touring company. It 299 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,680 Speaker 1: was one that her younger brother Lou was working with 300 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 1: and they had needed a quick replacement for a female lead, 301 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:46,840 Speaker 1: and Fanny stepped right in and learned the part in 302 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: two days so that they could continue their tour uninterrupted. 303 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,400 Speaker 1: From there, Fanny continued to about a career. She worked 304 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 1: with Irving Berlin to develop specialty numbers that would become 305 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 1: her signature songs. So some of these, like Sadie Salom 306 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 1: I Go Home, were sung in a Yiddish accent, and 307 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: this was mocking a really popular trend at the time 308 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: of actresses doing their own version of the Dance of 309 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 1: the Seven Vales. Fanny developed the safety of this song 310 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: into a full character as she performed it, and that 311 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 1: became part of Fanny's comedy repertoire for years. We have 312 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 1: to pause for a little minute here and talk about 313 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 1: the kind of comedy that this was. In putting on 314 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:28,600 Speaker 1: a heavy Yiddish accent, Fanny was joining in on what 315 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:31,720 Speaker 1: was known as dialect comedy, which was really popular at 316 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 1: the time. It would be seen as completely racist today, 317 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,280 Speaker 1: but it was very common and popular in the early 318 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: half of the twentieth century. And Fanny, whose parents were 319 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 1: Jewish and also who grew up in a very mixed 320 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: New York neighborhood where she learned the accents of a 321 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: lot of different people, kind of straddled this line between 322 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: farce and outright mockery pretty carefully. Even as she was 323 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: playing up stereotypes, though, she was really mindful that there 324 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:58,720 Speaker 1: could be Jewish audience members, so she never wanted to 325 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: go too far with it. But it seems like it 326 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:04,399 Speaker 1: wasn't so much that she was being culturally sensitive. She 327 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: just didn't want the crowd to turn on her. She 328 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: was similarly careful in all of her comedy. She would 329 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:14,399 Speaker 1: satirize but never really sharply criticize with her jokes and 330 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,680 Speaker 1: her caricatures. The barbs that she had there were barbs, 331 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: but they stayed pretty gentle. Yeah. She generally had the 332 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 1: reputation for always being really good natured in making fun 333 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 1: of people, um, never cruel. There's a quote from RuPaul 334 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: that I can't say because we don't swear on this podcast. 335 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:33,359 Speaker 1: There's a good one of just you know, it's okay 336 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:36,120 Speaker 1: to be sassy, but don't be mean. That's the difference, 337 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:39,960 Speaker 1: um which carries you today. Although again, these like caricatures 338 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:41,720 Speaker 1: would not be cool today no matter how you did them. 339 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 1: I think. As she improvised through various performances, she also 340 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: got really good at letting the accidents that could derail 341 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:51,480 Speaker 1: most performers, for example, like an ill fitting costume that 342 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: made her move strangely or making a misstep just become 343 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 1: part of the comedy. So instead of letting an accident 344 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,840 Speaker 1: become an awkward embarrassment, she just kind of amplified it 345 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,119 Speaker 1: and it became part of the act. And through this 346 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:07,000 Speaker 1: approach she developed a really keen sense of physical comedy. 347 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 1: But she also sometimes irritated her fellow performers as she 348 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 1: would play up accidental gags that got laughs and sometimes 349 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,399 Speaker 1: take a scene or a number completely off course in 350 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:20,120 Speaker 1: the process. At seventeen, Fanny was signed to a three 351 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:24,359 Speaker 1: year contract by burlesque theater producer Max Spiegel. He wanted 352 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 1: her mother to sign it because she was only seventeen, 353 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:29,760 Speaker 1: but she lied and said that her mother couldn't right, 354 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:32,439 Speaker 1: so she would have to sign it for herself. She 355 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 1: worked through her first season. She fine tuned her act 356 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:38,879 Speaker 1: to optimize the comedic elements of it, and soon became 357 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:42,959 Speaker 1: one of the productions star performers. Yeah, that's another another 358 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 1: lie that I'm sure Rose would have been really irritated at, Like, 359 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: I'm literate, what are you talking about? She did not 360 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:51,920 Speaker 1: enjoy all of these FIBs that Fanny told. That kind 361 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:54,879 Speaker 1: of demeaned her and major seem like she was not 362 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: the accomplished when she was At eighteen, Fanny got married 363 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:02,640 Speaker 1: to an entrepreneur named Frank White who owned several barber shops. 364 00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:06,240 Speaker 1: This was definitely not a case of a deep and 365 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:10,200 Speaker 1: abiding love. Kind of repeated the family history of like, well, 366 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:13,680 Speaker 1: this seems like an okay idea. Uh, Fanny was generally 367 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 1: kind of distrustful of men. She felt she was not 368 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:19,480 Speaker 1: a great beauty, and so she presumed that men who 369 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 1: acted interested in her were being patronizing or were just 370 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:26,520 Speaker 1: they wanted something and that was it. But Frank had 371 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: followed her from city to city while she was on tour, 372 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: to see Fanny every night and take her out to dinners, 373 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:34,880 Speaker 1: and even though she did not love Frank, she agreed 374 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 1: to the wedding in part with the encouragement of a 375 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: friend of hers who was like, but then you'll be settled. 376 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 1: You'll be a wife and have a life um. The marriage, however, 377 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:46,639 Speaker 1: was as brief as the courtship, and after just a 378 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:49,399 Speaker 1: few days together, Frank left Fanny on the road with 379 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,919 Speaker 1: her theater troupe. They never saw one another again. The 380 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 1: marriage was formally ended with a divorce two years later, 381 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,879 Speaker 1: and Fanny concentrated on her career. In the interim, in 382 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:04,680 Speaker 1: Fanny heard from Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. Who, at what point, 383 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,640 Speaker 1: just as a side note, he had managed Eugen Sandow. 384 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:09,959 Speaker 1: That's the strong man who we talked about in our 385 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:13,200 Speaker 1: previous podcast on Katie Sandwina and once she famously bested 386 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 1: in a strength competition, So Florenz Ziegfeld sent Fanny a 387 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: telegram and it read quote, will you come to see 388 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:27,000 Speaker 1: me at your earliest convenience Stop Florenz Ziegfeld. Ziegfeld didn't 389 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:31,000 Speaker 1: actually know anything about Fanny, but his colleague Jerry Siegel 390 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,240 Speaker 1: had scouted her in her burlesque show and told Ziegfeld 391 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:36,520 Speaker 1: he should snatch her up for the zig Feld Follies. 392 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:39,960 Speaker 1: Siegel had also found out that because Fanny had signed 393 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:43,120 Speaker 1: her own contract at the age of seventeen, it technically 394 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,119 Speaker 1: wasn't legally binding, so Ziegfeld wouldn't have to buy her 395 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:49,679 Speaker 1: out of it. Fanny thought the Ziegfeld telegram was a 396 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:52,159 Speaker 1: prank that was being pulled by her cast mates, but 397 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:54,960 Speaker 1: it was real, and after she had a brief meeting, 398 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:58,480 Speaker 1: she was signed to the Ziegfeld Follies for two years. 399 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 1: She was making seventy five ors week for the first 400 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,280 Speaker 1: year and a hundred dollars a week for the second year. 401 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:06,920 Speaker 1: Her mother Rose later negotiated that to a hundred dollars 402 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:09,119 Speaker 1: for the first year and a hundred and fifty for 403 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,680 Speaker 1: the second. Just sort of evidence that maybe Fanny could 404 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:15,320 Speaker 1: have been relying on her mom instead of lying about 405 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:18,520 Speaker 1: her right, and that's like, uh, kind of touted as 406 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 1: the one time Rose ever got involved in Fanny's contracts, 407 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:24,320 Speaker 1: But clearly she did the right thing, so maybe she 408 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:27,600 Speaker 1: should have been involved more. Um, things did not go 409 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:31,119 Speaker 1: super duper smoothly for Fanny in her new job as 410 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:33,160 Speaker 1: a Zigfeld girl, but we're going to get into that 411 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:35,360 Speaker 1: after we hear from one of the sponsors that keep 412 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 1: stuff you missed in history class going. While Fanny made 413 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,399 Speaker 1: a positive impression in rehearsal with her singing, she had 414 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:52,720 Speaker 1: a little problem with lateness that consistently angered director Abe 415 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 1: or Langer. When Erlanger chastised Fanny, she did the unthinkable. 416 00:21:57,119 --> 00:21:59,320 Speaker 1: She stood up to him, even though he threatened to 417 00:21:59,359 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: have her fire. She basically like copped to the fact 418 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:03,920 Speaker 1: that she was late, but she's like, nobody gets to 419 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: talk to me like this. But when the Follies made 420 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:08,960 Speaker 1: their debut in Atlantic City ahead of moving to Broadway, 421 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: Fanny's number got a standing ovation and she told her 422 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:15,120 Speaker 1: Langer that he owed her an apology as she exited 423 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:18,560 Speaker 1: the stage. Both Fanny's first and second season with the 424 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: Follies were a little underwhelming in spite of that, really 425 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,159 Speaker 1: auspicious start. She was often seen as one of the 426 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,680 Speaker 1: anchors of the production, but overall, neither the nineteen ten 427 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 1: or nineteen eleven touring shows were especially huge hits. They 428 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:34,439 Speaker 1: were sort of a mix of uneven material. This was 429 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 1: a time, though, when she was first introduced to the 430 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:40,800 Speaker 1: glamorous aspects of a life and entertainment. She actually spent 431 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 1: a good bit of time was Zigfeld and his girlfriend 432 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,640 Speaker 1: at the time, Lillian Lorraine that the entrepreneur found Fanny's 433 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,600 Speaker 1: taste ghosh and made Lillian teacher how to select proper 434 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,480 Speaker 1: clothing for nights on the town. Apparently, when she got 435 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 1: a little bit of money and started buying her own clothes, 436 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:58,320 Speaker 1: she went complete tropical parrot, which I applaud and thinks 437 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 1: she should have kept forever. But that's just me. As 438 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:03,600 Speaker 1: the follies toured, Fanny became more and more of a 439 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 1: show bizgal. She was always fascinated by and drawn to 440 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:10,679 Speaker 1: anything that she thought was luxurious or sophisticated. At the 441 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:14,359 Speaker 1: end of Fanny's contract with Ziegfeld, he did not use 442 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:16,800 Speaker 1: to renew it. This came at the same time as 443 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 1: news that Fanny's father, Charlie, had died. He had largely 444 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,719 Speaker 1: vanished from Fanny's life after he and Rose had split, 445 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:26,119 Speaker 1: but the news still had an effect on his daughter. 446 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:30,400 Speaker 1: Fannie felt isolated during this time. Her mother had hated 447 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:33,359 Speaker 1: her father. By the time Charlie died, she didn't have 448 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:36,600 Speaker 1: anybody else to talk to you about it. Similarly, Rose 449 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:39,960 Speaker 1: just saw the entertainment industry as a job. She did 450 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:44,160 Speaker 1: not understand the heartache that Fanny felt about being dropped 451 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:47,439 Speaker 1: by Ziegfeld, and there is incidentally a little bit of 452 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: inconsistency about zig felt dropping Fanny and whether he actually 453 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:55,680 Speaker 1: intended to or not so. The follies company manager Ed 454 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:58,639 Speaker 1: Rosenbaum had told Fanny that Zigfeld did not want to 455 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,199 Speaker 1: see her when he was delivering a message to one 456 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:03,360 Speaker 1: of her colleagues that she was with that the producer 457 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,760 Speaker 1: did want to have a meeting with He basically said 458 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:08,440 Speaker 1: he wants to see you, not you, and Fanny took 459 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,359 Speaker 1: that as like the sign that she was done. But later, 460 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:13,600 Speaker 1: when they talked about it, zig Feld told Fanny that 461 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 1: this had all been a misunderstanding and he thought that 462 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,560 Speaker 1: Fanny would have just automatically come to talk to him 463 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:22,479 Speaker 1: about a new contract. The matter was never conclusively settled. 464 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 1: Fanny never fully bought into this idea that she could 465 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: have had a contract renewal, and by the time that 466 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:30,840 Speaker 1: this all happened and zig Felt told her that was 467 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,720 Speaker 1: not the case, Fanny had already signed a contract elsewhere. 468 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,679 Speaker 1: That elsewhere was with the Schubert Brothers. Fanny asked for 469 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:40,399 Speaker 1: and got four d and fifty dollars a week with 470 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:42,920 Speaker 1: the Schubert's. That was way more than she had made 471 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,239 Speaker 1: with zig Feld, and she had signed with them just 472 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,280 Speaker 1: days after the end of her time with zig Feld. 473 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,680 Speaker 1: So while she had money saved up to live comfortably 474 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: for at least a year, she didn't need to dip 475 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:57,000 Speaker 1: into her savings that much, just long enough to fill 476 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,359 Speaker 1: a really small gap of a few months before her 477 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:02,280 Speaker 1: work with the Huberts started. She ended up taking a 478 00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: vaudeville job during that time. She was hugely successful there, 479 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:10,199 Speaker 1: with one reviewer saying quote, ms. Bryce's chock full of 480 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:14,480 Speaker 1: function and has a keen sense of travesty. I absolutely 481 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: love that line. I wanted on a shirt. What if 482 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:21,000 Speaker 1: we what if we did that? I think we can uh. 483 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: Fanny's first show with the Schubert's was the touring version 484 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:26,640 Speaker 1: of World of Society, which had already been on Broadway 485 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:29,760 Speaker 1: starring Al Jolson, and the tour was expected to be 486 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 1: a money maker because Jolson had agreed to stay for it, 487 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:34,360 Speaker 1: so the Shuberts just thought, we're gonna Reka in cash 488 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:37,520 Speaker 1: left and right. Fanny's part was written in for her. 489 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 1: It was a maid named Marcel who spoke with a 490 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:42,679 Speaker 1: heavy Yiddish accent, so it played on that kind of 491 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,239 Speaker 1: comedy she had been doing. But she and Jolson had 492 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 1: some friction because he complained about one of her songs, 493 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: which she's saying in what she believed was a black 494 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,000 Speaker 1: dialect comedy style, and he did not like it. That 495 00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:57,399 Speaker 1: song was cut from the show after his complaints. Early 496 00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: on in her run with the Schubert Troope, Fanny met 497 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:03,080 Speaker 1: a and named Jules Whitford Arnstein, who went by Nick 498 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,960 Speaker 1: Arnold when they met. After a performance of Whirl of 499 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:09,119 Speaker 1: Society in Baltimore, Fanny and a friend from the show 500 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,320 Speaker 1: went to Nick Sweet with another man named Frank McGee 501 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,080 Speaker 1: for dinner the next week when the show was in Philadelphia. 502 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:18,679 Speaker 1: Fanny was impressed by the fancy digs, but it was 503 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: the bathroom that really captured her heart. Bryce would later 504 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:25,600 Speaker 1: say that she was born again in Nick's bathroom because 505 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:29,480 Speaker 1: she was so completely taken with his monogram silk pajamas 506 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:33,680 Speaker 1: and his fine toiletries and his multiple toothbrushes. Some rewards 507 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:37,439 Speaker 1: say that he had seven toothbrushes. She thought that she 508 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 1: had at last met a man of complete refinement and 509 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:44,359 Speaker 1: good taste, and she became completely enthralled with him. Really 510 00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:46,840 Speaker 1: that this man was a mess. He claimed to be 511 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 1: a businessman, at least to Fanny, but in reality he 512 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:52,720 Speaker 1: was a con man, a gambler, and a swindler. He 513 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:55,200 Speaker 1: had an arrest record. He had been taking into custody 514 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:59,720 Speaker 1: several times in various European cities. He told Fanny about 515 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:04,359 Speaker 1: at but not about his wife, Carrie Greenthal. Fanny found 516 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:06,680 Speaker 1: Nick's history, at least what she knew of it, sort 517 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:11,640 Speaker 1: of thrilling and romantic, Oh Fanny. Shortly after the two 518 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 1: met Nick, which he went by normally, he generally just 519 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,879 Speaker 1: started going by Nick Arnstein moved into the apartment that 520 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:22,600 Speaker 1: Fanny shared with her mother. Rose was not enthused. Bryce's 521 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,560 Speaker 1: mother was instantly suspicious of Nick. She saw through his 522 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: whole like I'm a worldly cool guy, trick uh, And 523 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 1: she told Fanny that she thought he was no good. 524 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,680 Speaker 1: But Fanny, who had always kept romance at arm's length 525 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,320 Speaker 1: prior to this point, fell deeply in love and she 526 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:41,119 Speaker 1: was not hearing any kind of reason. She described this 527 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:44,240 Speaker 1: period of her life as feeling like she was in heaven. 528 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:48,160 Speaker 1: Even as the realities of Nick's life started making themselves known, 529 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:52,040 Speaker 1: Fanny really refused to see him as anything but a cultured, 530 00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 1: sophisticated catch of a man. She found out about his wife, 531 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 1: but never brought it up with him. Eventually, Nick told 532 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,040 Speaker 1: her about his himself, and she decided she would stay 533 00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:04,439 Speaker 1: with him and wait for him to get divorced so 534 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:10,000 Speaker 1: that they could be together. And Fanny paid for everything furniture, clothes, travel, 535 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:12,280 Speaker 1: to the point that she ran out of pocket money. 536 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:14,879 Speaker 1: I had mentioned earlier that she got in the habit 537 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:17,439 Speaker 1: very early on of giving Rose her her income, and 538 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:20,200 Speaker 1: that continued for a long time because while she was 539 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,119 Speaker 1: still the primary breadwinner and had largely taken charge of 540 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:25,919 Speaker 1: the family business, at least in terms of being the earner, 541 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:30,120 Speaker 1: Rose still really handled the finances, and Rose put everything 542 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,119 Speaker 1: she could have Fanny's income into savings, not to be 543 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,359 Speaker 1: touched because she felt really strongly that that was the 544 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 1: only way to build security. Fanny actually ended up pawning 545 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,120 Speaker 1: some of her jewelry to surprise Nick by traveling to 546 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:44,840 Speaker 1: London with him for the summer, where he was allegedly 547 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,120 Speaker 1: going for business. She basically just showed up and was like, 548 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:49,880 Speaker 1: I'm going on this cruise with you. Fanny also used 549 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 1: this trip, though, to do some business of her own. 550 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,959 Speaker 1: Once they got to England, she appeared in several London 551 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,280 Speaker 1: shows and she negotiated some very lucrative contracts for her 552 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 1: work to appear there. Fanny was incredibly happy on this trip, 553 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:05,080 Speaker 1: and she felt like she finally had everything that she 554 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:08,280 Speaker 1: wanted in life. So with this happy moment, we're going 555 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:12,000 Speaker 1: to end part one. It's a nice place to end. 556 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 1: That bliss is not going to last into part two though, No, 557 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:18,160 Speaker 1: we'll give We'll give Fanny a couple of days of blissful, 558 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:22,600 Speaker 1: blissful moments before it all falls apart, because it does. 559 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:26,240 Speaker 1: Nick is exactly the person he sounds like, yeah attached 560 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:32,920 Speaker 1: to him. He's terrible, Um I uh oh. Fanny. It's 561 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:35,800 Speaker 1: funny because she seems so savvy in some ways and 562 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 1: then became this strange, naive version of herself the second 563 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,160 Speaker 1: she met him. We'll talk about just how deeply he 564 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 1: shifted her life and all of the problems that arose 565 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,280 Speaker 1: from it. Uh, next time around. But now I have 566 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:52,520 Speaker 1: listener mail and it's cool. Are you ready, Tracy? I am? 567 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 1: You really are. You don't know that you are, but 568 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: you are. We got thanked in a book what uh huh? 569 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:02,280 Speaker 1: And I will read uh. The author, who is Stephanie 570 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:04,240 Speaker 1: moral I or more real, I don't know how she 571 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:06,880 Speaker 1: pronounces it, wrote us a card and sent us copies. 572 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,120 Speaker 1: She writes, Dear Tracy and Holly, I imagine you received 573 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 1: packages like this all the time, but I couldn't resist in. 574 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 1: When I listened to your two part episode on Executive 575 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:19,440 Speaker 1: Order ninety sixty six, I was deeply moved. Being a 576 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,000 Speaker 1: young adult author, my thoughts turned to the teens whose 577 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,840 Speaker 1: lives were interrupted by the evacuation. I thought, what if 578 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,080 Speaker 1: an Italian American girl was in love with a Japanese 579 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 1: American boy and when his family was taken away, hers 580 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 1: got to stay. And this turned into the enclosed book. Uh. 581 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:36,600 Speaker 1: So she wrote this book, which is called Within these Lines, 582 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:38,959 Speaker 1: and she very sweetly put a thank you to us 583 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:41,480 Speaker 1: in the back which is nice, just darling, It's very cool. 584 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,600 Speaker 1: So um, thank you so much, Stephanie. I'm I'm always 585 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:49,160 Speaker 1: odd by people who chure out books, UM, because I don't. 586 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,200 Speaker 1: I've had many stabs at them and then realized that's 587 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:55,440 Speaker 1: not really what I ever want to do. UH, but 588 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:58,040 Speaker 1: would like to write to us, You can do so 589 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:00,880 Speaker 1: at History Podcast at house topworks dot com. You can 590 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 1: also find us across the spectrum of social media as 591 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 1: missed in History. UH. You can also find us at 592 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 1: missed in History dot com. That's our website where we 593 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:11,360 Speaker 1: have every episode of the show that has ever existed, 594 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:14,360 Speaker 1: as well as UH show notes from any of the 595 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:16,120 Speaker 1: ones that Tracy and I have worked on. You can 596 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:18,320 Speaker 1: also subscribe to the show, and we hope that you do. 597 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:20,520 Speaker 1: You can do that on the I Heart Radio app, 598 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 1: at Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. For 599 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,120 Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics, visit how 600 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 1: staff works dot com.