All About Brooksie: Discovering the Art of Lulu While Louise Brooks was a symbol of the silent film era, her talents extended beyond the stage and movie set. She was also a writer and accomplished dancer, as well as a symbol of beauty and rebellion. Writer, Dancer, Actress  Mary Louise Brooks was born in Cherryvale, Kansas, on November 14, 1906. Brooksie, as she was known throughout her childhood, began dancing with the Denishawn Dancers in 1922 when she was just 16 years old. She was dismissed in 1924 and became a chorus girl in a Broadway series called Scandals.  In 1924, Louise left for Europe before returning to New York the…

What does compelling evidence amount to in the absence of outright proof? How far does mere suspicion carry you without a frank confession? In a court of law, evidence and suspicion are typically inadequate where securing a desired verdict is concerned. But the court of public opinion is a quite separate phenomenon, indeed. This brings us to the legendary Silent Era film star Louise Brooks (1906-1985), to her brief but monumental on-screen career, to the famous work of literature which may well have drawn inspiration from her captivating persona, and to her unpublished memoir Naked on my Goat, which she inexplicably incinerated after having devoted considerable time to its completion. As…

The Mysterious Inspiration Behind Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita The brilliant yet somewhat obstinate story of Lolita from Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 publication often comes up with discussing controversial literary works. The tale focuses on Humbert Humbert, a professor of literature who becomes intimately involved with a pre-teen girl after seducing and marrying her middle-aged, widowed mother. Although stories like this have been a part of literature for centuries, Nabokov’s piece was always considered to be an original work of fiction. Literary scholars have studied this along with his other work over time. However, in 2005, a literary critic created controversy when he made claims that Nabokov’s Lolita wasn’t original and may have even been stolen.…

Rising to fame during a time when America was obsessed with the glitz and glam of the dark contrasts of black and white on film, Louise Brooks stood above the rest.  Louise brought a sense of rebellious sensuality to silent films, embodying the 1920s flapper culture that women were embracing in retaliation of social norms.  Flappers were a social rebellion against what was expected of women in the 1920s in America. Instead of the quiet and reserved housewife that women were expected to portray, both in film and in the home, flappers presented themselves with short bob hairstyles, dark makeup, short dresses, a casualness about sex, and a penchant for…