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Louise Brooks Biography
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Louise Brooks started in showbiz as a dancer, as one of the members of the Denishawn modern dance company in 1922. Other members of the company included Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn and Martha Graham. Two years later, over a fight with Ruth St. Denis, she was fired from the company.
After leaving the company, with the help of her friend Barbara Bennet, Louise Brooks then landed a role as chorus girl in George White’s Scandals. The following year, she was again a dancer in the Broadway production of Ziegfeld Follies.
Her performance at the Follies got the attention of Walter Wanger, Paramount Pictures producer. He then offered Louise Brooks a five year contract under the studio which Louise gladly accepted. Her performance at the Follies also got the attention of star Charlie Chaplin. This lead to an affair with him during the summer of 1925.
Louise Brooks' first film was The Street of Forgotten Men although she was not credited for the part. However, she soon landed lead parts opposite the studio’s leading men in several comedies. Then in 1928, Louise became a star, not just in Hollywood, but also in Europe for her role in A Girl in Every Port. However, her best Hollywood role was in the film Beggars of Life, also in 1928, for which she played the role of a country girl who was abused. She was seen opposite Wallace Beery and Richard Arlen.
Despite the success of her film, Paramount did not give her the raised she was promised and this prompted her to leave Hollywood for Europe. In Europe, Louise Brooks did several films including Pandora’s Box by G.W. Pabst, Diary of A Lost Girl, also by Pabst, and Prix de Beaute. Her films were censored and were considered as shocking during its time. In 1931 Louise Brooks returned to Hollywood and made mainstream films such as God’s Gift to Women, It Pays to Advertise and Overland Stage Raiders.
Louise Brooks had many lovers and husbands including the millionaire, Deering Davis. Despite not being able to make it into mainstream, she was considered an icon of the silent films.
