Mae Murray (1885–1965), popularly known as "the girl with the bee-stung lips," was a fiery presence in silent-era Hollywood. Renowned for her classic beauty and charismatic presence, she rocketed to stardom as a dancer in the Ziegfeld Follies, moving across the country to star in her first film, To Have and to Hold, in 1916. An instant hit with audiences, Murray soon became one of the most famous names in Tinseltown.
However, Murray's moment in the spotlight was fleeting. The introduction of talkies, a string of failed marriages, a serious career blunder, and a number of bitter legal battles left the former star in a state of poverty and mental instability that she would never overcome.
In this intriguing biography, Michael G. Ankerich traces Murray's career from the footlights of Broadway to the klieg lights of Hollywood, recounting her impressive body of work on the stage and screen and charting her rapid ascent to fame and decline into obscurity. Featuring exclusive interviews with Murray's only son, Daniel, and with actor George Hamilton, whom the actress closely befriended at the end of her life, Ankerich restores this important figure in early film to the limelight.
- 393 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
About this book
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Print ISBN
9780813136905
Table of contents
- Front Cover
- Frontispiece
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- 1. Untangling Mae Murray's Tangled Beginnings
- 2. Dancing into the New Century
- 3. Ziegfield and the Millionaire
- 4. Life Is a Cabaret
- 5. From Footlights to Kliegs
- 6. The Disillusions of a Dream Girl
- 7. Ready for My Close-ups, Mr. Lasky!
- 8. The Delicious Little Mae
- 9. On with the Dance
- 10. Strutting Like a Peacock through Tiffany's
- 11. Mae the Enchantress
- 12. The Merry Widow and the Dirty Hun
- 13. From Merry Widow to Gay Divorcee
- 14. Princess Mdivani
- 15. The Lion's Roar, the Baby's Cry
- 16. A World of Cheap Imitation
- 17. The Sound of Bee-Stung Lips
- 18. Oh, Brother!
- 19. From a Prince to a Toad
- 20. Losing Koran
- 21. Outliving Fame
- 22. Self-Enchantment
- 23. A Star in Twilight
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- Professional Theater
- Filmography
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Series page
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