Fanny Brice

An all-round entertainer of matchless ability and versatility, Fanny Brice was one of the great names of American musical theatre either side of the First World War. However, apart from the distorting biopics Funny Girl and Funny Lady, starring Barbra Streisand, little has been written about her dazzling career or complex private life. In this first biography of a beloved star of burlesque, vaudeville, and radio, Herbert Goldman reveals a strong woman who was equally adept at comedy, farce, and drama, and whose torch songs were the highlight of innumerable Ziegfeld Follies. He also examines the influence of her Jewish background on her work, and her troubled marriages to Nick Arnstein, the gangster who rigged baseball's World Series in 1919, and impresario Billy Rose.