Mae Murray : the girl with the bee-stung lips / Michael G. Ankerich ; foreword by Kevin Brownlow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ankerich, Michael G., 1962-

Series:

Screen classics (Lexington, Ky.)

Screen classics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Murray, Mae, 1885-1965.

Murray, Mae.

Motion picture actors and actresses--United States--Biography.

Motion picture actors and actresses.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xi, 376 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lexington, Ky. : University Press of Kentucky, [2013]

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Untangling Mae Murray's tangled beginnings, 1885-1899

Dancing into the new century, 1900-1907

Ziegfeld and the millionaire, 1908-1911

Life is a cabaret, 1912-1914

From footlights to kliegs, 1915

The disillusions of a dream girl, 1916

Ready for my close-ups, Mr. Lasky!, 1917

The delicious little Mae, 1918-1919

On with the dance, 1920

Strutting like a peacock through Tiffany's, 1921-1922

Mae the enchantress, 1923-1924

the merry widow and the dirty Hun, May 1924 March 1925

From merry widow to gay divorcée, 1925

Princess Mdivani, 1926

The lion's roar, the baby's cry, 1927

A world of cheap imitations, 1928

The sound of bee-stung lips, 1929-1931

Oh, brother!, 1932

From a prince to a toad, 1933

Losing Koran, 1934-1940

Outliving fame, 1941-1957

Self-enchantment, 1958

1960

A star in twilight, 1961-1965

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Professional theater

Filmography.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references, filmography and index.

ISBN:

9780813136905

0813136903

9780813136912

0813136911

9780813140384

0813140382

OCLC:

788281963