Alice
Faye: A Life Beyond the Silver Screen by
Jane Lenz Elder
Alice
Faye: A Life Beyond the Silver Screen by
Jane Lenz Elder
Four years in the making, this biography of Alice Faye has captured the essence of its subject. Author Jane Lenz Elder's exhaustive research into the life of Miss Faye, including interviews with her two daughters, many close friends, and several life-long fans, has paid off.
Alice Faye was a very unpretentious and honest lady. Born to humble surroundings, her love for show business at an early age spurred her on to succeed beyond her wildest dreams. Opportunities presented themselves, and she took advantage of them. She was a beautiful blonde with a lovely figure, and she possessed an inimitable deep contralto singing voice. On top of that, she had a personal warmth that seemed to envelop her audiences. Her rise to stardom was meteoric. She arrived in Hollywood in 1934 to perform one song for the film "George White's Scandals." The leading lady assigned to the film disliked her part and walked out. Alice was elected to take over the role and was an immediate success, resulting in a term contract with Fox pictures. In six short years Alice was named Hollywood's Number One female box office star.
Her spats over the years with studio head Darryl Zanuck culminated in l945, with Alice chucking her movie career after she discovered that Zanuck had butchered her role in the drama "Fallen Angel." Jane Lenz Elder vividly recalls the triumphs and disappointments in Miss Faye's movie and radio careers, as well as in her personal life. Where more than one account of an incident in her life has been reported, the author presents both accounts and lets the reader decide which is the more plausible.
This is the first in-depth biography written on Alice Faye, and it is a worthy companion to the much heralded "The Films of Alice Faye" by W. Franklyn Moshier. Alice Faye: A Life Beyond the Silver Screen
by Jane Lenz Elder
Visitors to this web site need no introduction to the sweet demeanor, sultry glances, and velvety voice of Alice Faye. Her haunting rendition of “You’ll Never Know” has never been surpassed by any other singer. Her films, such as Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Tin Pan Alley, and The Gang’s All Here, remain perennial favorites on classic movie channels and at video rental outlets.
Now for the first time, fans of the fabulous Faye can enjoy a full-scale biography of the beloved star. Four years in the making, Alice Faye: A Life Beyond the Silver Screen, is being published by the University of Mississippi Press (available in October) as part of its Hollywood Legends series. Film historian Jane Lenz Elder conducted interviews with Alice’s friends and family, consulted leading oral history collections, and dug through archives in California, New York, and Linton, Indiana (home to the Phil Harris-Alice Faye Collection), to create the most compelling, comprehensive, and accurate depiction of Faye’s life yet published.
Beginning life in the Hell’s Kitchen section of New York, Alice Faye went from an adolescent chorus girl in the 1920s to one of Hollywood’s top box office draws of the 1930s and 1940s. Populating her life were such luminaries as Don Ameche, Jack Benny, Betty Grable, Jack Haley, Phil Harris, John Payne, Tyrone Power, Tony Martin, Shirley Temple, Rudy Vallée, and the ruthless studio mogul, Darryl F. Zanuck. Alice met success in the early days of broadcast radio and in Hollywood’s golden age. She also endured setbacks, scandals and, above all, the challenges of the big studio system. She faced life squarely with humor and determination, and eventually emerged as one of Hollywood’s most graceful survivors.
Alice Faye: A Life Beyond the Silver Screen is a must read for any Faye fan.
Alice Faye: A Life Beyond the Silver Screen by Jane Lenz Elder
Available October 2002 6x9 inches, 256 pages 25 black & white illustrations filmography, bibliography, index ISBN 1-57806-210-1
Call 1-800-737-7788 to order toll-free
Other books of interest devoted solely to the life and career of Alice Faye:
1. The Films of Alice Faye aka The Alice Faye Movie Book
(a) The Films of Alice Faye by W. Franklyn Moshier, First Edition, 1971, self-published by author. Hard back, royal blue fabric cover with gold-leaf signature of Alice Faye. (No dust jacket.)
One of the best and most accurate books of its kind ever published. Contains story synopses, credits and cast for each film, over 250 illustrations, candid reviews, advertising posters, and sheet music covers. Highly praised.
(b) The Films of Alice Faye by W. Franklyn Moshier, Second Edition, 1972, self-published by author. Hard back, royal blue fabric cover with golf-leaf signature of Alice Faye. Dust jacket, black and white portrait of Alice Faye from "Lillian Russell."
Added for this edition: color photo of Alice Faye, discography, section entitled "The Many Faces of Alice Faye" containing many photos. Same high quality as first edition.
(c) The Alice Faye Movie Book by W. Franklyn Moshier. Published 1974 by Stackpole Books with permission of author. Hard back dark blue cover with gold print. Dust jacket, black and white portrait of Alice Faye from "The Gang's All Here" with pink and white background.
The contents of this book are the same as (b) above with the exception of a full-page black and white portrait of Alice Faye and John Payne in "Good News" being inserted to replace the color portrait in the Second Edition.
(d) The Alice Faye Movie Book by W. Franklyn Moshier. Published 1975 by A & W Visual Library with permission of author. Paperback with black and white 1930s portrait of Alice Faye on cover, black and pink trim. Back cover has full-length portrait of subject from "In Old Chicago." Contents same as (c) above.
2. Alice Faye: A Bio-Bibliography by Barry Rivadue. Published 1990 by Greenwood Press. Hard back plain black cover, white printing framed with purple. Contains the following sections: biography, filmography, discography, broadcasting, stage, annotated bibliography, song sheets, and product endorsements. Over one dozen photos used throughout.
Contains a wealth of information but is loaded with inaccuracies and omissions, so it is highly unreliable. The author was more interested in getting it done now than getting it done right. A lost opportunity. We are embarrassed to have been associated with it.
3. Growing Older, Staying Young by Alice Faye with Dick Kleiner. Published 1990 by Dutton. Hard back with dust jacket, gold with photo of Alice Faye in red sweatsuit.
Alice offers health tips for living a rewarding life and includes many anecdotes about her fabulous days as a top star in the golden age of Hollywood. Great photo section.