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Hollywood Legends
Alice Faye: A Life Beyond the Silver Screen
Alice Faye's sweet demeanor, sultry glances, and velvety voice were her signatures. Her haunting rendition of -You'll Never Know- has never been surpassed by any other singer. Fans adored her in such films as Alexander's Ragtime Band, Rose of Washington Square, Tin Pan Alley, and Hello, Frisco, Hello.
In the 1930s and 1940s she reigned as queen of Twentieth Century-Fox musicals. She co-starred with such legends as Shirley Temple, Tyrone Power, Carmen Miranda, and Don Ameche and was voted the number-one box-office attraction of 1940, placing ahead of Bette Davis and Myrna Loy. To a select cult of admirers, she remains a beloved star. In 1945 at the pinnacle of her career she chose to walk out on her Fox contract. This remarkable episode is unlike any other in the heyday of the big-studio system. Her daring departure from films left Fox mogul Darryl F. Zanuck and the rest of the movie industry flabbergasted. For years she had skirmished with him over her roles, her health, and her private life.
After leaving Fox, Faye (1915-1998) devoted herself to her marriage to radio star Phil Harris, to motherhood, and to a second career on radio in the Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, broadcast for eight years. She happily gave up films in favor of the independence and self-esteem that she discovered in private life. She willingly freed herself of the -star-treatment- that debilitated so many of her contemporaries. In the 1980s she emerged as a spokeswoman for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, touring America to encourage senior citizens to make their lives more meaningful and vital.
This book captures the special essence of Alice Faye, her work in film, radio, and popular music, and indeed her graceful survival beyond the silver screen.
In the 1930s and 1940s she reigned as queen of Twentieth Century-Fox musicals. She co-starred with such legends as Shirley Temple, Tyrone Power, Carmen Miranda, and Don Ameche and was voted the number-one box-office attraction of 1940, placing ahead of Bette Davis and Myrna Loy. To a select cult of admirers, she remains a beloved star. In 1945 at the pinnacle of her career she chose to walk out on her Fox contract. This remarkable episode is unlike any other in the heyday of the big-studio system. Her daring departure from films left Fox mogul Darryl F. Zanuck and the rest of the movie industry flabbergasted. For years she had skirmished with him over her roles, her health, and her private life.
After leaving Fox, Faye (1915-1998) devoted herself to her marriage to radio star Phil Harris, to motherhood, and to a second career on radio in the Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, broadcast for eight years. She happily gave up films in favor of the independence and self-esteem that she discovered in private life. She willingly freed herself of the -star-treatment- that debilitated so many of her contemporaries. In the 1980s she emerged as a spokeswoman for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, touring America to encourage senior citizens to make their lives more meaningful and vital.
This book captures the special essence of Alice Faye, her work in film, radio, and popular music, and indeed her graceful survival beyond the silver screen.
- GenresBiographyFilmNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 27, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 30, 2012
One of my favorite's in movies from the early 30's to mid-40's, Faye is not as well known today as she was during the height of her career (a top 10 star for almost a decade). Unfortunately the biography doesn't do her justice. I'm very glad it was written, the book is a full and complete account of her life with publicity, media, and personal quotes to fill out the very limited personal information Faye gave out on her own. But it reads like a listing of events rather than a story, and after reading so many great biographies lately, my expectations have risen greatly. 4 stars for thoroughness, 2 stars for liveliness.
January 13, 2022
A closer look to the life of Alice Faye. From the Hell’s Kitchen slums, through the nightclubs and speakeasies of New York, to success in radio and movies, and a worthy, working retirement, Alice Faye led a rags-to-riches life. I like her mellow, fabulous contralto while singing You’ll Never Know as soundtrack for “Hello, Frisco, Hello” (1943), singing Hawaii and dancing with Betty Grable in “Tin Pan Alley” (1940).
She might not be comfortable being compared to Jean Harlow, the first bombshell. Alice feel sympathetic for her, instead. Her calm, reserved face and tend to like privacy makes me think she’s such a clumsy introvert. Barely known her struggling with stage fright early in her career on stage as a singer. What I really like from Alice is her ‘good life’ with no foul scandals like most actress did.
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
Alice would spend the rest of her life answering the question posed by so many fans: what was it like to kiss Tyrone Power? “I would say ‘Like you’d died and gone to heaven,’” Alice said, “but as far as really wanting to go to bed with him, I never really wanted to. I don’t think he wanted to go to bed with me—maybe we would have. It just didn’t happen.” She remembered that “a lot of women sleep with their leading men—lots of them do, but I didn’t do it.”
Like everyone else on the set, she revered Buster Keaton but found him “a quiet, reserved gentleman and not easy to know.” She later regretted that her own innate shyness prevented her from getting to know him better. “I was never too outgoing myself, so the result was that we were polite and friendly, but nothing beyond that,” she said. “I am sure I could have learned a great deal from him, if only I had tried a little harder to draw him out of his shell.”
She might not be comfortable being compared to Jean Harlow, the first bombshell. Alice feel sympathetic for her, instead. Her calm, reserved face and tend to like privacy makes me think she’s such a clumsy introvert. Barely known her struggling with stage fright early in her career on stage as a singer. What I really like from Alice is her ‘good life’ with no foul scandals like most actress did.
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
Alice would spend the rest of her life answering the question posed by so many fans: what was it like to kiss Tyrone Power? “I would say ‘Like you’d died and gone to heaven,’” Alice said, “but as far as really wanting to go to bed with him, I never really wanted to. I don’t think he wanted to go to bed with me—maybe we would have. It just didn’t happen.” She remembered that “a lot of women sleep with their leading men—lots of them do, but I didn’t do it.”
Like everyone else on the set, she revered Buster Keaton but found him “a quiet, reserved gentleman and not easy to know.” She later regretted that her own innate shyness prevented her from getting to know him better. “I was never too outgoing myself, so the result was that we were polite and friendly, but nothing beyond that,” she said. “I am sure I could have learned a great deal from him, if only I had tried a little harder to draw him out of his shell.”
March 24, 2023
Elder tackles the life of Alice Faye, the actor and songstress who dared tell 20th Century-Fox to shove it, after they slashed her first true dramatic performance to ribbons. But either Faye's life beyond that moment of melodrama wasn't terribly interesting or (more likely) her passion for privacy makes her a hard figure to chronicle or know. There are a few insights from friends (as well as one revelation about hemmorhoids), but too much of this hagiography comes from old newspaper reports, and the author's desire to portray Faye's later life as just as interesting as her Hollywood years is a curious one, since she doesn't really seem to have done anything except for a mediocre radio sitcom and some presentations for Pfizer.
January 27, 2021
An entertaining biography of an unfairly forgotten big movie star of the 1930s and 1940s.
Alice Faye is a real rags to riches story, growing up in New York's Hell's Kitchen and going on to become a big movie star in Hollywood. She left Hollywood on her own terms and led a happy and scandal free life which might be part of the reason she is mostly forgotten today. I enjoy her movies and was interested to read about her life.
Alice Faye is a real rags to riches story, growing up in New York's Hell's Kitchen and going on to become a big movie star in Hollywood. She left Hollywood on her own terms and led a happy and scandal free life which might be part of the reason she is mostly forgotten today. I enjoy her movies and was interested to read about her life.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews