Welcome to the LOUISE BROOKS SOCIETY™, a pioneering fan site and online archive dedicated to the life & times of the silent film star Louise Brooks (1906 – 1985). A famed beauty & Jazz Age celebrity, the actress is best known for her bobbed hair as well as for her legendary role as Lulu in the 1929 silent movie, Pandora’s Box. Launched online in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society (or LBS) celebrates this multifaceted personality who was not only an acclaimed actress, but also a Denishawn dancer, Ziegfeld Follies showgirl, and later the bestselling author of Lulu in Hollywood. Once nearly forgotten, Brooks has emerged from obscurity to become a 20th century icon, and 21st century muse. At some 250+ pages and growing, this site has it all.
The mission of the LBS is to honor the actress by stimulating interest in her life, films and legacy…. The filmography found here is the most detailed ever compiled on Brooks (surpassing both IMDb & AFI in detail). The are also articles and ephemera, image galleries, a biography, chronology, slide-shows, videos, trivia, links, and more. This information rich website is just one of the many things we do — along with conducting research, writing articles, curating exhibits, sponsoring events, and helping with the preservation of Brooks’ films. The LBS keeps a long-running BLOG (since 2002), helped bring both Lulu in Hollywood and the definitive biography of Brooks by Barry Paris back into print, and, it has PUBLISHED five books, with more in the works! The LBS is an educational site and home to a virtual fan club of like-minded individuals. Explore the LBS and all that it has to offer. And please consider supporting its efforts! More about the LBS, including its mission statement and history, can be found on its ABOUT page. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the written consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC) and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. The Louise Brooks Society™ is proud to be a retrosite where accuracy and authenticity matters. As such, the LBS is a clickbait, colorized, and A.I. free zone.
Thomas Gladysz
Director, Louise Brooks Society
=== BIOGRAPHY ===
♦ ♦ Explore the LIFE & TIMES tab on the main menu to visit pages detailing the remarkable story of Louise Brooks. There’s a biography and an extensive chronology, articles & essays, quotations, links, and lots more.
=== FILMOGRAPHY ===
♦ ♦ The LBS filmography is the most detailed ever compiled on just about any actor, surpassing the AFI and IMDb for credits, bit players, alternative titles, shooting locations, reviews and more. Exclusively on the LBS website.
=== LBS ARCHIVE ===
♦ ♦ The LBS archive is a treasure trove of rare material including vintage magazines covers, books, postcards, and ephemera related to the actress. There’s also sheet music, photoplay editions, 78 rpm discs, and more.
=== HOMAGE ===
♦ ♦ Movies, music, literature & comics have all paid homage to Brooks – 20th century icon & 21st century muse. Pictured here is one example, White Lotus actress Haley Lu Richardson as Louise Brooks in The Chaperone.
=== FEATURED PAGE ===
♦ ♦ “Writings of Louise Brooks” details the actress’ published, unpublished and uncollected work, including her little known self-published booklet on dance, her articles on film, her notebooks, letters, and bestselling memoir, Lulu in Hollywood.
=== EXPLORE / WHAT’S NEW ===
♦ ♦ At more than 250 pages, the LBS is one of the largest and most comprehensive websites devoted to any silent film star. There is a lot to look at and much to explore. Visit the WHAT’S NEW page for the latest updates, or chance upon a RANDOM PAGE.
=== PUBLICATIONS ===
♦ ♦ The Louise Brooks Society has published five books to date, with three more in the works. Each is the product of considerable research, and each features new information and dozens of rare images. Find out more, and order your copy today!
=== NEW PAGE ===
♦ ♦ This new page on the LBS website, “Louise Brooks and Rudolph Valentino: Behind the Black Velvet Curtain,” documents the little known links between Lulu and The Sheik.
=== NEW BOOK ===
♦ ♦ The newest LBS publication is The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond, a deep dive into the history of a single film – which also marked Brooks’ first time on screen.
=== NEW SECTION ===
♦ ♦ “Louise Brooks Cover Girl” brings together dozens of vintage magazine covers from all around the world — from France and Germany to Brazil, China, Japan, Poland and beyond.
=== NEW PAGE ===
♦ ♦ One BIG new page on the LBS website, “Louise Brooks and Charlie Chaplin: Two Happy Summer Months,” tells the story of their brief romance in the summer of 1925.
=== ESSENTIAL READING ===
♦ ♦ From Portrait of an Anti-star to the Barry Paris biography to Peter Cowie’s pictorial to Jan Wahl’s Dear Stinkpot, the “Louise Brooks Bookshelf” is an opinionated guide to the best & worst books about the actress and her films.
=== DENISHAWN ===
♦ ♦ Brooks spent two seasons touring with Denishawn, then the leading modern dance company in America. Check out this illustrated account of her time with the troupe. Chances are she visited your hometown!
=== CHRONOLOGY ===
♦ ♦ What was she doing? Who did she know? Where did she did live? A detailed look at the actress’ daily life. Praised by the Irish Times as “extraordinary” and exclusive to the Louise Brooks Society website.
=== RESOURCES ===
♦ ♦ From Louise Brooks bibliographies to hyper-linked lists of vintage movie magazines, silent film festivals, video makers and related movie websites, the LBS resource page is a great place to start your journey of discovery.
THE FOUR MOST RECENT POSTS ON THE LBS BLOG @ louisebrookssociety.blogspot.com
Since 2002, the LBS has been blogging about Louise Brooks, silent film, and the Jazz Age, as well as books, music, art, fashion,
dance and other topics related to the one-and-only Lulu. Subscribe to keep up on the latest news and announcements.
- Lulu in Motown, Louise Brooks in Detroitby Louise Brooks Society on March 7, 2025
Back on December 8, 2006, I had the honor of introducing Pandora's Box before a screening of the film at the Detroit Film Theatre in Detroit, Michigan. Located within the Detroit Institute of Arts, this historic venue was the first museum theater in the United States to screen film as art, prior to similar screenings at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. It was an honor as well as a pleasure to introduce the film, as I had grown up in metro Detroit and to this day, the D.I.A. remains […]
- Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box screens in Detroit on March 22by Louise Brooks Society on March 5, 2025
Pandora's Box (1929), starring Louise Brooks, will be shown in Detroit, Michigan on March 22. This presentation by Silents at the Senate will feature a live musical accompaniment by Andrew Rogers on the organ. More information about the event, which takes place at the historic Senate Theater (6424 Michigan Avenue in Detroit), can be found HERE. [ Doors open at 7 pm for this 8 pm screening, with a 7:30 organ recital. ] According to the Senate website, "Silents at the Senate begins its […]
- Louise Brooks in Diary of a Lost Girl screens in St. Louis on March 12by Louise Brooks Society on March 3, 2025
Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), starring Louise Brooks, will be shown in St. Louis(e), Missouri on March 12. This presentation by Silents, Please! STL will feature an introduction by SPSTL's Kate Stewart. More information about the event, which takes place at the Arkadin Cinema and Bar (5228 Gravois Ave in St. Louis), can be found HERE. According to the venue website, "Re-teaming actress Louise Brooks and director G.W. Pabst (Pandora’s Box), DIARY OF A LOST GIRL is a wonderfully salacious […]
- It Pays to Advertise, with Louise Brooks (briefly), was released on this day in 1931by Louise Brooks Society on March 1, 2025
It Pays to Advertise, with Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1931. The film is a farce about rival soap companies, an advertising agency, and a ne’er do-well playboy who attempts to make good. Louise Brooks plays Thelma Temple, a dancer appearing in a musical titled Girlies Don’t Tell. More about the film can be found on the newly revised Louise Brooks Society filmography page. Production on the film took place in and around Los Angeles in late 1930. Brooks’ part in the […]
CONTENT ON THIS SITE HAS BEEN REMOVED AGAINST THE WISHES OF ITS LAWFUL RIGHTS HOLDER, THE LOUISE BROOKS SOCIETY,
following false claims of trademark infringement. Apologies to this site’s followers, but that’s the way it is until certain legal matters are concluded.
