January 1, 1930
Syndicated columnist Hubbard Keavy reports Brooks will return to Hollywood.
January 3, 1930
In one of the last recorded theatrical screenings, Now We’re in the Air shows at the Empress theater in Fairbanks, Alaska.
January 6, 1930
The Diary of a Lost Girl re-released in Germany.
January 7, 1930
The Brooklyn Times Union notes Brooks was in the audience of the premiere of Children of Darkness at the Biltmore Theatre, as was Ralph Barton, Lillian Gish, George Jean Nathan, Robert Benchley and others.
January 9, 1930
Both the New York Daily News and New York Daily Mirror report crooner Harry Richman saying Brooks will reunite with Eddie Sutherland; Richman also claims he will wed Clara Bow.
January 10, 1930
Articles in the New York Daily News and elsewhere state that Louise Brooks will reunite with Eddie Sutherland. Similar articles in other New York newspapers note that the reunion statement was made with Brooks’ consent.
January 12, 1930
Sidney Skolsky, writing in the Daily News, notes “The other evening at a night club Joan Bennett was introduced to Louise Brooks. Miss Bennett on approaching Miss Brooks lifted a lorgnette and peeped at her through it. Louise took this for a ritzy gesture, and later in the evening when she had occasion to walk over to Joan’s table she picked up a spoon and looked at Miss Bennett. The truth of the matter is that Joan Bennett is a charming girl who never puts on the dog but happens, through no fault of hers, to be nearsighted.”
January 15, 1930
New York Sun columnist Ward Morehouse reports Brooks was dining and dancing at the Club Richman. (As were Eddie Sutherland, Joan Bennett, Ann Pennington, Rudy Vallee, Vincent Lopez, Lily Damita, Helen Morgan and others.) That same day, Irene Thirer writes in the New York Daily News that Brooks, along with Lily Damita, Estelle Taylor, Lillian Gish, Phyliss Haver, Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert and others will attend Cynthia White’s Greenwich Village Ball at Webster hall on January 17.
January 17-20, 1930
In one of the last recorded theatrical screenings, The City Gone Wild shows at the Empress theater in Fairbanks, Alaska.
January 26, 1930
Attends cocktail party at Clifton Webb’s. Also present are Fred Astaire and his sister Adele, authors Edna Ferber and Carl van Vechten, singer Libby Holman, actresses Marilyn Miller and Ruth Donnelly, and others (Edward Wasserman, Blanche Knopf ?).
January 27, 1930
Pandora’s Box, as the Box of Pandora, opens at the Little Theater in Baltimore, Maryland. The heavily censored film runs through February 1, 1930.
February 6, 1930
Eddie Sutherland weds Ethel Kenyon in Mexico. The couple separates on August 16.
February xx, 1930
In “Louise Brooks for Vaude,” Variety reports “Louise Brooks, American film player who recently returned from Germany after being featured in a few pictures, is being offered by the M.S. Bentham office for vaude. Miss Brooks may use a sketch by Anita Loos titled “Why Gentleman Marry Brunettes.”
February 14-15, 1930
In one of the very last recorded American theatrical screenings following its release,
A Girl in Every Port shows at the Memorial Opera House in Valparaiso, Indiana.
February 17, 1930
The Chicago Tribune and the Daily News, a Paris-based newspaper, reports “American distributors were so impressed by Miss Europe that they paid a large sum for the American rights.”
February 25, 1930
Attends performance of The Last Mile, a play by John Wexley, at the Sam H. Harris Theatre in New York. Among those in the cast is Spencer Tracey.
March 7, 1930
Ciné-Miroir, a French film journal, publishes an article on fashion attributed to Brooks.
March 12, 1930
Attends opening of Love, Honor, and Betray, starring Alice Brady, at the Eltinge theater in New York City.
March 25-26, 1930
Brooks is featured prominently in an advertising campaign for Lux Toilet Soap which runs in newspapers across the country.
March 26, 1930
Los Angeles Times columnist Grace Kingsley writes, “Charlie Crouch, who coauthored This Is College, seen here not long ago, has become dramatic editor of a theatrical paper, and writes us entertainingly from New York. ‘Louise Brooks,’ says Crouch, ‘has a charming apartment on Park avenue, and is utilizing the money earned by working for the picture companies in Berlin and Paris to take vocal lessons, inasmuch as she is to featured in a musical show here in the fall.”
April 2, 1930
A Paris newspaper reports that sheet music and recordings from Prix de beaute are already selling in Paris, despite the fact that the film had yet to be released.
April 2, 1930
Book columnist William Soskin reports what a few celebrities are said to be reading (Clara Bow, Hulu), and somewhat incredulously notes Brooks is reading Hermann Sudermann’s The Mad Professor and Stefan Zweig’s The Case of Sergeant Grischa.
April 10, 1930
The local gossip olumnist for the Wichita (Evening) Eagle notes “Louise Brooks – she’s getting places in abig hurry. She is in Germany now and has played opposite Emile Jannings in several pictures. Louise is the type for which the German’s have a particular weakness, and great things are prophesisied for her in the talkies – even though she was really too nervous to talk in The Canary Murder Case.”
May 1, 1930
In one of it’s last known overseas screenings, A Social Celebrity is shown in Port-o-Spain, Trinidad.
May 3, 1930
Billboard reports that David Belasco has interviewed Brooks with the thought of starring her in a show.
May 9, 1930
Prix de beauté premieres at the Max Linder-Pathe in Paris, France.
May 12, 1930
The Chicago Tribune and the Daily News, a Paris-based newspaper, writes “Prix de beauté, which is another way of saying Louise Brooks, has arrived at the Max Linder after months of publicity. You will probably think it is the best picture Miss Brooks has made on her free-lance tour of Europe. The American star enjoys great popularity with French fans and it is to be expected that Prix de beauté wil run a goodly season here.”
May 27-28, 1930
Brooks is featured prominently in an advertising campaign for Lux Toilet Soap which runs in newspapers across the United States.
June 1, 1930
Prix de beauté continues at the Max Linder-Pathe in Paris, while Trois pages d’un journal (Diary of a Lost Girl) begins a two week run at another Parisian theater, the Colisée.
June 1-14, 1930
Stays at the Cavalier Hotel while visiting Virginia Beach, near Norfolk, Virginia.
June 11, 1930
The Los Angeles Evening Express reports David Belasco interviewed Brooks “with a view to putting her into his next show, which is scheduled to open in August.”
June 14, 1930
Syndicated columnist Gilbert Swan name-checks Brooks as one of many Broadway hangers-on.
June 15, 1930
Mention of Prix de beauté in the New York Times.
June 21, 1930
Billboard reports that Brooks is the prospective leading lady in a Broadway stage production of Torch Song by Kenyon Nicholson, to be produced by Arthur Hopkins. The play’s story centers on a dance-hall girl who finds reformation via the Salvation Army.
July 12, 1930
Billboard reports that Brooks may be featured in The Greeks Had a Name for It by Zoe Atkins, to be produced by William Harris Jr..
mid-1930
Expecting to meet with Jack Cohn, visits Colombia’s New York offices in search of work.
July 20, 1930
Travels by train (aboard the Twentieth Century) to Los Angeles in the company of Colombia executive Jack Cohn and director Dugal Stewart Walker.
July 30, 1930
Meets with Harry Cohn at Colombia Studios.
July 31, 1930
Syndicated columnist Louella Parsons writes “The sleek, dark-haired Louise Brooks, erstwhile ‘Follies’ girl and former wife of Eddie Sutherland is in Hollywood. I found Louise perched in a chair in the waiting room at Columbia. She had just come on from New York with Jack Cohn, one of the officers of the Columbia corporation and Dugal Stewart Walker who has been signed to direct plays. Columbia’s plan for the former “follies’ favorite is to feature her in a western opposite Buck Jones with Art Ressen directing. Both Cohns, Harry and Jack, were working out the plans yesterday. Meanwhile the ‘starving young actress’ as Louise calls herself, is at the Ambassador receiving all her old-time friends.”
August 3, 1930
Los Angeles Times columnist Myrna Nye reports that Brooks attended a Russian themed party at the home of Dimitri Tiomkin in Los Angeles. Among the many other guests were Edmund Goulding, King Vidor, Eleanor Boardman, Sigmund Romberg, Joseph Mankiewicz, David O. Selznick, Irving Berlin, Dashiel Hammett, Colleen Moore, Ernst Lubitsch, Sam Goldwyn, William DeMille, Agnes DeMille, Constance Bennett, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Bern, Kay Francis, Benjamin Glazer, Carl Laemmle, Basil Rathbone, Maurice Chevalier, Marie Dressler, and others.
August 4, 1930
Hollywood columnist Louella Parson writes “The sleek, dark haired Louise Brooks, erstwhile Follies girl and former wife of Eddie Sutherland is in Hollywood. I found Louise perched in a chair in the waiting room at Columbia. She had just come on from New York with Jack Cohn, one of the officers of the Columbia Corporation, and Dugal Stewart Walker, who has been signed to direct plays. Columbia’s plan for the former Follies favorite is to feature her in a Western opposite Buck Jones with Art Bessen directing. Both Cohns, Harry and Jack, were working out the plans yesterday. Meanwhile, the ‘starving young actress as Louise calls herself, is at the Ambassador receiving all her old-time favorites.”
August 10, 1930
Syndicated columnist Radie Harris reports Brooks is living at Lois Moran’s Malibu home, Halikalani. (Neighbors include John Boles and Ronald Colman.)
August 12, 1930
In an article titled “Wichita Star to Visit Home Soon”, the Wichita (Evening) Eagle writer that Brooks is expected to be in Wichita in September for a short vacation with her father. It also mentioned that Brooks had passed through Wichita a month earlier with sister June.
August 20, 1930
Prix de Beauté (SOFAR Film) is released in France.
August 23, 1930
Syndicated columnist Louella Parsons reports Brooks, “still wearing the distinctive Dutch bob,” was seen dining at the Coconut Grove.
August 24, 1930
Pandora’s Box shows at the Gaiety theatre, Tottenham Court-road in London, England, and is briefly reviewed in the London Observer.
August 26, 1930
Syndicated columnist Hubbard Keavy reports Brooks is set to resume her career.
August 26, 1930
Syndicated columnist Louella Parsons reports Brooks seen at the Coconut Grove “dressed in black chiffon.”
August 30, 1930
A “gala welcome home program in honor of Louise Brooks” is held at Olsen’s in Culver City. The recently opened niteclub is owned by George Olsen.
September 21, 1930
In a syndicated article, “Actress Returns from Stay Abroad,” Brooks is seemingly quoted. “Foreign film producers will never threaten the supremacy of America in the motion-picture industry, asserts Louise Brooks, former Hollywood actress, who for several years has been appearing in pictures abroad. They lack the technique and vision of Americans, she discovered during her sojourn in Germany and England.”
October 5, 1930
In an unattributed article, “Louise Brooks to Stay Here,” the Los Angeles Times reports that “Europe no longer has any lure” for the actress, and that she has turned down three offers to return.
November 1, 1930
Modern Screen magazine reports Brooks attends a party celebrating the 1st wedding anniversary of Marian Nixon and Eddie Hillman, at which she wears coral chiffon. Also present was Jean Harlow, Mary Eaton, Sue Carol, Hoot Gibson and Sally Eilers.
November 4, 1930
Variety reports “Louise Brooks, formerly starred by Paramount and in Germany until a few months ago, has a small part in Paramount’s new talker, Buy Your Women.” It stars William Powell.
November 12-13, 1930
In one of the last recorded American theatrical screenings, Beggars of Life is shown at the Memorial Opera House in Valparaiso, Indiana.
November 16, 1930
Newspapers report “Louise Brooks, newly returned from Europe, has just been signed for a role opposite William Powell in his next Paramount picture, tentatively titled Buy Your Woman.”
November 22, 1930
In one of its last overseas screenings, A Girl in Every Port is shown at Star Pictures in Pittsworth, Queensland, Australia.
November 28, 1930
Syndicated columnist Harrison Carroll writes, “Players whose options are not taken up have a way of finding their way back to the same studio to make pictures. She returns to Paramount to play an important part in William Powell’s new picture, Buy Your Woman. Her last previous role there was in The Canary Murder Case. She went to New York before this picture finally was completed, and Margaret Livingston had to double for her in long shots. In the old days, Louise was Mrs. Eddie Sutherland. She has been back in Hollywood only a short time.”
December 2, 1930
The Diary of a Lost Girl shows in Zurich, Switzerland.
December 19, 1930
Los Angeles Times reports that Brooks has been cast in It Pays to Advertise, along with Carole Lombard and Norman Foster.
January 3, 1931
A syndicated columnist writes, “Hollywood is suffering from a veritable epidemic of divorce and separations. The latest idea in parties is the ‘separation parties.’ The Eddie Sutherlands entertained at one recently…. Sutherland was formerly married to Louise Brooks, and when they were divorced he declared that he would never marry again. But, of course, he did. Six months ago he married Ethel Kenyon, a New York stage actress. And this is the result of that experiment. The separating couple did not announce their plans–but it is said that as soon as the party was over Eddie rushed to Agua Calinte, where Louise Brooks is staying–and the pair of them acted as though they were ever so glad to be together again.”
January 4, 1931
In “Louise Brooks to Be in Film for Paramount,” the Los Angeles Times reports Brooks has been cast in Have You Got It? (later changed to It Pays to Advertise), to be directed by Frank Tuttle.
January 4, 1931
In one of the last recorded theatrical screenings in the 1930s, The Canary Murder Case is shown at the Piccadilly theater in Rochester, New York.
January 6, 1931
Irene Thirer writes in the New York Daily News that Brooks has joined the cast of Have You Got It?
January 13, 1931
Syndicated columnist Louella Parsons reports Brooks has been given a “big role” as a society girl in William Wellman’s The Public Enemy.
January 14, 1931
Los Angeles Times reports that Brooks has been cast in The Devil was Sick (later changed to God’s Gift to Women), with Frank Fay, Joan Blondell, and others.
January 15, 1931
Attends performance of Porgy stage play at the Music Box Theater in Los Angeles. Also in attendance were other cast members of God’s Gift to Women, as well as Barbara Stanwyck, Frank Capra, Jack Holt, Hobart Bosworth, and Ralph Graves.
January xx, 1931
Returns to New York City.
Febuary 3, 1931
New York Sun columnist Ward Morehouse reports Brooks attends the Mayfair dance at the Ritz. (As do Ruth Chatterton, Wesley Ruggles, Samuel Goldwyn, Bert Lahr, Peggy Fears & A.C. Blumenthal, Fred Waring and others.)
February 13-19, 1931
Beggars of Life plays at five historic theaters in Paris, the Voltaire-Palace-Aubert, Gambetta-Palace-Aubert, Grand Cinema Aubert, Convention-Aubert, and Regina-Palace-Aubert.
Febuary 19, 1931
It Pays to Advertise is released in the United States by Paramount Publix Corp; the film opens at the Paramount Theater in New York City. In its review, the New York Daily News reports that Brooks “came in for some hand-claps” when she appeared on screen.
Febuary 22, 1931
Various newspapers report Brooks has been cast in The Public Enemy.
Febuary 25, 1931
Eddie Sutherland’s second wife, Ethel Kenyon, sues for divorce after a brief marriage.
March 21, 1931
Hollywood columnist Louella Parson writes, “Louise Brooks and Mona Maris glimpsed among the interesting looking women at the Cocoanut Grove in the Ambassador Hotel.
March 24, 1931
According to the Los Angeles Times, Brooks is being considered for the role of Poppy in Mrs. Leslie Carter’s upcoming stage production of The Shanghai Gesture at the Hollywood Playhouse.
March 29, 1931
Los Angeles Times runs a photo spread titled “Back in the Race” featuring five actresses attempting a comeback — Brooks, Dolores Costello, Lois Wilson, Gretta Nissen, and Doris Kenyon.
April 5, 1931
Los Angeles Times runs an article, “Septet of Former Screen Favorites Restored to Place in Public Eye,” which discusses Brooks and quotes Brooks’ Mother.
April 15, 1931
God’s Gift to Women is released in the United States by Warner Brothers.
April 16, 1931
God’s Gift to Women opens at the Strand theater in New York City; star Frank Fay makes a personal appearance for a week, presenting a “Laff-Act”.
May 3, 1931
Windy Riley Goes Hollywood is released in the United States by Educational Pictures.
May 17, 1931
Pandora’s Box, with a synchronized soundtrack, opens a short run at the Little theater in Newark, New Jersey.
May 24, 1931
Brooks arrives in Wichita with sister June for a short, two-day visit with her family. Two days later, the Wichita Eagle paper carries a portrait of Brooks and her sister, as well as an interview with the actress.
June 11, 1931
Harrison Carroll’s syndicated column states, “Much craning of necks greeted the appearance of Louise Brooks in evening pajamas on the dance floor of the Ambassador’s Coconut Grove” in Los Angeles.
1931
Brooks returns to New York City.
July 23-24, 1931
In one of the very last recorded theatrical screenings, The Canary Murder Case is shown at the Capitol theater in Portland, Oregon.
September 3, 1931
In one of its last overseas screenings, The City Gone Wild is shown at Stadium Pictures in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
October 14, 1931
In one of it’s last known screenings, Rolled Stockings is shown at Stadium Pictures in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
October 14, 1931
New York Sun columnist Ward Morehouse reports Brooks attends the Earl Carroll Vanities. (As did Jeanette MacDonald, David Selznick, Ginger Rogers, Sophie Tucker, Sue Carroll, Fay Wray, Barbara Bennett & Morton Downey, Lois Moran and others.)
October 19, 1931
Muriel Babcock’s syndicated column notes Brooks is under consideration for the ingenue role in Norma Krasna’s Louder Please, a stage production by A.L. Jones.
October 24, 1931
New York Sun columnist Ward Morehouse reports Brooks attended the Mayfair dance at the Ritz. (As did Jeanette MacDonald, David Selznick, Ginger Rogers, Sophie Tucker, Sue Carroll, Fay Wray, Barbara Bennett & Morton Downey, Lois Moran and others.)
October 26. 1931
Replacing Olive Borden, Brooks appears in a pre-Broadway staging of Norma Krasna’s comedy, Louder, Please, at Brandt’s Boulevard Theater in Brooklyn. Also in the cast are Lee Tracy and Robert Gleckler, as well as Frank Thomas, Aleta Freel, Mildred Wall, Buford Armitage and Charles Laite. A.L. Jones is producer by arrangement with Manny Wolfe. Within days, Brooks leaves the cast and is replaced by Jane Buchanan (as reported November 9).
November 14, 1931
Brooks is reported to be among those who attend the Mayfair Club dance at the Ritz-Carlton. Also attending were Adele Astaire, Monta Bell, George White, Earl Carroll, Joan and Barbara Bennett, Morton Downey, Regis Toomey, Marshall Neilan, NYC Mayor Jimmy Walker and others.
December 8, 1931
In one of it’s last known screenings, Now We’re in the Air is shown at the Don Theater in Darwin, North Australia.
1932
An illustrated novelization of Prix de beauté is published in France, with Brooks’ image on the cover.
1932
A photo and short biography of Brooks appears in Cedric Osmond Bermingham’s Stars of the Screen 1932 (London: Herbert Joseph).
1932
The popular French film magazine, Pour Vous, publishes a list of the best films up until that time. Three of Brooks’ films make the list: Les Mendiants de la vie (Beggars of Life),
A Girl in Every Port (which kept it’s English-language title in France), and Trois pages d’un journal (Diary of a Lost Girl).
January 10, 1932
Florenz Ziegfeld’s article, “I Knew ‘Em When,” notes, “Another name well known to the movies not so long ago was Louise Brooks. She joined my companies as a chorus girl in Louie the 14th. Her beautiful and colorful personality won my immediate attention, however, and I soon decided I must give her some prominence. I placed her in the madcap dance number there fore, a kind of fight number which opened the first act. Her flaming intensity in this flight, her beauty and the cracking of the lash seemed to set off the whole show at a high tempo.”
February 2, 1932
Various newspapers begin reporting on Brooks’ money troubles.
February 10, 1932
United Press reports Brooks files for bankruptcy in Federal Court, listing liabilities as $11,969, and assets only of personal wearing apparel, most of which, according to Associated Press, were “purchased in exclusive Fifth avenue shops.” Brooks gave her occupation as “motion picture actress, unemployed.”
February 14, 1932
News wires report Brooks has left for Bermuda the previous day aboard the Monarch of Bermuda, just a few days after reporting on the actress’ money troubles. The Universal piece reported “She was the last passenger to board the vessel, dashing up the gangway with a Pomeranian dog a minute before sailing. She had reserved one of the least expensive rooms on the ship.” Also on board is Mr. and Mrs. Jesse L. Lasky.
February 25, 1932
Does not board the Monarch of Bermuda, sailing from Hamilton, Bermuda, and fails to return to New York City. On the passenger manifest, Brooks’ given address is the Madison Hotel.
February 25, 1932
In one of its last overseas screenings, The Canary Murder Case is shown at Campbell Town Pictures (as part of a double bill with The Saturday Night Kid) in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
March 10, 1932
Associated Press reports Brooks appears at a hearing in New York (presided over by Referee Coffin) on her voluntary bankruptcy petition, and claims to be “flat broke.”
March 19, 1932
Syndicated columnist Maurice Dancer notes Brooks was among the many celebrities who visited the Yeah Man jazz club in Harlem within the last week. Others include Libby Holman, Harold Arlen, Lilyan Tashman, Paul Robeson, Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, and others.
April 11, 1932
Syndicated columnist Mark Barron writes, “Gloria Fay and Gloria Foy are always getting each other’s mail. And one wonders how all those Louise Brooks girls keep their identities separate. There is Louise Brooks, the actress. Another is a well known debutante. Another is a chorus girl, and another is a style designer.”
April 16, 1932
In one of its last overseas screenings, Now We’re in the Air is shown at the Balaklava Institute Pictures (as part of a double bill with It) in Balaklava, South Australia.
June 5, 1932
Myrtle Gebhart’s article in the Los Angeles Times writes, “For those who go places and see things know that pajamas are now distinctively au fait. Louise Brooks, I believe, was the first to wear them partying, at a Coconut Grove dance, and Lilyan Tashman sponsored them when she appeared at a moonlight garden party in coral lounjamas. They really are the final sartorial syllable.”
June 11, 1932
In one of its last overseas screenings, Beggars of Life is shown at Star Pictures in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
July 17, 1932
Syndicated columnist Mark Barron writes, “We were reminiscing the other night about ‘Follies’ girls and someone recalled the time Louise Brooks and Peggy Fears danced side by side in the chorus . . . They were inseparable companions in those days, but since then they have wandered far apart. Louise, with her brunet Dutch bob, won temporary fame in the movies and married a director . . . Peggy, who didn’t find fame as an actress, married a financier. Today, Louise is practically forgotten as an actress, and it was only a few months ago that she was reported in bankruptcy . . . Peggy is reputedly worth millions and has returned from across the footlights to become a producer . . . Next fall she will present a half dozen new shows on Broadway . . . What a coincidence it would be if Peggy hired Louise for a role.”
July 27, 1932
Articles about the death of Florenz Ziegfeld mention Brooks and her former work in the Follies.
September 22-23, 1932
In one of the last recorded theatrical screenings, Windy Riley Goes Hollywood is shown at the Plaza theater in Lansing, Michigan. The film is also shown in Medford, Oregon at the Roxy theater under the title Windy Riley Goes to Hollywood.
October 1, 1932
Attends a supper-dance at the Pierrette Club at the Waldorf Astoria. (As does Phyllis Haver, O.O. McIntyre, A.C. Blumenthal, Lois Moran, Lilyan Tashman, and others.)
October 8, 1932
In one of its last overseas screenings, The Canary Murder Case is shown at Star Pictures in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
December 21, 1932
The gossip column of the Wichita (Evening) Eagle reports, “Everyone at the Delta Gamma Delta dance at the Broadview roof garden last night was suprised to find Louise Brooks, of stage and screen fame there. Evidentaly Louise is home for the holidays. She still prefers her exteremely short bob and the customary bangs that barely escape her dark brows. Her dress of electric blue had full, puffed sleeves and a crushed belt of cerise crepe.” The paper also reported that sister June was also present, wearing a “charming frock of her own design and make.”
January 8, 1933
Eddie Sutherland marries for the fourth time, to Audrey Henderson.
January 3, 1933
Pandora’s Box is mention in the Los Angeles Evening Post-Record as an outstanding film by G. W. Pabst, whose Kameradschaft is then screening at the local Filmarte theater.
Febuary 15, 1933
Hollywood Reporter reports Brooks at Leon and Eddies nightclub in New York, with a “businessman.”
March 13, 1933
Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes “… Billy Kendall and Louise Brooks have split wider than this …”
March 14, 1933
Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes “It happened the other day in ’21,’ rendezvous of the jaded. Louise Brooks, ex-cinema star, rushed over to talk to Ethel Kenyon. ‘Did you hear about it, Ethel?,’ bubbled Louise. ‘Eddie Sutherland and his new wife, Audrey Henderson will be here next week. I think it would be just TOO funny if you and myself, as Eddie’s former wives, were to meet them at the station. We can charge him with being unfaithful. Here he is married again, and you and I never remarried. Miss Kenyon was blushing, but game: ‘Louise,’ she said, ‘I want you to meet my husband, Charlie Butterworth. I guess you didn’t know.”
March 14, 1933
In one of the last recorded theatrical screenings, God’s Gift to Women is shown at the Imperial theater in Baltimore, Maryland.
May 1, 1933
Brooklyn Daily Eagle columnist Art Arthur reports seeing Brooks at the Ha-Ha Club in New York, where she joined a table with Peggy Fears and Lupe Velez. Other current and former stars were also in attendance, including actress Mae Murray, and director Jack Conway. That say day, Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes “Billy Kendall and Louise Brooks are back together again.”
May 7, 1933
Syndicated columnist Regina Crewe reports Brooks and Billy Kendall are “going places.”
June 16, 1933
Hollywood Reporter reports Brooks at Armonk, a hamlet on the far outskirts of New York, with the same “businessman.”
August 12, 1933
Syndicated columnist Sidney Skolsky writes “There’s a drama in a wardrobe department which doesn’t come in for its share of publicity in the movie magazines. While I was there a call came for a costume worn by Louise Brooks in Rolled Stockings. A bit player is to wear the dress in Too Much Harmony. Rolled Stockings was made long ago, when Louise Brooks was Mrs. Eddie Sutherland. Too Much Harmony is being directed by Eddie Sutherland.”
August 17, 1933
Syndicated articles mention the rumors of a possible engagement of Brooks and Deering Davis. “Miss Brooks, when questioned in Chicago, said, ‘I don’t know. I may have an announcement to make.”
September 2, 1933
Writing in the New York Herald, Parisian columnist Erskine Gwynne states that a caricature of Brooks still hangs on the wall of the Eden Bar in Berlin, along with one of Noel Coward. [Another caricature, of “The Eskimo” (identified as Carl Wijk), he thinks, has been taken down.]
October 10, 1933
Brooks (26) marries wealthy Chicago playboy Deering Davis (36) at City Hall in Chicago, Illinois. The ceremony was read by Judge Francis J. Wilson, and witnessed by Davis’ brother and sister-in-law, Dr. and Mrs. Nathan S. Davis III. After a few days, the couple leave for a three month honeymoon in Tucson, Arizona, where they were expected to “live on a ranch.” The marriage makes news across the country.
October 11, 1933
The two newspapers in Tucson carry stories reporting Brooks would soon come to reside on a ranch near the Arizona town, following her Chicago wedding to Deering Davis.
December 5, 1933
Pandora’s Box, as the Box of Pandora, shows at the 5th Ave. Theater (Broadway at 28th St.) in New York City. The “adults only” film runs through December 7.
Febuary 23-24, 1934
Begins a one-month dance engagement with Deering Davis at the Chez Paree club in Chicago. Shiela Barrett is featured, and Henry Busee’s Band also performs.
March 8, 1934
Brooks and Deering Davis dance after dinner at the Casino club in Chicago as a special favor to the chair of the club’s entertainment committee.
March 11, 1934
A widely syndicated article, “How and Why Feminine Stars of Broadway and Hollywood Dive Into ‘Bankruptcy Bath’ to Dodge Huge Debts of Folly and Extravagance” features Brooks.
March 26, 1934
Variety reports Brooks and Deering Davis have separated, and she is consulting with a Chicago attorney. Variety also reports that Brooks is searching for a new dance partner.
March 27, 1934
According to press reports, Brooks departed Chicago on a late train headed for New York.
March 28, 1934
An Associated Press story, “Dance Romance Tottering,” runs in papers across the country.
March 29, 1934
The Wichita Eagle reports that Brooks’ attorney, Philip R. Davis of Chicago, has told the Associated Press that the actress has left Chicago for New York.
March 30, 1934
Newspaper stories state Brooks and Deering Davis will divorce, and that Brooks will file for divorce in Chicago.
April 7, 1934
Billboard reports “Deering Davis has an engagement at the Congress Hotel [in Chicago] and is looking for a new partner, while Louise Brooks has gone to New York ‘for good’.”
April x, 1934
In New York, where she sees the act Diaro and Diane at the Place Pigalle.
April 12, 1934
Brooks and Dario, who are performing at the Central Park Casino in New York City, dance two numbers, a modern ballroom waltz and a lighter flirtation dance, at the Capitol in New York City.
April 16, 1934
Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes “Louise Brooks, who aired her millionaire hubby in Chicago, will kiss and make up.”
April 27, 1934
Billboard reports that Brooks and Dario, who are performing at the Central Park Casino in New York City, dance two numbers, a modern ballroom waltz and a lighter flirtation dance, at the State in New York City.
May 6, 1934
Pandora’s Box, as the Box of Pandora, shows at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin playhouse near Spring Green, Wisconsin. The G.W. Pabst film, termed “an outstanding German production,” was shown with English subtitles and accompanied by Old King Cole, a color Silly Simphony and short subjects.
June 29, 1934
As Dario and Louise, begins dance engagement at the Westchester Center Gardens in White Plains, New York. (Meyer Davis leads the orchestra.)
July 26, 1934
Brooks and Dario commence three week dance engagement at the Blossom Heath Inn near Detroit, Michigan.
August 16, 1934
Syndicated columnist Paul Harrison notes, “Louise Brooks , the Kansas lass who was coming into prominence during the last days of silent pictures, is a ballroom dancer now.”
August 17, 1934
Crooner Harry Richman joins Brooks and Dario on the bill at the Blossom Heath Inn.
August 26, 1934
Brooks and Dario conclude dance engagement at the Blossom Heath Inn.
September 18, 1934
Syndicated columnist Harrison Carroll reports ex-husband Eddie Sutherland will stop off in Chicago to see Brooks, who is dancing at the Chez Paree, where both Harry Richman and Helen Morgan will performing.
October 6, 1934
Brooks and Dario conclude dance engagement at the Chez Paree in Chicago.
October 10, 1934
Brooks and Dario begin dance engagement at Place Pigale in New York City. Harry Rosenthal’s orchestra is also on the bill, as were Phil Harris & Leah Ray.
October 11, 1934
Syndicated columnist Walter Winchell writes, “Louise Brooks makes a comeback Oct. 10 at Place Pigale with Dario as her partner… I hear on reputable authority that Trotsky is in town under an assumed name.”
April 16, 1934
Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes “Louise Brooks, who aired her millionaire hubby in Chicago, will kiss and make up.”
January 5, 1935
Brooks and Dario conclude dance engagement at Place Pigale in New York City.
January 10, 1935
Interlocutory decree issued for Brooks-Davis divorce.
January 16-29, 1935
Brooks and Dario dance at the Embassy Club in Palm Beach, Florida. Also on the bill is Enric Madriguera’s Orchestra, entertainer Peter Higgins, and blues singer Marion Chase.
January 21, 1935
Brooks attended a party put on by George Adam Rentschler and his wife, dancer & actress Joan Sawyer. Also in attendence is singer Sophie Tucker, as well as a small number of socialites.
January 23, 1935
The Miami News notes, “There are dance teams and there are dance teams–the town at the moment is fortunate in having a number of good ones. But of the so-called ‘society dancers’ in our midst, there is not another couple with more innate, brittle smartness than Louise Brooks and Dario, at the Embassy. Each of the turns and gestures of their dances has a sort of crisp singleness–far easier to look at than explain.”
January 24, 1935
Brooks performs at the Embassy Club in Palm Beach, Florida, where the guest of honor is Max Baer, Heavyweight Champion of the World. Also in attendence is Mrs. Damon Runyon. The Miami Tribune wrote, “Miss Louise Brooks, of movie fame, was another attrative member of the party. Her dark beauty was set off by a brilliant red dress and loose wrap which she did not remove throughout the evening.”
January 30, 1935
Brooks and Dario begin dance engagement at the Patio in Palm Beach, Florida. Also performing was singer Bruz Fletcher, and Mort Dennis and his Patio Society Orchestra.
January 30, 1935
The Miami News reports Brooks attended a party put on by George Adam Rentschler and his wife, dancer & actress Joan Sawyer, on the Yacht Dragoon, which was moored at the Fleetwood Hotel dock. Also in attendence are Sophie Tucker, Mrs. Edna Wallace Hopper (the “eternal flapper”), Mr. and Mrs. Charles Farrell (Virginia Valli), the Costa Rican consul and other locals.
Febuary 7, 1935
Brooks and Dario continue their dance engagement at the Patio in Palm Beach. The singing duo of Deslys and Clarke begin performing.
Febuary 15, 1935
Brooks and Dario conclude their dance engagement at the Patio in Palm Beach.
Febuary 16, 1935
Brooks and Dario return to the Embassy Club in Palm Beach. The French singer Lucienne Boyer headlines. Also performing are Gali-Gali, an “Arabian conjurer,” and the Meyer Davis Orchestra.
Febuary 18, 1935
Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes: “Dario and Louise Brooks, the former cinema queen, one of the more exciting dance teams in Florida.”
Febuary 21, 1935
Brooks and Dario return to the Patio Club in Palm Beach. Also performing was Arthur Brown, singing duo of Deslys and Clarke, and Mort Dennis and his Patio Society Orchestra.
Febuary 27, 1935
Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes: “Ballroom dance teams are the least successful of all professionals at saving money…. Dario who dances with Louise Brooks, was wealthiest of all, with several dance ballrooms, but the stock market cleaned him out.”
March 11, 1935
Brooks and Dario began a dance engagement at the Central Park Casino in New York. Their opening is noted in Ed Sullivan’s column.
April 11, 1935
In an article in part on G.W. Pabst, W. Ward Marsh of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes, “But a good deal of his work has not been shown here at all. For example, I should like to see his Love of Jeanne Ney with Brigitte Helm which he did in 1927. A year later, believing he saw something of a plastic talent in our own and now almost forgotten Louise Brooks, he cast her in Pandora’s Box, which apparently proved that he was not entirely right. Just the same I should like to see it.”
April 11-14, 1935
Brooks and Dario, under the management of Edward Meyers, dance at the Capitol Theater in New York; also on their bill is Gai Gali, Llora Hoffman and Barbara Blane.
April 20, 1935
Brooks and Dario begin dance engagement at the New Log Cabin in Louisville, Kentucky. Also on the bill are radio stars Reise and Dunn (the feature attraction, starting April 22), blues singer Vivian Fields, 8 Texas Rockets (dancers), Earl Carroll Vanities star Chaz Chase, and Frank Furneau leading the NBC Broadcasting Band. Russell Swan, of the Chez Paree, Chicago acted as Master of Ceremonies.
April 24, 1935
Variety reports that upon the completion of their Louisville engagement, Brooks and Dario will make a Warner Bros. short in Brooklyn.
May 4, 1935
Brooks and Dario conclude their dance engagement at the New Log Cabin in Louisville, Kentucky. Frank Furncan Orchestra is also on the bill.
June 10, 1935
Brooks and Dario begin dance engagement at the Persian Room in the Plaza Hotel in New York City.
July 8, 1935
Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes “Louise Brooks, former Cinema star, and Eddie Sutherland are Back Together Again.”
August 14, 1935
Syndicated columnist Walter Winchell writes: “Dario, the dancer, is splitting from Louise Brooks to reunite with Diane at the Persian room in the Plaza next week.”
August 16, 1935
Brooks and Dario conclude engagement at the Persian Room in the Plaza Hotel in New York City.
August 17, 1935
Dance team of Brooks and Dario split; on Aug. 19th Dario and Diane open at the Persian Room.
September 10, 1935
Syndicated columnist Walter Winchell reports that “Al Davis is having his paws petted by Louise Brooks, the China Doll.” (Al Davis was the estranged husband of Marianne Davis.)
September 11-14, 1935
Diary of a Lost Girl is shown at the Gaite St.Martin in Saint-Quentin, Aisne, France.
September 14, 1935
L’Intransigeant, a French newspaper, notes in a round-up of news from Hollywood that Brooks has been offered a part in a film in London.
September 30, 1935
Syndicated columnist Walter Winchell writes: “… have the sillies. Ditto Louise Brooks, the dancer with the Japanese doll haircut, and Marianne Davis’ estranged husband Al.”
October 17, 1935
Brooks meets with G.W. Pabst in New York City to discuss a proposed film of Faust.
October 20, 1935
Arrives in Eureka, Kansas to visit her father, who is in the hospital after having been injured in an automobile accident at the Missouri Pacific Railroad crossing at Tonovay.
October 25, 1935
According to an article in the Eureka Herald, Brooks is set to take a passanger plane from Wichita to Los Angeles.
October 28, 1935
Syndicated columnist Sidney Skolsky writes: “Louise Brooks will make another try at the flickers in a Republic picture called Dancing Feet.”
November 4, 1935
Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes “Travis Banton is buying lunch for Louise Brooks.”
November 21, 1935
Brooks is mentioned in a syndicated article by Max Factor. The famed make-up artists writes, “You remeber the hey-day of the ‘flapper.’ Well, it seems that feminine fancies have taken long leaps since the day when Clara Bow, Olive Borden and louise Brooks cavorted across the silver screen.”
December 11, 1935
Eddie Sutherland is divorced from Audrey Henderson.
December 18, 1935
Variety reports Brooks is in Hollywood, awaiting the results of a Republic Pictures screen test.
December x, 1935
According to a Brooks’ letter from 1964, the actress met Erich von Stroheim in G.W. Pabst’s Hollywood apartment. “I shall never forget him sitting tense, separate, flashing me a quick, ugly look and saying not a word as we were introduced. He made not even a gesture of rising. In that look, we knew each other — why pretend?”
February 16, 1936
Syndicated columnist Sheila Graham writes “At a recent coctail party, I spotted Louise Brooks in the largest ‘coal-scuttle’ I have seen to date. It was made out of black felt, and jutted way out in front. Accessories contributing breasted serge suit, and a creamy, lace edged high-necked chiffon blouse. Black pumps completed the attractive ensemble.”
March 30, 1936
Syndicated columnist Sidney Skolsky writes “Louise Brooks, the former screen star, took a screen test for Zanuck.”
May 15-21, 1936
As part of a G.W. Pabst Festival, Pandora’s Box and Diary of a Lost Girl are screened at the Cercle du Cinema in Paris.
May 19, 1936
The Wichita (Evening) Eagle reports that Eddie Sutherland’s TWA flight stopped in Wichita on its way to New Jersey, where he was to catch a dirigible flight to London. The paper also reported that June Brooks and a group of her friends were to meet the director, but changed their minds when the flight ended up arriving four hours late.
May 23, 1936
Los Angeles Times reports Brooks has made a screen test with Twentieth Century-Fox, and “other companies are negotiating.”
May 29, 1936
Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports Brooks is night clubbing with Mrs. Harold Strokes (Anne Gould).
June 7, 1936
Los Angeles Times reports Brooks attends a costume party; among the costumed guests were Anne Gould, Agnes Ayres, Iris Adrian, Beulah Bondi, Bruz Fletcher, Howard Greer and others.
June 17, 1936
Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports Brooks was spotted with Mal St. Clair at Cafe La Maze.
June 18, 1936
Louella Parsons writes in her syndicated column “Addison Randall, fast becoming one of the best known men about town, escorting Louise Brooks.”
July 5, 1936
Hollywood columnist Louella Parson writes “Arline Judge and Bob Ritchie dining out; ditto Louise Brooks and Addison Randall, a twosome that has continued since Glenda Farrell said au revoir to him.”
August 2, 1936
Gabrielle Landon reports in the Los Angeles Times that Brooks and Addison Randall was part of a group traveling around by trailer. The party was organized by Howard Greer, who borrowed Paulette Godard’s trailer. Also among those present were Clifton Webb, Howard Shoup and others.
August 3, 1936
Syndicated columnist Sidney Skolsky reports Brooks and Addison Randall “were sitting in the bamboo room at the Brown Derby munching peanuts.”
August 12, 1936
Brooks is among the various Hollywood celebrities who attend the opening of Mary of Scotland at the Pantages theater in Hollywood. Also present were the Alan Mowbrays, Freddie March, Barbara Stanwyck, Ann Southern, Constance Bennett, Janet Gaynor, Herbert Marshall, Warner Baxter, Lily Pons and others.
August 16, 1936
Gabrielle Landon reports in the Los Angeles Times that Brooks attends a party with Addison Randall for Clifton Webb. Also present were Lili Damita and Errol Flynn, Mitchell Leisen, Robert Benchley, Mercedes d’Acosta and others.
August 26, 1936
Production work begins on Empty Saddles in Southern California.
August 30, 1936
Gabrielle Landon reports in the Los Angeles Times that Brooks attended a tennis party with Addison Randall at the home of Audrey Sutherland. Among those present were Eddie Mannix, the Buster Colliers, the Skeets Gallaghers, Betty Compson, Alice White, William Haines, Hoot Gibson and many others.
September 1, 1936
Newspapers across America run a syndicated column mentioning Brooks’ return to movie work.
September 2, 1936
Production work ends on Empty Saddles.
September 3, 1936
Hollywood columnist Lloyd Pantanges writes: “Louise Brooks, the silent star, is up and coming on the road back. As a starter, she is leading lady to Buck Jones in his newest Universal western. The gal bears watching from every eye in pictures, so she shouldn’t remain in westerns long.”
September 3, 1936
New York Times reports, erroneously in part, that ”Louise Brooks, recently returned from a European stage tour, will attempt a screen comeback opposite Buck Jones.” The Los Angeles Times similarly reports that Brooks had been working in British pictures.
September 4, 1936
Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports Brooks is being tested at Universal, noting it “Looks like a comeback.”
September 5, 1936
United Press reports Brooks will be the lead in Buck Jones “new sage-brush epic, Empty Saddles.”
September 10, 1936
Hollywood columnist Lloyd Pantanges writes: “Louise Brooks is having a fine time in her comeback epic with Buck Jones, entitled Empty Saddles. When she is not strapped to the villain’s horse, being absconded with, she is being thrown off the end of a train into the arms of the hero, Mr. Jones.”
September 18, 1936
Hollywood columnist George Shaffer writes: “Louise Brooks, formerly star of the silents, is Buck Jones leading lady in a current cowboy thriller Empty Saddles.”
September 19, 1936
Hollywood columnist Louella Parsons writes: “Louise Brooks and Audrey Sutherland, both ex-Mrs. Eddie Sutherlands, sitting together and chatting amicably at the Louis Berman fur show.”
September 20, 1936
Los Angeles Times columnist Marshall Kester reports Brooks attends a Beverly Hills party with Addison Randall given by Arline Judge, a Hollywood hostess. Also present were Claire Windsor, Betty Grable and Jackie Coogan, the Jack Haleys, Mr. and Mrs. Roger Wolfe Kahn, Audrey Sutherland, Aileen Pringle, Norman Krasna and others.
September 21, 1936
The INS (International News Service) runs an article about Brooks’ comeback. That same day, the Hollywood Citizen-News reports that “Addison Randall has shifted from Louise Brooks to Audrey Henderson.”
September 25, 1936
Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports Brooks “found working in her first Western, Empty Saddles, rather difficult. She hadn’t been on a hoss in five years.”
October 5, 1936
Production begins on When You’re in Love at the Columbia Pictures studios in Southern California and elsewhere.
October 25, 1936
Los Angeles Times columnist Gabrielle Landon reports Brooks was seen at the Brown Derby with Addison Randall, as were Margo and Francis Lederer, and Clark Gable and the Mervyn Leroys.
November 5, 1936
Louella Parsons writes in her syndicated column “Wesley Ruggles with Louise Brooks, and Al Hall with Mona Rice occupying a table at the election festivities [at the Coconut Grove]; and not very far away Arline Judge and Pat de Cieco, Wesley and Arline relieving the tension by dancing together…. Audrey Henderson and Addison Randall a new twosome; how that boy does get around!”
November 5-7, 1936
It Pays to Advertise screens at the Vogue theater in Los Angeles, California.
November 7, 1936
Syndicated columnist Sidney Skolsky writes: “Hollywood romantic mixups: At the Clover Club, Wesley Ruggles, dancing with Louise Brooks, bumps into wifie, Arline Judge, dancing with Pat Di Cico. They exchange hellos. Soon Ruggles is dancing with Miss Judge, and Di Cico is dancing with Miss Brooks.”
November 11, 1936
Syndicated columnist Harrison Carroll twice reports Brooks in the company of Wesley Ruggles, then estranged from his wife.
November 24, 1936
Hollywood columnist Louella Parson writes “Wesley Ruggles stepping out again with Louise Brooks the fourth time this week.”
November 26, 1936
Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports Brooks “visited Caltech to watch the grinding of the world’s largest telescope lens.”
December 4, 1936
Hollywood columnist Louella Parsons writes: “More power to Louise Brooks; she dancing in the chorus of the Grace Moore picture; Louise told Harry Cohn she’d start from scratch.”
December 11, 1936
Associated Press reports Brooks is “starting her movie comeback,” as a chorus girl in the new Grace Moore musical. The AP piece notes that she was a chorus girl in The Canary Murder Case, “her last Hollywood picture.” Many subsequent mentions of Brooks regarding her comeback reference her role as the Canary.
December 20, 1936
Empty Saddles is released in the United States by Universal. On this same day, production ends on When You’re in Love.
December 31, 1936
New York Times notes ”Louise Brooks, star of the silent screen, is making her screen comeback as a member of the ballet in Grace Moore’s forthcoming Columbia production, When You’re in Love.”
January 6, 1937
Newspapers across the United States report Brooks will attempt a comeback.
Febuary 20, 1937
Production begins on King of Gamblers at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood.
Febuary 27, 1937
When You’re in Love is released in the United States by Columbia Pictures.
March 15, 1937
Production begins on King of Gamblers at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood.
April 2, 1937
Los Angeles Times runs an article about Brooks and Evelyn Brent titled “Two ex-Stars in Films Again.”
April 5, 1937
Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes “Louise Brooks and Addison Randall will elope any minute.”
April 10, 1937
Brooks and cowboy actor Addison Randall attend a sporting event.
April 12, 1937
Preview screening of King of Gamblers takes place at the Alexander theater in Glendale, California.
May 3, 1937
King of Gamblers is released in the United States by Paramount Pictures.
May 17, 1937
Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports “Addison Randall renewing his romance with Louise Brooks at the Brown Derby.”
May 30, 1937
Los Angeles Times columnist Marshall Kester reports Brooks and Addison Randall were “absorbing sustenance in the Luau Room of the Tropics,” as was Gilbert Roland. That same day, Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports “Addison Randall took Louise Brooks out to hear Bruz Fletcher sing at the Club Bali.”
June 24, 1937
Los Angeles Times pictures Brooks and Evelyn Brent, noting their return to the movies in King of Gamblers.
October 14, 1937
Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports “Travis Banton and Louise Brooks at the Club Bali.”
November 1, 1937
Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports “Louise Brooks and Addison Randall, a twosome at Sardi’s.”
November 12, 1937
Syndicated columnist Jimmie Fidler writes, “William Le Baron, boss of production at one of the big studios, is the author of a little squib in which he contends that movie stars really have long careers. To illustrate his contention, he points to Jack Mulhall, Agnes Ayres, Ethel Clayton, Walter McGail, Herbert Rawlinson, Jane Novak, Bryant Washburn, Frank Mayo, Creighton Hale, Louise Brooks, and Evelyn Brent. ‘All of them are old-timers, and all of them are still active in pictures,’ he argues. Seems to me he chose poor examples. Not one of those former greats is earning more than the barest of living today.”
November 16, 1937
Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports “Addison Randall certainly gets around. This time he was with Louise Brooks at Sardi’s.”
November 27, 1937
Columnist Harrison Carroll notes that Brooks and Billy Selwyn dined together at House of Murphy in Los Angeles.
December 6, 1937
Brooks declares her intention to seek a divorce from Deering Davis while in Wichita.
December10, 1937
Chicago Tribune reports Brooks will divorce Deering Davis.
Febuary 5, 1938
Syndicated columnist Walter Winchell notes Brooks will not receive alimony in her divorce from Deering Davis.
Febuary 7, 1938
Los Angeles Times reports that Brooks and Addison Randall are still romantically linked.
February 21, 1938
Ben Gross’ radio column, “Listening In,” notes that film stars Louise Brooks and Penny Singleton had at one time appeared on a Mack Millar radio show featuring a “chorus girls’ opportunity contest” on WNEW.
Febuary 27, 1938
Los Angeles Times reports that Brooks and Travis Banton put in an appearance at Bruz Fletcher’s Club Bali, a popular nightclub in Los Angeles.
March 21, 1938
Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports “Addison Randall and Louise Brooks are becoming a familiar twosome around the late spots.”
March 27, 1938
Maxine Bartlett reports in the Los Angeles Times that Louise Brooks and Addison Randall were seen at the Club Bali, as were the Lyle Talbots.
April 6 or April 12, 1938
Attends a showing of The Sheik at the Filmarte theatre in Los Angeles, and leaves before the end because the audience is laughing at star Rudolph Valentino.
April 19, 1938
Syndicated columnist Erskine Johnson reports that Brooks and Travis Banton put in an appearance at Bruz Fletcher’s Club Bali.
April 22, 1938
Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports Addison “Jack Randall and Louise Brooks lingered long over their desert at the Brown Derby.”
April 23, 1938
Brooks and date Howard Shoup put in an appearance at Bruz Fletcher’s Club Bali.
May 23, 1938
Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports “Just few minutes after Addison Randall walked into Bruz Fletcher’s Club Bali with Louise Stanley, his former girlfriend, Louise Brooks put in an appearance with Howard Shoup but none appeared embarrassed.”
May 30, 1938
Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes that Brooks and Howard Shoup are “going places.”
June 11, 1938
Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports “Louise Brooks, under the name Linda Carter, is essaying a comeback through the Bliss-Hayden Miniature Theater. Her first appearance is in the play Miracle for Two by Stanley Kaufman and Effie J. Young. Others in the cast include Beverly Holden, William Stelling, Margaret Meri, Harry Hayden, Howard Johnson, Walter Murray, Nell Keller, Michael Stuart, Mary Rains, Geraldine Gorey and Franco Corsaro.”
June 13, 1938
Louella Parsons reports in her syndicated column that “Louise Brooks has changed her name to Carrington, dyed her hair black and opened in a play at the Bliss-Hayden Theater. It is the first step in her new career.”
June 14, 1938
In its review of Miracle for Two at the Bliss-Hayden Miniature Theater, the Los Angeles Times said, “Linda Carter used her every artifice to give an interesting portrayal.”
June 25, 1938
Brooks and date ‘Prince’ Mike Romanoff put in an appearance at Slapsie Maxies, a well known nightclub in Los Angeles.
July 8, 1938
Syndicated columnist Paul Harrison reports that Brooks, under the stage name Linda Carter, has been appearing in a play in Los Angeles. “A 20th-Fox talent scout spotted a girl called Linda Carter in a little-theatre play and offered her a screen test. It turned out that ‘Linda Carter’ really is Louise Brooks, who’s aiming at a screen comeback under a different name.”
July 24, 1938
Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes “Louise Brooks and Howard Shoup hand-holding.”
August 3, 1938
The Hollywood Citizen-News writes that Brooks begins work tomorrow on Overland Stage Raiders.
August 6, 1938
In an article, “‘Oomph’ and “It’ Boosts Young Stellar Careers,” the Los Angeles Times describes Louise Brooks as “The Million Dollar Legs Girl”.
August 10, 1938
Production of Overland Stage Raiders begins in Southern California, with location shooting done at the Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, California.
September 28, 1938
Overland Stage Raiders released in the United States by Republic Pictures.
December 9, 1938
The gossip column of the Wichita (Evening) Eagle reports, “It was a gay party last Sunday evening at the L.P. Brooks’ home when they entertained for their daughter, Louise Brooks, who is visiting her from Hollywood.”
January 25, 1939
Hollywood columnist Erskine Johnson writes: “George Sherman, the director, and Louise Brooks are an item.”
March 15, 1939
Syndicated columnist Erskine Johnson reports that Brooks and Overland Stage Raiders director George Sherman are “in love.”
April 10, 1939
Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes “Louise Brooks and Al Lackey something new in twosomes.”
May 3, 1939
Los Angeles Times columnist Read Kendall reports “Louise Brooks looked comfortable in blue slacks” while attending the opening of Gilmore Field, a new baseball ballpark in the Pacific Coast League. Actress and team sponsor Gail Patrick threw out the first pitch. Also in the stands were Joe E. Brown, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Jack Benny, Roscoe Karns, Rudy Vallee, Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom and others.
May 5, 1939
Hollywood columnist Louella Parsons writes: “Lew Brice, Fannie’s brother, and Louise Brooks in a ringside seat at Slapsie Maxies.”
June 19, 1939
Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes “Lew Brice and Louise Brooks still at it.”
June 23, 1939
Syndicated columnist Louella Parsons writes that Brooks and Lew Brice dined together with John McClain and Paulette Goddard.
June 24, 1939
The Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News reports that Brooks and Lew Brice, Ben Blue and Franz English, and Tom Brown and Lana Turner were spotted at Marcel’s.
June 28, 1939
Syndicated columnist Harrison Carroll notes that Brooks and Lew Brice were spotted at La Conga in Los Angeles.
June 29, 1939
Syndicated columnist Louella Parsons writes “is it a romance between Louise Brooks and Lew Brice? They’re helping close the night spots these evenings.”
July 25, 1939
Syndicated columnist Ed Sullivan writes that Brooks and Howard Shoup are “hand-holding.”
August 27, 1939
Mentioned in the Boston Herald in an article about G.W. Pabst in connection with a local screening of Kameradschaft: “The other two silent outstanding pictures directed by Pabst were Loves of Jeanne Ney and Pandora’s Box, the sermon version of Frank Wedekind’s play featuring Louise Brooks and Fritz Kortner.” (Kameradschaft is praised as the outstanding film of Pabst’s career, as it shows the friendship between men of different nations. War broke out in Europe just a few days later.)
date unknown 1939
In a 1977 letter, Brooks recounted seeing Buster Keaton at the Arrowhead Springs Hotel in San Bernadino, California: “One night at Arrowhead Springs (1939) I watched him dance the rumba (and damned good) for 2 hours with Sonia Henje who would not have wasted a wiggle of her ass on a man who didn’t spell money.”
October 13, 1939
Hollywood columnist Louella Parsons writes: “… just heard that Louise Brooks is teaching dancing.”
November 4, 1939
Brooks and dance partner Barrie O’Shea performed at a Saturday night party at the Racquet Club of Palm Springs, in support of headliner Rudy Vallee. (Actor Ralph Bellamy, actor Charles Butterworth, director Edmund Goulding, and singer Judy Starr were also present, and took their turn on the Racquet Club stage.) O’Shea, and “his charming partner Louise Brooks, did a very clever mask dance, imitating Mrs. Roosevelt and Chamberlain, doing an old time square dance,” according to the The Desert Sun report.
November 11, 1939
Barrie O’Shea (and Brooks?) performs at a Saturday night party at the Racquet Club of Palm Springs. Also present were Addison Randall, Harry Cohn, Howard Hawks, Franchot Tone, Peter Lorre, Ralph Bellamy, Wesley Ruggles, Charles Butterworth, and others.
November 10, 1939
The Desert Sun reports that Barrie O’Shea and Louise Brooks have been hired as staff dance instructors at the Racquet Club of Palm Springs. “They will teach Saturday and Sunday afternoons until the middle of the season and then every afternoon for the rest of the season. Rhumba and La Conga classes, as well as ordinary ballroom dances and private lessons, will be their feature.”
December 9, 1939
Hollywood columnist Dorothy Manners writes: “Louise Brooks is going over very well with her rhumba classes at the Victor Hugo in the afternoons.”
Louise Brooks was born on Wednesday, November 14, 1906 and died on Thursday, August 8, 1985, at the age of 78. All together, her life ran over the course of some 28,758 days. Like any life, it was marked by highs and lows, by success and disappointment.