Besides this website, there are a few other sources of online information about Louise Brooks. Among them are the Wikipedia and IMDb and the TCM (Turner Classic Movies) pages devoted to the actress. Each contains a modest amount of information, as does AllMovie. There are as well a small number of websites devoted to the actress which fans may also want to check out; they can be found on Lulu in Cyberspace, a longstanding page of links here on the LBS.
The following curated page serves as a hyperlinked checklist of worthwhile articles about the life and career of Louise Brooks. There are a number of others, of course, that are also worthwhile, but they’re not readily accessible online. Generally speaking, not included here are pieces that focus on specific films. Such links can be found on the LBS pages devoted to each of Brooks’ films. See the FILMS OF LOUISE BROOKS page for details.
The internet has changed a lot since I launched the Louise Brooks Society back in 1995. That’s when I first started compiling pages like this. Back then, if an article came to my attention, I could usually link to it. Now-a-days, a fair amount of newspaper and magazine journalism (print or otherwise) is behind paywalls. But still…, here is what I could find that you can read. I hope to add to this page when possible as new material becomes available, or as I discover deeply buried links. If you are aware of additional articles which can be read online, please CONTACT the LBS.
Thomas Gladysz
Director, Louise Brooks Society
Evans, Delight. “Give my regards to Broadway I’m in the Movies Now.” Screenland, January 1926.
— magazine profile
Anonymous. “The Chic Louise Brooks.” Screenland, March 1926.
— one page profile
Waterbury, Ruth. “Manhattan Technique.” Photoplay, April 1926.
— magazine profile
Oettinger, Malcolm. “Just a Prairie Flower“. Picture-Play Magazine, August 1926.
— magazine profile
York, Cal. “The Girl on the Cover.” Photoplay, February 1927.
— magazine profile
anonymous. “Biografia de Luisa Brooks y Otras Materias.” Mensajero Paramount, April 1927.
— Spanish-language studio publicity piece
anonymous. “Louise Brooks.” Hollywood Vagabond, April 21, 1927.
— short opinion piece
Thomas, Dan. “These Movie People.” June 12, 1928.
— syndicated newspaper article (see right)
anonymous. “The Rise of Louise Brooks.” Vanity Fair, January 1929.
— brief magazine piece with a portrait by Edward Steichen
Achmed. “Louise Brooks wants to film in Norway.” Tidens Tegn, September 7, 1929.
— Norwegian newspaper profile of the actress with a brief question and answer
Belfrage, Cedric. “Their European Souls: Some Stars’ Spirits Flower Only Abroad“. Motion Picture, February 1930.
— magazine article
anonymous. “Louise Brooks“. Picture-Play Magazine, May 1931.
— single page picture-profile
various. “Louise Brooks – Newspaper articles.” Wichita Eagle, 1930s and 1940s.
— a small group of articles hosted by the Kansas Historical Society.
Eisner, Lotte. “La miraculeuse Louise Brooks.” 1952
— excerpt in French from L’Écran démoniaque
Card, James. “Out of Pandora’s Box: New Light on G. W. Pabst from His Lost Star, Louise Brooks.” Image, September 1956.
— five page illustrated journal article
Brodersen, Vibek. “Pandora i København: Interview med Louise Brooks.” Kosmorama, December 1957.
— interview published in Dutch film journal
Card, James. “The ‘intense isolation’ of Louise Brooks.” Sight and Sound, Summer, 1958.
— five page illustrated magazine article
Franklin, Joe. Classics of the Silver Screen. New York: Citadel Press, 1959.
— single page chapter on Louise Brooks.
Monegal, Emir Rodríguez. “Apoteosis de Louise Brooks.” El País, October 23, 1963.
— Spanish language newspaper article from Uruguay
Dorn, Norman K. “Tales of love and death.” San Francisco Chronicle, January 28, 1973.
— newspaper article
Leacock, Richard. “A Conversation with Louise Brooks.” 1973.
— transcript of a conversation between the actress and the documentary film maker
Tynan, Kenneth. “Louise Brooks Tells All.” The New Yorker, June 3, 1979.
— the famous article, here re-titled, otherwise known as “The Girl with the Black Helmet.”
Cagle, Charles. “Louise Brooks and the Road to Oz.” Little Balkans Review, Fall 1982.
— an early piece in a literary journal
Elsaesser, Thomas. “Lulu and the Meter Man.” Screen, July-October, 1983.
— thirty three page scholarly article
Chase, Chris. “Pandora’s star delighted that Lulu’s back.” New York Times, September 16, 1983.
— brief interview
Sarris, Andrew. “The Legend of Louise Brooks.” Village Voice, September 27, 1983.
— article
Lang, Robert. “P.O.V. Lulu in Hollywood – Louise Brooks and the Star System.” Columbia Film Review, October 1983.
— journal article
Mitgang, Herbert. “Louise Brooks, Proud Star of Silent Screen, Dead at 78.” New York Times, August 10, 1985.
— obituary
Paris, Barry. “Natural actress remembered as artist.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 14, 1985.
— newspaper article
Paris, Barry. “Sincerely, Louise.” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, November 19, 1986.
— newspaper article, click here to read part one, and here to read part two
LaSalle, Mick. “A Vamp Gets the Silent Treatment.” San Francisco Chronicle, January 22, 1987.
— newspaper article
Wollen, Peter. “Brooks and the Bob.” Sight and Sound, February 1994.
— four page magazine article (unfortunately a blurry scan)
“When Kenneth met Lulu.” The Guardian, November 21 1998.
— UK newspaper article
Paris, Barry. “Brooks Brought the Whole Package to Pandora’s Box.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 2, 2006.
— newspaper article, click here to read part one, and here to read part two
Corliss, Richard. “Lulu – Louise at 100.” TIME magazine, November 14, 2006.
— magazine article
Farmer, Robert. “Lulu in Rochester: Louise Brooks and the cinema screen as a tabula rasa.” Senses of Cinema, July 2010.
— online article
Gladysz, Thomas. “Dear Stinkpot: Letters from Louise Brooks by Jan Wahl.” Huffington Post, October 13, 2010.
— online article
Gladysz, Thomas. “Louise Brooks – Cover Girl and Secret Muse of the 20th Century.” Huffington Post, June 6, 2012.
— online article
King, Susan. “Classic Hollywood: Louise Brooks’ rise and fall.” Los Angeles Times, July 16, 2012.
— newspaper article
Gladysz, Thomas. “Louise Brooks’ Star Shines Brighter Than Ever.” Huffington Post, November 4, 2013.
— online article
Guilyard, Jeanine. “Silent Film Star Louise Brooks – the Inspiration Behind Guido Crepax’s Iconic Character – Valentina.” Italian Cinema Today, December 1, 2015.
— blog article
Hutchinson, Pamela. “The girl with all the gifts – The alluring legacy of Louise Brooks.” Little White Lies, November 14, 2016.
— online article
Hutchinson, Pamela. “Ali Smith on Louise Brooks: ‘the revelation of movement’.” Silent London, November 14, 2016.
— blog article
Hutchinson, Pamela. “‘Pandora’s Box with the lid off!’: Lulu’s misadventures in London.” Silent London, April 8, 2017.
— blog article
King, Susan. “The Eternal Louise Brooks.” American Cinematheque blog, May 17, 2017.
— paired interviews with film historian Cari Beauchamp and LBS Director Thomas Gladysz
Gladysz, Thomas. “Louise Brooks, the Persistent Star.” Huffington Post, August 22, 2017.
— online article
Brady, Tara. “Louise Brooks: ‘I was always late, but just too damn stunning for them to fire me’.” Irish Times, June 2, 2018.
— newspaper article
Macnab, Geoffrey. “Louise Brooks: The silent era It girl who became a film critic.” The Independent, June 4, 2018.
— long newspaper appreciation
Siefen, Claudia. “Louise Brooks by Richard Leacock.” Desistfilm, November 12, 2018.
— features an interview with documentary filmmaker Richard Leacock
Gladysz, Thomas. “Never the Victim: Louise Brooks and The Chaperone.” Film International, April 16, 2019.
— magazine article
Horak, Jan-Christopher. “The Last Days of Louise Brooks.” Archival Spaces, August 15, 2020.
— online article
Gladysz, Thomas. “Louise Brooks: Silent Muse.” Fiction magazine, September 4, 2022.
— article in literary journal
Gladysz, Thomas. “Lulu in America”: ‘Sin Lust Evil!’ and the Lost History of Louise Brooks and Pandora’s Box.” Film International, April 23, 2023.
— magazine article
Callahan, Dan. “The Martyrdom of Lulu: Louise Brooks at 117.” Bright Lights Film Journal, November 14, 2023.
— reprint of an earlier, 2006 online article