She was a vamp, a comedian, chanteuse, singer, actress, and a star of the Ziegfeld Follies...her name was Fanny Brice. Fanny was best known for her comedic appearances in a top-rated radio show that began an 11 year run in the early 1930s until 1951 where she portrayed a precocious child named Baby Snooks.
Below is audio of Fannie Brice as Baby Snooks at the Doctor's Office/June 9, 1932. Audio excerpt by Dennis Nyhagen of The Digital Deli On Line.
{play}images/audio/Baby Snooks 38-06-09 32 At The Doctor's Office.mp3{/play}
Fanny was born Fanny (Fania) Borach on October 29, 1891 in Newark, NJ. She hailed from a proud and well to do family of Hungarian Jewish descent. Fanny traveled in constant motion during her youth, from Coney Island…show more content… 'Sadie Salome Go Home', accentuated with a Yiddish accent, later became the touchstone for Fanny's future success! Her affected Yiddish singsong speech also later became her trademark dialect.
Within the following year of her performance, Fanny was scouted out by Ziegfeld of Ziegfeld Follies, and she was signed on for a two year contract at a starting salary of $75 a week. That salary was a huge sum for the times. Legend has it that Fanny, in her excitement at receiving the contract for the upcoming Follies gig, ran down 47th and Broadway Streets wildly waving the contract, showing it to everyone who looked her way!
Fanny, whose career was progressing rapidly, had also changed her acting name to the nom de plume of Fanny Brice. She had become a whirlwind talent, a versatile and comedic actress who proved, upon her debut, she could be every bit a star of the Ziegfeld Follies. In the following two decades, Fannie was a regular in the Follies, lampooning and launching into adaptions of every entertaining manner, gaining popularity with a legion of followers. She was, in short, second to none.
Ziegfeld saw something more than comedic attributions in…show more content… This role was one that she'd featured in a Follies act.
The character, Baby Snooks premiered in February 1936 on CBS. Brice then moved on to NBC in 1937, performing her Snooks act as part of the Good News show, then back to CBS on Maxwell House Coffee Time, with the half-hour divided between the Snooks sketches and comedian Frank Morgan.
The Baby Snooks radio show eventually went off the air after 11 years when sponsorship of the Columbia Broadcasting System network was withdrawn by General Foods. Miss Brice, however, resumed the role in November of 1949 under a contract with the National Broadcasting Company. Baby Snooks was featured for television only once, in June 1950 on CBS-TV's Popsicle Parade of Stars. This was also Fanny Brice's only known appearance on television.
Fanny would also make an appearance, on Tallulah Bankhead's radio variety show, "The Big Show", in November 1950, alongside Groucho Marx and Jane Powell.
Below is audio of Fannie Brice as Baby Snooks Alongside Talullah Bankhead/November 11, 1914. Audio excerpt by Dennis Nyhagen of The Digital Deli on Line.
{play}images/audio/Baby Snooks 50-11-14 Baby Snooks And Talullah