Fanny Brice

Fanny Brice

“I’m soul-Sadie from Avenue A, preachin’ salvation, and makin’ it pray “ by Morgan Ross 2-23-12

Fanny Brice was born on October 29, 1891 in New York City. Her real name was Fania Borach but was changed to the stage name of Fanny Brice. She had three other siblings and they all lived with their immigrant parents that were saloon owners. Her parents were Hungarian and Jewish. Brice and her parents and her brother moved to Europe. Her sisters stayed with their neighbors in New York.

When Fanny arrived she met Hatte Levy. They were both born on the same day, a few minutes apart. When school started they skipped a whole year of year of school together. When Fanny didn’t go to school, she went to the Blaney’s Theatre to perform. Her parents let her put bill posters on the walls of their saloons. People were buying tickets to see her.

Her father’s name was Charles Borach and her mom was

Rose Stern. Fanny did not finish school and dropped out after the 8th grade. When she was 13, she sang in a talent show in the Keeny’s theatre. She sang a song called “When you know you’re not forgotten by the girl you can never forget”. She won 1st place. Now Brice wanted to perform.

In 1908, she starred in her first acting performance. She was in many stage plays and movies. Fanny’s career started after she was fired from a Broadway play called Talk of the Town because she didn’t know how to dance. This made Fanny want to do better. Fanny first became famous for singing in the Ziegfeld Follies around 1910. That was a big achievement for her.

While she was performing in a play called, College Girls, a famous producer named Florenz Ziegfeld heard Fanny singing in a short play and asked her to be in his show. In College Girls,

Fanny sang Sadie Salome and Go Home. This song was about a Jewish girl who was an actress and it was a good song for her since she was Jewish and wanted be an actress. In 1921, she sang a song called My Man, which was a song that talked about being in love. This was her most famous singing performance where she stood on the stage next to a light pole and sang. She starred in 11 episodes of the Ziegfeld Follies until the 1930’s.

Fanny performed with many well known stars that helped her become famous. She was also known for another famous song called Second Hand Rose, which she sang in 1921 also in the Ziegfeld Follies. She is well known for more than 20 songs and received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award. She became famous for her Broadway performances as a comedian and an actress in many movies because she used a Yiddish accent.