Brice, Fanny [née Borach] (1891–1951), comedienne and singer. The native New Yorker first performed for customers in her parents' saloon, then at thirteen she won an amateur night contest in Brooklyn. In 1909 her performance at a benefit, where she sang Irving
Berlin's “Sadie Salome” with a comic Jewish accent, landed her a part in the burlesque musical comedy
College Girls. It was while touring with this troupe that she came to the attention of Florenz
Ziegfeld who signed her for his
Follies of 1910. Brice stopped the show with Berlin's “Goodby, Becky Cohen” and thereafter she was an important performer in the
Ziegfeld Follies of 1911, 1916, 1917, 1920, 1921, and 1923, as well as in
Honeymoon Express (1913), the
Music Box Revue 1924–1925,
Fioretta (1929),
Sweet and Low (1930), and
Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt (1931). She also appeared in the
Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 and 1936, which were produced by the
Shuberts after Ziegfeld's death. Although Brice was a great comedienne and introduced such comic songs as “Second Hand Rose,” “I'm an Indian,” and “Old Wicked Willage of Wenice,” Ziegfeld discovered she could be a moving torch singer as well, and some of her most memorable
Follies' moments came when she introduced “My Man” and “Rose of Washington Square.” She initially played the mischievous brat Baby Snooks (a character she later popularized on radio) in the 1934
Follies, having done similar brats earlier. Her personal history, especially her marriage to gangster Nicky Arnstein, served as the basis for the 1964 musical
Funny Girl. Biography:
Fanny Brice: The Original Funny Girl, Herbert G. Goldman, 1992.
