Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906–August 8, 1985) was an American dancer, showgirl, and silent film actress. She became an author, writing incisively about the silent era.

When she returned to Hollywood, in 1931, she was cast in two mainstream films: God's Gift to Women (1931) and It Pays to Advertise (1931). Her performances in these films, however, were largely ignored, and few other job offers were forthcoming due to her informal "blacklisting." Despite this, William Wellman, her director on Beggars of Life, offered her the feminine lead in his new picture, The Read more...

Brooks made her screen debut in the silent The Street of Forgotten Men, in an uncredited role in 1925. Soon, however, she was playing the female lead in a number of silent light comedies and flapper films over the next few years, starring with Adolphe Menjou and W. C. Fields, among others. She was noticed in Europe for her pivotal vamp role in the Howard Hawks directed silent "buddy film," A Girl Read more...