Fans
of vintage radio and movies need no introduction to the
sweet demeanor, sultry glances, and velvety voice of Alice
Faye. Her haunting rendition of “You’ll Never Know” has
never been surpassed by any other singer. Her films, such
as Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Tin Pan Alley, and The Gang’s
All Here, remain perennial favorites on classic movie channels
and at video rental outlets. Her radio show, with her husband
Phil Harris, and her frequent guest appearances on the Jack
Benny Show, live on in the cassette collections popular
with radio devotees. Now for the first time, fans of the
fabulous Faye can enjoy a full-scale biography of the beloved
star. Four years in the making, Alice Faye: A Life Beyond
the Silver Screen, is being published by the University
of Mississippi Press (available in October) as part of its
Hollywood Legends series. Film historian Jane Lenz Elder
conducted interviews with Alice’s friends and family, consulted
leading oral history collections, and dug through archives
in California, New York, and Linton, Indiana (home to the
Phil Harris-Alice Faye Collection), to create the most compelling,
comprehensive, and accurate depiction of Faye’s life yet
published. Beginning life in the Hell’s Kitchen section
of New York, Alice Faye went from an adolescent chorus girl
in the 1920s to one of Hollywood’s top box office draws
of the 1930s and 1940s. Populating her life were such luminaries
as Don Ameche, Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, Betty Grable, Jack
Haley, Phil Harris, John Payne, Tyrone Power, Tony Martin,
Shirley Temple, Rudy Vallée, and the ruthless studio mogul,
Darryl F. Zanuck. Alice met success in the early days of
broadcast radio and in Hollywood’s golden age. She also
endured setbacks, scandals and, above all, the challenges
of the big studio system. She faced life squarely with humor
and determination, and eventually emerged as one of Hollywood’s
most graceful survivors. Alice Faye: A Life Beyond the Silver
Screen is a must read for any Faye fan.
