Miss Gloria Swanson posing among the rubble of New York's Roxy Theatre, a venue in which she made her name.
For the full story, read this fabulous article by Philip Mershon at Felix in Hollywood blog.
It was apparently this particular photo that was the inspiration for Hal Prince and Stephen Sondheim's classic musical about the demise of old-style theatrical grandeur, Follies...
"Fame was thrilling only until it became grueling. Money was fun only until you ran out of things to buy."
"I didn't want to spend the rest of my life playing Norma Desmond over and over again."
"Life and death. They are somehow sweetly and beautifully mixed, but I don't know how."
Gloria Swanson (27th March 1899 - 4th April 1983)
La Swanson and the Roxy, two legends for one final time in 1961.
ReplyDeleteA devastating portrait of how public taste leave things once revered in the dust. -Rj
It's all about "progress" these days, or, even worse that oft-misused and abused term "relevance". No pride. No class. No history. Jx
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