Resumo de Donald Brian: The King Of Broadway

Donald Brian entertained and was entertained by seven consecutive Presidents. He helped W.C. Fields improve his dancing, Frank Sinatra develop his stage presence, and the Brooklyn Dodgers increase their agility. He performed with Bob Hope on his earliest USO tours, and he shared equal billing in an act with Harry Houdini.

Yet the most remarkable aspect of his remarkable life is the fact that no one has seemed interested enough to write a book about him. Since his death in 1948, the man whom no less than Teddy Roosevelt named ?The King of Broadway? has slipped out of general knowledge. Charles Foster?s book changes that.

A pilot-in-training on leave in Hollywood, Foster met Brian at the house of a mutual friend. This casual encounter led to hours of conversation captured on one of the first prototypes of the tape recorder. Decades later, Riverview native Foster has finally turned this material into a book.

What twists of fate led a fatherless boy from Saint John?s, Newfoundland, to become the king of Broadway? The story would be unbelievable as a novel, yet Foster uses the barest of journalistic prose to present the facts just as they happened.

When some family friends offered his mother a job in Boston, Brian accompanied her in spite of his reluctance to leave Saint John?s. He worked in a men?s clothing store, where he would frequently dance outside to draw the customers, showing the charisma that would later enthral Broadway audiences. George M. Cohan, a multi-talented actor, dancer, playwright, and songwriter, happened to see him one day and immediately sized up his gift, promising to take him to New York and make him a star.

After some minor theatrical successes, Brian created the role of ?Prince Danilow? in The Merry Widow. New York had never seen anything like the mania surrounding this show. Every single performance was sold out as the show ran for a full year. Brian?s extraordinary skill and energy outlasted six consecutive co-stars?even though they universally adored him, none of the leading ladies could keep up with him for very long and each in turn asked to be released from her contract.

His appeal was so strong that female fans kept stealing the life-sized portrait of Brian placed by the front doors. Management posted guards to protect it, but they still needed to replace it occasionally because women insisted on kissing it, and their lipstick ruined the picture of Brian?s face.

Although ?Prince Danilow? was the role of a lifetime, Donald Brian was no one-hit wonder. He enjoyed continued success in theatre as well as establishing himself as a character actor in the new industry of film. As his fame and wealth grew, he looked for ways to give back to the community and country that had been so good to him.

In his early years, he made it known that any chorus girl who found herself out of work could get free room and board at his apartment--sometimes he had as many as eight boarding at one time. He also helped to found the first union for Broadway performers and was always ready to star in a benefit concert for another artist. Later, he founded a school to train dancers and singers for a nominal fee. Although he supported the endeavour mostly out of his own pocket, it did bring him one immeasurable benefit?a meeting with his future wife, Virginia O?Brien.

Altogether, he was a charming man. And he lived a charmed life, finding success, fame, and respect in his work. His is an incredible story and, if he was at all like Foster?s portrait, I must say it couldn?t have happened to a nicer guy.

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