Chances are, even the most ardent Louise Brooks fan will not have heard of Bruz Fletcher. However, a first ever book on this 1930’s recording artist and nightclub entertainer should go a long way toward helping reestablish his mercurial reputation.
And oh, what a reputation he had. Bruz Fletcher: Camped, Tramped & a Riotous Vamp, by Tyler Alpern, tells the story of this multi talented performer, composer, novelist, and artist (1906-1941). Fletcher was queer – an entertainer associated with the Pansy Craze of the pre-WWII era – and about as out as one could be in the 1930s.
He was also friends with Louise Brooks. The two performed on the same bill for a few weeks running at a Palm Beach, Florida nightclub in 1935. Brooks was also known to frequent Fletcher’s performances in Hollywood a few years later.
In the late 1930s, Fletcher was a fixture on the Hollywood scene. His name regularly shows up in society and gossip columns of the time. As a popular local nightclub act, many film world celebrities saw him perform at the Club Bali, where his campy though coded routine was showcased. According to newspaper accounts, Brooks saw Fletcher perform on at least five different occasions in 1937 and 1938. The well known costume designer Travis Banton, who was also gay, was her companion on at least two of those outings.
Brooks’ plays only a very small role in Flether’s story, though their connections go beyond social encounters. Earlier on in 1929, for example, Fletcher appeared on stage with Brooks’ American Venus co-star Esther Ralston. Fletcher wrote her act, his partner Casey Roberts designed her gowns, and together they played to packed houses in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and elsewhere. Fletcher also wrote songs for Peggy Fears, another one-time friend and fellow performer of Brooks (in the Ziegfeld Follies). Over the years as well, Fletcher would write material and sometimes tour with other silent era films stars.
Brooks’ sexual orientation – and attitudes towards gays and lesbians – is a debated issue. In her apparent friendship with Fletcher, we find yet one more example of a homosexual with whom Brooks associated.
Bruz Fletcher: Camped, Tramped & a Riotous Vamp, issued by Blurb Books, pieces together the story of how Fletcher came to associate with early Hollywood stars – and how he came to enjoy a celebrated, years-long run at the Club Bali. It would be the pinnacle of his career.
Fletcher was born to one of the wealthiest and most dysfunctional families in Indiana. It’s said that Booth Tarkington’s The Magnificent Ambersons was inspired, in part, by the Fletcher family. Fletcher’s Aunt married the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist.
Fletcher’s father lost the fortune his family had built over generations, only to became an elevator operator. (At one time, American currency bore their family name. A ten dollar bill with the name of the Fletcher National Bank of Indianapolis is depicted in the book.)
Fletcher ran away from home at age 8, and later attempted suicide as a teen. While home from school for the holidays, his mother and grandmother drank poison in committing a double suicide. His older sister escaped family life and lived as a man, joined a Broadway show, then went to Germany where she was jilted by a count. Later, she was committed to an asylum and was arrested for attacking the fraudulent Lady Bathurst before dying at age 24.
In his short life, Fletcher would twice live a rags-to-riches experience. As an entertainer, he overcame it all and sparkled as he performed nightly in glamorous high society nightclubs, delighting his often well-known patrons with his witty, sophisticated and often risqué songs.
Though he killed himself at age 34 in 1941, Fletcher left behind three albums of remarkable songs and two novels that give colorful and candid glimpses into his world – a world populated by society dowagers, misfits, celebrities, addicts, servants, lovers and eccentrics that covered a variety of sexualities and mores.
Six years in the making, Bruz Fletcher: Camped, Tramped & a Riotous tells the story of one of the forgotten pre-Stonewall artists whose story has only recently come to light. It is heavily illustrated, and contains lyrics to most of Fletcher’s songs, contributions from family members, collectors, and fans. Bruz Fletcher: Camped, Tramped & a Riotous Vamp is a remarkable book because it tells such a remarkable story.
Besides his new book, Alpern also helped compile a compact disc of Fletcher’s rare recordings from the 1930s. Originally issued by the independent Liberty Music Shop label, Fletcher’s cosmopolitan recordings – the same ones Brooks heard, can now be found on Drunk with Love. It is available through CD Baby, and is well worth checking out.
For more info: The genesis of Tyler Alpern’s book about Bruzz Fletcher is his website about the entertainer. It can be found at www.tyleralpern.com/bruz.html Alpern’s Bruz Fletcher: Camped, Tramped & a Riotous Vamp is available through Blurb.com.
Thomas Gladysz is a longtime fan of Louise Brooks, so much so that in 1995 he founded the Louise Brooks Society, an internet-based archive and international fan club devoted to the silent film star. Gladysz has contributed to books on the actress, organized exhibits, appeared on television, and introduced her films around the country. Recently, he edited and wrote the introduction to the “Louise Brooks edition” of Margarete Bohme’s The Diary of a Lost Girl. Gladysz will speak about his new book at the Village Voice Bookshop in Paris on January 13, 2011. This author talk will be followed by a screening of the film at the nearby Action Cinema.
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