THE KAY FRANCIS FAN PAGE
Kay Francis "I Can't Wait to Be Forgotten"
From the authors website:
"From 1929 to 1946, Kay Francis, movie legend-fashion goddess-millionaire investor-film producer, appeared in more than sixty films, including at least one classic, Trouble in Paradise. She acted with the biggest male leads of her day; Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, William Powell; and earned an astounding $200,000 a year during the Depression.
Kay also developed a legendary reputation for privacy. If they only knew...Her desire for privacy was essential to her success.
Kay, the personification of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Flaming Youth," began keeping a diary in 1922. Compelled to record virtually every intimate encounter, the long-forgotten, secret diary tells the story of a sexually adventurous woman who lost her virginity when she was 16 and consequently took on many lovers. She lived a rich, uninhibited bisexual life that included one-night stands with many of Hollywood's celebrated stars, countless affairs, and carefully hidden abortions.
Her diary, uncovered in a university archive, details Kay's fascinating life and career in New York, Paris, and Hollywood during the Roaring Twenties, Prohibition, and the War Years. Through this diary, as well as recently declassified FBI files, interviews, and historical archives, Kay's life has been rediscovered. Much time was spent deciphering Kay's shockingly frank sexual diary -many of the entries were written in code."
For more details about the biography "Kay Francis A Passionate Life and Career" by Lynn Kear and John Rossman, please visit:
Kay Francis: A Passionate Life and Career
Complicated Women : Sex and Power in Pre-code Hollywood
Mick LaSalle
Ginger, Loretta and Irene Who?
George Eels
The Hollywood Beauties
James R. Parish
The Women of Warner Brothers: The Lives and Careers of 15 Leading Ladies, with Filmographies for Each
Daniel Bubbeo
A Womans View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women, 1930-1960
Jeanine Basinger
The Power of Glamour: The Women Who Defined the Magic of Stardom
Annette Tapert
Hollywood Divas : The Good, The Bad, and The Fabulous
James R. Parish
The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years
David Shipman
Films in Review Magazine ([Career Article] Feb. 1964 Vol. XV No. 2)
James R. Parish and Gene Ringold
Kay Francis in the 30's (Newspaper Coverage)
Edited by G.D. Hamann
The Complete Kay Francis Career Record
Lynn Kear and John Rossman
Additional Reading
2nd edition out with improved photo qualty and additional material.
"You have to compromise with life. I found that out. Live for the day ... I've never been a person to look into the future ... tomorrow can take care of itself ... just the present day counts ... Just the moment, really
- Kay Francis, 1935
The biography Kay Francis "I Can't Wait to be Forgotten" delves for the first time into the Kay Francis diaries (part of the Wesleyan University Film Archives). Her romantic relationships with such legends as Maurice Chevalier, directors Fritz Lang and Otto Preminger, provide a glimpse into the private world of Kay Francis. Her four marriages (she would only admit to three); the mysterious disappearance of her last fiance, a German baron; and, the scandal surrounding an accident in 1948, which almost ended her career, are finally unraveled. The biography details Kay's life as a quintessential and liberated Jazz Age woman in 1920's New York. Her career on stage, film, radio and TV are documented in detail. Kay's life made an abrupt turnabout after she left Warners in 1938. Her story reveals a woman who completely redefined her career and priorities, to focus on her innermost and giving nature.
"My only ambition is for a life worth living. I mean by that a life in which I'll make the most of myself and a life which will be of some service to others"
- Kay Francis, 1934
Kay's story will surprise those who have seen her as simply a fashionable, glamorous screen star. Kudos, praises, and memories from Kay's close friends and co-stars reveal a Kay Francis well worth remembering. For details contact author Scott O'Brien: kayfrancisbio@hotmail.com