Early in the century, Marie Dressler was hailed as one of America's
finest comics, with a 20-year string of Broadway and vaudeville
successes including The Lady Slavey, Miss Prinnt, Higgledy Piggledy,
The Man in the Moon, and Tillie's Nightmare. She starred with Charlie
Chaplin in the first ever feature-length comedy Tillie's Punctured
Romance and later in Min and Bill for which she won an Academy Award.
A brilliant comedienne in body, timing, inflection and reactions, her
talents far exceeded the expectations of slapstick, and her movies
earned sums far greater than those of Garbo, or Harlow, or even Gable.
This work examines Dressler's life from vaudeville to talkies. Based on
extensive research and interviews with Dressler's surviving friends,
co-stars and colleagues, including Maureen O'Sullivan, Jackie Cooper and
Anita Page, it details her public and personal successes and failures. A
listing of her stage appearances, vocal recordings and films is
included.