Showbiz History: A Child Star, A Funny Girl, a Winged Serpent, and Noni Ryder

5 random things that happened on this day (October 29th) in showbiz history...

Fanny Brice

1891 Fanny Brice born in New York City. The comic actress, radio star, and Ziegfeld Girl who was immortalized by the Oscar-winning biopic Funny Girl. Brice is name-checked a few times in the new wonderful film Can You Ever Forgive Me?

1918 Happy 100th birthday today to Baby Peggy (aka Diana Serra Carey), the silent film child star who is still alive today! (See our list: 200 Oldest Living Screen Stars of Note). According to a THR report from January she's doing well and recently published her first fiction novel (!!!) having previously written a memoir and a biography 

1943 Flesh and Fantasy, an anthology movie of occult-related stories opens in movie theaters starring Barbara Stanwyck among other stars. Y

ou have to click on this poster after the jump which asks "WHICH IS YOU?" So, dear reader, tell us... which is you?

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Judy by the Numbers: "Why? Because!"

Anne Marie is tracking Judy Garland's career through musical numbers...

With Judy Garland's growing success, MGM decided it was time to have her star in her own feature. The studio dusted off some musical numbers (arranged by Roger Edens) as well as a handful of contract players and Ziegfeld stars. Judy played a young aspiring actress stuck in a conservative school. Supported by her zany Russian maid (Fanny Brice), the young girl decides to join a musical. The result was another hit for Judy, and a delight for future Vaudeville nerds and historians.  

The Movie: Everybody Sing (MGM 1938)
The Songwriters: Harry Ruby & Bert Kalmar
The Players: Judy Garland, Fanny Brice, Allan Jones, Reginald Owen, Billie Burke, directed by Edwin L. Marin

The Story: In Everybody Sing, Judy was joined by not one but two famous Ziegfeld women: Billie Burke (aka Mrs. Florenz Ziegfeld, who we'll see again later), and Fanny Brice, a Jewish comedienne whose life would eventually inspire the musical that would launch Barbara Streisand's career. At the time of Everybody Sing, Brice had successfully transitioned from Vaudeville to radio, and this musical number was based on one of her characters, Baby Snooks. I'll admit that this week's clip isn't so much Judy by the Numbers as Fanny by the Numbers, but there are so few films of Brice. Watching Fanny Brice in action, you see the blueprint being laid out for future funny girls like Barbra Streisand, Lily Tomlin, and Gilda Radner.