Mabel

This book gives an excellent insight into the life and times of Mabel Normand - one of the first women of cinema. Her life was complex and peppered with tragedy. This book fully explores all the hearsay about Mabel's downfall, and looks further into the roots of the controversy surounding the Taylor murder case, amongst other scandals of her time. I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone.

All I can say is read this book. It is one of the best Bio's written about a silent Movie star.

Betty Fussell's book is one of the best biographies I've read. I've read it several times since it was published in 1992. Why, you ask? It doesn't begin with the usual chronological story, but jumps back and forth from the present to the past. Fussell interweaves Mabel's family, her nurse, her friends with the tragic outcome of Mabel's life. It reads like a detective story, as Fussell tries to capture the clues to Mabel's life . Get this one, you won't regret it.

Mabel, by Betty Harper Fussell (Limelight Editions, 1982),is a very well-researched and cleverly written book. Ms. Fussell madea unique connection with Mabel Normand via her grandnephew, Stephen. He himself was deeply intrigued by his great-aunt Mabel and nursed an obsession to know as much about her as he could - he even looks hauntingly like Mabel. Beyond the blood ties, it was this remarkable resemblance that encouraged the confidence of Mabel's nurse/companion Julia, who had cared for her during her protracted struggle with tuberculosis. Julia was 94 and in fragil health when she met Stephen; however, she never forgot any details about her beloved Mabel. Some well-guarded secrets were revealed to Stephen after he got to know Julia well. Ms. Fussell skillfully pulls together many elements of Mabel's life and relationships. She gives us a fully formed picture of the complex, but bittersweet, "Diving Girl." Mabel was a muse, and she was amusing. Charlie Chaplin worked a lot with Mabel while under contract at Sennett's Keystone Studio. He was even (begrudgingly) directed by her in several short films, yet said unequivocably that "everyone adored Mabel." Betty Fussell tells us in riveting prose why Mabel Normand was so adored. We get to know more about Hollywood's first "I-don't-care" girl than we ever knew before. Equally impressive is the detailed filmography and the nice collection of photos. This book is an absolute must for silent screen lovers. Thanks to Fussell, Mabel comes back to life in these pages. - Copyright, 1996-97, Diane MacIntyre, "The Silents Majority"

Fussell's biography of Mabel Normand, the famous comedienne, is one of the finest ever written about Hollywood, certainly about the Silent Era. Not only is the research extensive and the story enthralling, but Fussell's obsession with Normand hypnotizes and pulls the reader not merely into Normand's madcap life, but into the entire desperate world of Hollywood in the Twenties.