Eddie Bracken

I've become enamoured of Eddie Bracken of late. I rewatched Too Many Girls with my roommate earlier this week. He's just so much fun. And he also appears in one of my favorite musicals of all time -- Summer Stock.

Sadly, Eddie is not a big enough of a star to merit a biography yet. His successes in two Preston Sturges movies (Miracle at Morgan Creek and Hail the Conquering Hero) are not quite enough to win him fame enough that people want to read about him.

However, I did find a fun interview with him in the Austin Chronicle. The first paragraph was definitely enough to pique my interest (and also my disappointment that Eddie hadn't written an autobiography!):

"When an actor's bio claims 14,000 performances to his credit, you rather expect the fellow to have some good stories. After all, that's quite a load of firsthand experience of the genius and madness, the egos and excitement, that go along with showbiz and show people. And Eddie Bracken doesn't disappoint. He has more than a few choice yarns gathered from his 70 years on Broadway, in Hollywood, and beyond, and he appears ever eager to share them."

14,000 performances! That's craaaazy!

I just got Preston Sturges's autobiography from the library today (Preston Sturges by Preston Sturges: His Life in His Words) and it looks to be a fun read. Hopefully there will be some mention of Eddie -- or else I'll have to start tracking down his co-stars' biographies in order to catch a fleeting glimpse of what his life was really like.

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