Louise Brooks, Movie Star And Flapper Icon, in 1927

June 21, 2021

We can thank silent film star, dancer, and flapper Louise Brooks with popularizing the sleek, androgynous bob hairstyle that became an icon of the 1920s. The smooth, black, perfectly sharpened hairdo, shown in this colorized photograph from Brooks’ 1927 film Now We’re in the Air, symbolized Brooks’ defiance and determination to forge her own path in Hollywood. 

The iconic Louise Brooks (Klimbim Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/22155693@N04/50926668403/)

In Now We’re in the Air, a silent film comedy set in World War I Europe, Louise Brooks played identical twins, Grisette and Griselle. One twin is a German loyalist and the other supports the French. While this film helped showcase Brooks’ talents, it was the films she did a few years later, while living in Europe, that made her and her unique hairstyle international stars. 

A Born Entertainer

Louise Brooks trained to be a dancer. (louisebrookssociety.blogspot.com)

Louise Brooks was born in Kansas in 1906. She later described her father, Leonard Porter Brooks, as a disinterested and preoccupied lawyer. Her mother, Myra Rude, was the artsy sort. She was a skilled pianist, loved books, and was passionate about music, art, and the theatre. She wasn’t, however, as passionate about raising her children. Although she inspired her children with her creativity, she once said her children should “take care of themselves.” Brooks took up dancing and discovered she was quite good at it. She continued with dance lessons and performances through her teens.