A Tale of Two Ednas, Part 2: The Novelist and Screenwriter

 This look at Edna Ferber's life and work is a mini-series. Part 3 will be next week.

 

Edna's  birthplace was once celebrated in the Big Band era by Glenn Miller and the gang. 

Like last week's Edna (St. Vincent  Millay), today's Edna appeared on a postage stamp. 

Not sure why it was necessary to create the stamp's image from a photograph which makes Ferber look like Miss Gulch from "The Wizard of Oz." But I take some comfort in knowing, according to this article, that the 83-cent Edna Ferber postage stamp is now valued at around five hundred dollars. 

In real life, Edna Ferber  looked less like Margaret Hamilton and more like the delightful Bette Midler. Here's the author having a laugh with actor James Dean on the film set for "Giant."

As I close tor this week, I'm happy to share the sound of Edna Ferber's voice with you. After some diligent searching, I was able to locate a recording of the author playing the role of Parthy Ann in a radio version of "Show Boat." The radio show, featuring Ferber's debut as an actress, was directed by Orson Welles for the Campbell Playhouse. 

Next week: Edna Ferber, the Kalamazoo Cowgirl

Garbo