# A "Book" I Suspect Does Not Exist . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347 "2003-12-01T21:27:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/21 "2003-12-03T14:28:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*I just noticed that the IMDb has the incorrect date of birth and date of death for Charlotte Greenwood. She was born in 1892 (per Social Security records), and died in 1977 (per California death index). \*\* I wrote a biographical piece about her once, and I think it was actually 1890, from my research. I think she shaved two years off for SS. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/22 "2003-12-03T14:54:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > **I hadn’t thought of the “vanity/privately distributed” angle before** Spoken as only someone who actually has a publisher could say it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/23 "2003-12-03T20:46:08Z")
My favorite thing to come up in a search for her is the article “Charlotte Greenwood proves her agility despite the fact that she’s near the half-century mark” (World Telegram photo by Al Ravenna. 1940). Her husband Martin Broones has TONS AND TONS of songs copyrighted to his name and I even tried searching for Charlotte (Greenwood) Broones, but nothing. Trivia: there was a literary subgenre in the 19th century of bestselling potboiler autobios that followed this thread: naive sweet and trusting young thang marries a handsome Mormon missionary, moves with him to Utah, and there she eithers finds he already has numerous other wives or he takes other wives. One of the women who wrote such a book was Charlotte Wood Greenwood, and that’s throwing the search a tad. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/24 "2003-12-03T20:51:19Z")
PS- There’s a chapter on Charlotte Greenwood in the book WOMEN IN COMEDY, Secaucus, N.J. : Citadel Press, 1986 by Linda Martin & Kerry Segrave. Perhaps one of those authors has information (and if one is the author who hates your guts, perhaps the other will be warmer and fuzzier). ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/25 "2003-12-06T23:55:04Z")
I just checked the U.S. Copyright Office’s _Catalog of Copyright Entries_, for the years 1937-1956. Looking in the author index for books, I found no entry for Charlotte Greenwood or Charlotte Broones (her married name). ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/26 "2003-12-07T02:44:17Z")
**Walloon** The NYTimes has her obituary in Feb of 1978. I haven’t actually read it, only from their obit index, but you suggested that the CA death index has her expiring in 1977. I’ll try to get up to the library tomorrow, as I can’t access the Times from home. Any help here? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/27 "2003-12-07T02:49:02Z")
She died on Jan. 18, 1978, but her death was not announced till a month later. Her age was listed as 87. Thanks for all the ferreting-out here . . . I will ask my editor (who is also the Tetchy Author’s editor) to ask him where he got _Never Too Tall_ to put in his bibliography. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/28 "2003-12-07T04:00:51Z")
The [California Death Index, 1940-1997](http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi/) has not one but two death records for Charlotte Greenwood. One under the name Charlott [_sic_] G. Broones, the other as Frances C. Broones. But both give the date of death as **28 December 1977**. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/29 "2003-12-07T04:06:21Z")
Likewise, the [Social Security Death Index](http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi) gives her month of death as **December 1977** (under the name Charlotte Broones). ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/30 "2003-12-07T04:46:55Z")
That _is_ weird. I have four obits of her, all dated Feb. '78 and all stating she died “last month, on Jan. 18, at the age of 87.” I also have her birthdate as 1890, not 1892–as she made her stage debut in 1905, the earlier date seems more likely. This is why I love the SDMB: where else would an in-depth converstion about Charlotte Greenwood take place? She seems to have been a great old gal, in addition to being a crackerjack performer. Of her gawky appearance, she said, “The kind of wrapping you come in has nothing to do with it [happiness]. As quickly as you realize that, contentment and peace come–from the heart. Happiness is within you.” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347/31 "2003-12-07T04:47:39Z")
Awww, this wasn’t about the Necronomicon? I was all set for **DreadCthulhu** to pop in and eat everyone? ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-book-i-suspect-does-not-exist/216347.md?page=1)