Living on Velvet


	At Left: Living on Velvet (1935) - Kay turning the ridiculous into something sublime. Kay Francis -"I Can't Wait to Be Forgotten" - by Scott O'Brien presents a close look at the breadth of work that Kay Francis contributed to film and stage. A career that spanned three decades (1925 - 1954) is well-documented and details her roles and what the critics and public had to say about a woman who took her work (as well as her salary) very seriously.
At Right: Rare 1925 portrait of Kay by Charles Baskerville (From the Jetti and Lou Ames collection) The personal world of Kay Francis is also explored in "I Can't Wait to Be Forgotten." Her unpublished diaries attest that Kay was an enthusiastically liberated 1920's Jazz Age woman. When she ventured to Hollywood in 1929, she had enough intelligence and savvy to see that what held in New York was simply verboten in Hollywood. Kay refused to make up stories about her private life for public consumption. Kay's biography gives an insiders look into her relationships with husbands and lovers. Kay's use of shorthand to detail her lover-life holds its own fascination for the reader. Translated, she shows her own sharp wit regarding herself and her escapades.