Fannie Flagg is an internationally renowned American writer and actress. Born in Irondale on September 21, 1944. However, her parents gave her the name Patricia Neal, and she took the name Fannie Flagg much later, as a pseudonym. At a very early age, Patricia dreamed of writing books, but her dyslexia, which worried her, significantly complicated her studies.
As Patricia herself notes, she was the only child in the family. At the age of 14, she already got used to the stage, playing in the performances of the Birmingham theater group. At the age of seventeen, she was forced to change her name so that registration with the Actors' Equity trade union became possible for her. The name Patricia Neill at that time had already been included in the list by the famous actress at the Oscars. Flagg received her higher education in Alabama, and in addition studied at the Pittsburgh School of Acting. On her return to Birmingham, Fanny found a job at a local TV station.
Writing career
Flagg's first writing job was as a screenwriter for television programs, and she also took part in television programs in cameo roles. Thanks to her advanced acting skills, she managed to play with such famous actors as Jack Nicholson, Jeff Bridges and Sally Field. In 1999, Flag starred opposite Melanie Griffith in the film "Woman Without Rules", in the director's chair was Antonio Banderos. Later, Fannie still followed the path of writing, although she did not stop playing in films and theater. She starred in the Broadway musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
"Disy Fay and the Miracle Man" is Fannie Flagg's first novel, and for ten weeks it held the top positions of the New York Times bestseller, which is almost impossible for the author's first book. After the success of her debut, Flagg wrote several more books, and her next international bestseller, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Polustanok Cafe, lasted 36 weeks on the same list from the New York Times. The book became a film masterpiece and a classic of American cinema called "Grilled Green Tomatoes", starring Katie Bates. The script for the film was written by Flagg herself, for which she received a Writers Guild Award and an Oscar nomination.
However, her new novel, Welcome to the World, Baby! turned out to be even more successful than the previous one. The New York Times named the work as the most outstanding book of the year, and the Christian Science Monitor described the manuscript as "a captivating, humorous novel, welcomed with open arms."
Fannie Flagg gave her readers the opportunity not only to read her works, but also to listen to them performed by the author. Her acting skills and talent allowed her to voice most of her novels in audiobook format, for which she received another Grammy.
After the publication of the book "What the whole city is talking about," Flagg repeatedly noted that "The City …" will be her last novel. “If I write anything else, it will be something of a modest size,” the author says in an interview with Smashing Interviews Magazine.
Fannie Flag now lives in California and Alabama.
Personal life
In the late 1970s, Flagg had a relationship with American writer Rita Mae Brown, and they met at a party at Holliwood Hills hosted by actress Marlo Thomas. The couple did not live long in a house in Charlottesville, Virginia before parting ways. According to Brown Flagg, she lived for eight years with the actress of the series "Bold and Beautiful" Susan Flannery.
Fantasy by Fannie Flagg
Although Flagg is known as the author of realistic prose, there was also a place for fantasy in her work. It's about the novel “Paradise is somewhere nearby”. The main character, named Elner, has an accident that leads to the death of the heroine. She goes to Paradise and gets the opportunity to communicate with the Almighty and the inhabitants of this place. However, while Elner rejoices in heavenly blessings, a black streak begins in the life of her family and friends. Her niece, Norma, faints, her friend Luther crashes in his truck and ends up in a ditch, and Verbena's neighbor studies the Bible from cover to cover. Seeing all this, God decides that, without finishing earthly affairs, Elner has no place in Paradise. The novel tells the reader that Paradise is in front of us - our close and beloved people.
