The truth about Brecht?

[dirty rotten guy]

Posted: 4/17/06 at 9:38pm

So I was in Borders today and happened upon a book of caricatures about the lives of famous artists, one being Brecht. When I read the section about him it said that he became a collaborator with a woman who he had an affair with. It then went on to say that this woman was the one who actaully wrote ThreePenny after Brecht had dismissed the idea and when it became popular she allowed him to take the credit, thinking he would eventaully marry her. It said when he died he left behind many ghost writers who had never gotten credited for what they had witten, including her. I thought that this sounded a bit crazy but the summary of the book insisted that everything is completely true.

So is it true that Brecht's masterpiece isn't even his? Does anyone knwo the truth behind these stories? I am very intrigued and I know that there are alot of knowledgable people on here, so I am hoping someone can help me.

Updated On: 4/18/06 at 09:38 PM

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 4/17/06 at 11:32pm

Well, Brecht was a chauvinist. Brilliant, but a real disgusting human being.

A lot of the maneurisms in his plays came from his study of Charlie Chaplin and he really wanted Chaplin to perform in one of his shows.

Chaplin hated Brecht, however.

Anyway, Elisabeth Haumptmann, his secretary, I believe translated John Gay's THE BEGGAR'S OPERA into German for Brecht, I believe.

I know that when his show HAPPY END failed he claimed to only have written the songs and that Dorothy Lane wrote the book. Lane being, of course, Haumptmann. Though Brecht did use pieces of HAPPY END in later plays.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/18/06 at 1:22am

Interesting...I can't wait to order my book about Brecht off amazon later this week.