Fannie Hurst

Fannie Hurst
Fannie Hurst in 1932. Photograph by Carl Van Vechten.
Born	October 19, 1885 Hamilton, Ohio
Died	February 23, 1968 New York City
Occupation	novelist, short story writer
Nationality	American
Notable works	Back Street, Imitation of Life
Spouse	Jacques S. Danielson

Fannie Hurst (October 19, 1885 – February 23, 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer whose works were highly popular during the post-World War I era. Her work combined sentimental, romantic themes with social issues of the day, such as women's rights and race relations. She was one of the most widely read woman authors of the 20th century, and for a time in the 1920s was one of the highest-paid American writers, along with Booth Tarkington. Hurst also actively supported a number of social causes, including feminism, African American equality, and New Deal programs.

Although her novels, including Lummox (1923), Back Street (1931), and Imitation of Life (1933), lost popularity over time and as of the 2000s were mostly out of print, they were bestsellers when first published and were translated into many languages. She also published over 300 short stories during her lifetime. Hurst is now best known for the film adaptations of her works, including Imitation of Life (1934) starring Claudette Colbert, Louise Beavers, Fredi Washington, and Warren William, Imitation of Life (1959) starring Lana Turner, Humoresque (1946) starring Joan Crawford, and Young at Heart (1954) starring Frank Sinatra.

Hurst was born on October 19, 1885 in Hamilton, Ohio to shoe factory owner Samuel Hurst and his wife Rose (née Koppel). A younger sister died of diphtheria at age three, leaving Hurst as the only surviving child of her family. Her parents were assimilated Jewish emigrants from Bavaria. She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri at 5641 Cates Avenue. Hurst was a student at St. Louis's Central High School. She attended Washington University and graduated in 1909. In her autobiography, she portrayed her family as comfortably middle-class, except for a two-year stint in a boarding house necessitated by a sudden financial downturn, which sparked her initial interest in the plight of the poor. However, this has been challenged by later researchers, including her biographer Brooke Kroeger and literary historian Susan Koppelman. According to Koppelman, while Fannie Hurst was growing up, her father changed businesses four times, never achieved much financial success, and failed in business at least once, and the Hurst family lived at eleven different addresses — all of them boarding houses — before Fannie turned 16. Kroeger wrote that while Samuel and Rose Hurst did eventually move to a house in a fashionable section of St. Louis, this did not occur until Fannie Hurst's third year of college, rather than during her childhood.