Anzia Yezierska and the Marketing of the Jewish Immigrant in 1920s Hollywood

Abstract

When Jewish immigrant author Anzia Yezierska arrived in Hollywood in 1921, she stepped off the transcontinental train into a cloud of waiting paparazzi. Wearing a worn blue serge suit, Yezierska stared wide-eyed at the Hollywood luxury that was offered her, and blushed at all the attention she received. Samuel Goldwyn, who had bought the film rights to her first collection of short stories, Hungry Hearts, had brought her to Hollywood to play the part of the Goldwyn Company's resident Jewish immigrant ingenue, and Anzia Yezierska, at least initially, appeared to be an excellent candidate for such a role.