Stoughton J "Bruz" Fletcher III was a gay musician and literary figure who came to prominence in Los Angeles during the 1930s.
14 Facts About Bruz Fletcher
1.
2.
Bruz Fletcher grew up in Laurel Hall, a mansion in northeast Indianapolis.
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The Bruz Fletcher family had become notorious for unconventional behavior, high society escapades and premature deaths.
4.
Bruz Fletcher attended several prestigious boarding schools, including the Brooks School for Boys and the Hill School, as well as the Howe Military Academy.
5.
Bruz Fletcher performed in glamorous venues, delighting his sophisticated patrons with witty and risque songs punctuated with salacious patter, clearly influenced by Noel Coward and Cole Porter.
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Bruz Fletcher wrote at least six plays, many for summer stock, including The Greater Thing, Aggie's Affairs, Not a Saint, and Commuting Distance.
7.
Some show business legends who caught Bruz Fletcher's act were dismissive.
8.
Bruz Fletcher recorded more than two dozen songs on 78 rpm records, many issued by Liberty Music Shop Records.
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Bruz Fletcher wrote theatrical works and short stories, and published two novels, Beginning with Laughter and Only the Rich.
10.
Bruz Fletcher performed in his Sunset Strip nightclub before audiences including Ronald Reagan, Humphrey Bogart, Howard Hughes and Louise Brooks.
11.
Bruz Fletcher was reported to be performing in New York at the Breevort Club in October 1940.
12.
Bruz Fletcher grew increasingly despondent, and like his mother, grandmother, and another Bruz Fletcher ancestor, committed suicide.
13.
Bruz Fletcher asphyxiated himself in a running car parked in the garage of his friend John Snowden in Tarzana, California, on February 8,1941.
14.
Bruz Fletcher's suicide was reported in a page 1 story in the Los Angeles Times on February 11,1941.