A three-act comedy by Anita Loos and John Emerson adapted from Loos's novel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, opened on 28 September 1926 for 199 performances. Lorelei Lee, a flapper from Little Rock, Arkansas, travels to Europe with her friend Dorothy thanks to the largesse of Lorelei's "sugar daddy," a button manufacturer, Gus Eisman. The gold-digging Lorelei cuts a swath through England where she charms a knight into giving her a diamond tiara and becomes enamored of Henry Spofford. When she learns that Spofford and Dorothy are an item she returns to Eisman. A motion picture version was released in 1928. In 1949, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes became a hit musical by Jule Styne, Leo Robin, Joseph Fields, and Loos, making a star of Carol Channing* as Lorelei, the role originally played by June Walker. The musical was filmed in 1953, starring Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei.
The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. James Fisher.