Adrienne L. McLean

Ph.D. - Film Studies and American Studies
Emory University, Institute of the Liberal Arts, Atlanta, Georgia

M.F.A. - Dance, Dance History
Southem Methodist University, Dallas, Texas

B.A. - Art History, minors in American History, Dance
Southem Methodist University, Dallas, Texas

“Lady Be Gone: Eleanor Powell and the MGM Freed-Unit Musical.” In Women and Hollywood: Tales of Inequality, Abuse, and Resistance in the Dream Factory, ed. Karen McNally (Illinois University Press, forthcoming).  - publications

“Managing the Classical Hollywood Musical’s Dancing Bodies: ‘Morality’ and Glamour.” In Oxford Handbook of American Film History, ed. Jon Lewis (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).  - publications

“Makeup and Hair: Forgotten Folks and Famous Experts.” In Hollywood Unions, ed. Kate Fortmueller and Luci Marzola (Rutgers University Press, forthcoming).  - publications

Adrienne L. McLean, All for Beauty: Makeup and Hairdressing in Hollywood’s Studio Era (Rutgers University Press, 2022). - publications

Adrienne L. McLean, “The Faces of Ginger: Beauty Makeup, Facial Acting and Hollywood Stardom.” In Faces on Screen: New Approaches, ed. Alice Maurice (Edinburgh University Press, 2022), 195-210. - publications

Adrienne L. McLean, «Le glamour et le corps dansant dans la comédie musicale hollywoodienne» [Glamour and the Dancing Body in the Hollywood Musical]. En Le Musical hollywoodien: Histoire, esthétique, création, dir. N. T. Binh et José Moure (Les Impressions Nouvelles/Éditions de la Sorbonne, 2021), 157-184.  - publications

Adrienne L. McLean, «“En toute impunité”: la Production Code Administration et le corps dansant» [“We Got Away with Murder: The Production Code Administration and the Dancing Body”]. En Politiques du musical hollywoodien, dir. Aurélie Ledoux et Pierre-Olivier Toulza (Presses de Paris Nanterre, 2020), 79-98.  - publications

Adrienne L. McLean, “‘Give Them a Good Breakfast Says Nancy Carroll’: Fan Magazine Advice Across Time.” In Star Attractions: Twentieth-Century Movie Magazines and Global Fandom, ed. Tamar Jeffers McDonald and Lies Lankman (University of Iowa Press, 2019), 11-28. - publications

Professor
UTD [2008–Present]
Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology

Associate Professor
UTD [2004–2008]
School of Arts and Humanities

Assistant Professor, tenure-track
UTD [1998–2004]
School of Arts and Humanities

Visiting Professor
Hollins University, Roanoke, Virginia [1999–2006]

Visiting Assistant Professor
Emory University [1995–1998]

Lecturer
Emory University [1994–1995]

Instructor
Georgia Institute of Technology [1994–1995]

Dean's Teaching Fellow
Emory University [1993–1994]

Teaching assistant and instructor
Emory University [1991–1993]

Instructor
Southern Methodist University [1977–1981]

Working on a monograph on Eleanor Powell (1912-1982) and women dancer-choreographers in studio-era Hollywood.

“Not Just Femme Astaires: Reclaiming Hollywood’s Women Dancing Stars of the 1930s.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies Annual Conference, Boston, March 2024.

“Everything Built Up to Her: Framing, Space, and Agency in the films of Eleanor Powell.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies Annual Conference, Denver, April 2023.

“Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers: A Force of Nature.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies Annual Conference, March-April 2022 [remote].

“Making [It] Up: Cosmetics, Coiffures, and Self-reflexivity in Classical Hollywood Cinema.” London Metropolitan University virtual conference “Behind the Screen and Off the Stage: Film and Television Representations of American Entertainment,” 2021 (keynote address).

“Lady Be Gone: Eleanor Powell and the MGM Freed Unit Musical.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies Annual Conference, 2021 [remote].

Personal Statement

 

Honors and Awards

• Keynote address, “Making [It] Up: Cosmetics, Coiffures, and Self-reflexivity in Classical Hollywood Cinema.” London Metropolitan University virtual conference “Behind the Screen and Off the Stage: Film and Television Representations of American Entertainment,” 2021. 
• Invited speaker, colloquium «Le Musical hollywoodien: création, esthétique, réception» [“The Hollywood Musical: Creation, Aesthetics, Reception”]. Université Panthéon Sorbonne and the Philharmonie de Paris, December 2018.
• Invited speaker and participant, Labex «Musical MC²» ["The Hollywood Musical in Its Mediatic and Cultural Contexts"], December 2015-2017, Paris, France.
• Robert De Niro Fellowship, Ransom Center, University of Texas, 2011-2012.
• Victor Worsfold Award for Outstanding Teaching, School of Arts and Humanities, UTD, 2001.
• Sigma Nu Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Emory College, Emory University, 1997.
• First Place, Society for Cinema Studies Student Writing Competition, 1992.
• Ball Brothers Foundation Visiting Fellowship, Lilly Library, University of Indiana, 1992.
• Algur H. Meadows Fellowship in Dance, Southern Methodist University, 1979-1981.

Film Professor Chronicles Legacy of Classic Hollywood Musicals

A UT Dallas professor joined film scholars on a three-year project that focused on classic Hollywood musicals far from the spotlight of Tinseltown.

Dr. Adrienne McLean, professor of film studies in the School of Arts and Humanities, was part of Musical MC2: The Hollywood Film Musical in Its Mediatic and Cultural Context, a project that met twice a year at conferences in Paris, France. The participants — film scholars and students from the U.S., Great Britain and France — discussed topics such as “Stars of Hollywood Musicals,” “The Film Musical in the History of Technologies” and “The Politics of Hollywood Musicals.”

Film Studies Professor Competes in National Dog Show