Billie and Patsy Irwin

Billie and Patsy Irwin,  Sixteen year old twin dancers, Posing aboard the Cunard? 'The Blue Kitten' at the Gaiety Theatre, London" (192-?)

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts / Jerome Robbins Dance Division 

Vaudeville Actresses

The girls in the Cotton Club’s Review, NYC c.1933, (Vaudeville Gals, Ethel Waters, in the center)

lascasartoris | (via dusttracksonaroad

Rip Wrinkles

"Rip Wrinkles," vaudeville performers, 1926.

edu/arc | Area Research Center

Vaudeville Performers

Vaudeville Performers, Something for Everyone!

freedominpoverty | Area Research Center

The Dolly Sisters

The Dolly Sisters, twins Rosika (Rose) and Jansci (Jenny) Deutsch, were born October 25, 1892 in Hungary, and emigrated to the United States in 1905

by Confetta

James Doyle and Harland Dixon

James Doyle and Harland Dixon  in 'Jack o' lantern' 1917

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts | Jerome Robbins Dance Division |   photograph by White Studio (New York, N.Y.)                            

Daisy and Violet Hilton

Daisy and Violet Hilton (1908-1969), British born conjoined twins abandoned by their mother and trained as entertainers by their exploitative caretakers. They were trained to play clarinets and saxophones for a jazz act in the 1920s. After breaking away from their caretakers, they toured in the U.S. sideshow and vaudeville circuit in the 1930s.

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Pussycat Dolls

The Original "Pussycat Dolls", 1920s, African-American Vaudeville performers (showgirls/chorus line)dressed in very risque (for the time) feline (cat) costumes.

Nicholas Brothers

The Nicholas Brothers were a famous African American team of dancing brothers, Fayard (1914–2006) and Harold (1921–2000). With their highly acrobatic technique ("flash dancing"), high level of artistry and daring innovations, they were considered by many the greatest tap dancers of their day. Growing up surrounded by Vaudeville acts as children, they became stars of the jazz circuit during the heyday of the Harlem Renaissance and went on to have successful careers performing on stage, film, and television well into the 1990s.

Source: wikipedia

Chorus Line

photograph of chorus line

Source: library.yale.edu | Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library | Clark, Bonnie | 1909-1958

Eddie Cantor

Eddie Cantor, (January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964), born Edward Israel Iskowitz, in New York City. After becoming a smash hit in vaudeville, Ziegfeld signed him for his Midnight Frolics and then the Follies of his Midnight Frolics and then the Follies of 1917, 1918, 1919 and 1923.  From there he went to films in the 1920s, starring in Whoopee, Kid from Spain and Kid Millions. Eddie Cantor was an American  performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter.

Source: ziegfeldgrrl

Ray Bolger

Raymond Wallace, Ray Bolger (January 10, 1904 – January 15, 1987) began his career in vaudeville. He was half of a team called "Sanford and Bolger" and also did numerous Broadway shows on his own. He, like Gene Kelly, was a song-and-dance man as well as an actor. Bolger was signed to a contract with MGM in 1936 and his first role was as himself in The Great Ziegfeld (1936). Noticed by MGM producers and resulted in his being cast in his most famous role, that of the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Source: nndb | imdb | otrstreet

Effie Moore & Troupe

A group of beautiful vaudeville era showgirls (Effie Moore & Troupe) strike a pose for the camera. 1920s, Addison Scurlock (1883-1964), photographer. Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Source: flickr | blackhistoryalbum

Mae West

 Mae West

Mary Jane West, known as Mae West, (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980), was born in Brooklyn, New York, to "Battling Jack" West and Matilda Doelger. She began her career as a child star in vaudeville, and later went on to write her own plays, including "sex", for which she was arrested. Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades.

Source: womenofthe30s-70s | pastpicture | imdb

Aida Walker

Aida Overton Walker (14 February 1880 – 11 October 1914), also billed as Ada Overton Walker and as "The Queen of the Cakewalk", was an African-American vaudeville performer and wife of George Walker. This publicity photograph of her is from one of her productions called "Salome," from sometime around the turn of the 20th century.

Source: songbook1

Saidie Sellyna

Saidie Sellyna, an American actress, singer, dancer in Vaudeville and performed in Russia in the 1920s! 

Source: flickr | vintageblackglamour

Turpin Ben

Turpin Ben, (September 19, 1869- July 1,1940) American silent screen film comedian. the cross-eyed comedian of silent days was not born that way. Supposedly his right eye slipped out of alignment while playing the role of the similarly afflicted Happy Hooligan in vaudeville and it never adjusted.  Ironically, it was this disability that would enhance his comic value and make him a top name.

c. 1910s

Source: autographauctions | vintagegal

Annette Kellerman

Annette Marie Sarah Kellerman (6 July 1886 – 6 November 1975) was an Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville and film star, and writer. Her initial fame was athletic. Beset with infantile paralysis, Kellerman began swimming as a therapy; she wins her first title, Swim Champion of New South Wales, in 1902 at the age of 15. Long distance swimming becomes a specialty and she shortly thereafter sets the women's world record for the mile.

Source: bikiniscience

Ruth St. Denis

Ruth St. Denis (January 20, 1879 – July 21, 1968) was a modern dance pioneer, introducing eastern ideas into the art.and an American contemporary dance innovator who influenced almost every phase of American dance. From an early age Ruth Dennis displayed a marked interest in the theater and especially in dance. She began dancing and acting in vaudeville and musical comedy shows when she was a teenager, and she appeared in David Belasco’s productions of Zaza, The Auctioneer, and Du Barry. She was co-founder of the American Denishawn School of Dance and the teacher of several notable performers.

Source: britannica

Lupe Vélez

Lupe Vélez (July 18, 1908 – December 14, 1944) Lupe Vélez was a Mexican film actress. Vélez began her career in Mexico as a dancer, before moving to the U.S. where she worked in vaudeville. She was seen by Fanny Brice who promoted her, and Vélez soon entered films, making her first appearance in 1924.  By the end of the decade she had progressed to leading roles.

Source: wikipedia | theloudestvoice