Who's Who in
Musicals: Additional Bios XIII
by John Kenrick
(Copyright 2004-2005)
Hylton, Jack
Producer
b. July 2, 1892 (Bolton, UK) - d. Jan. 29, 1965 (London)
A popular dance band leader, Hylton became a successful West End producer
specializing in imported American hits such as Annie Get Your Gun
(1947), Kiss Me Kate (1951), Call Me Madam (1952) and Paint
Your Wagon (1953). His greatest homegrown success came with the
long-running Salad Days (1954). Hylton's final production was the
London staging of Camelot (1964).
Irwin, May
(b. Georgia Campbell)
b. June 22, 1862 (Whitby, Ontario) - d. Oct. 22, 1938 (NYC)
Ample physical proportions and a powerhouse "coon shouter" voice made
Irwin one of the most popular comediennes of her time. After
getting her start as a child on the variety stage, Irwin toured
extensively with her sister Flo. They became the top sister act in early
vaudeville, performing with Tony Pastor
in 1877. May went solo in 1884, interrupting her vaudeville career for
a number of Broadway plays,
musical comedies and revues. Her greatest musical hit was The Widow
Jones (1895), in which she introduced "The Bully Song" --
a raucous comedy number that became her signature song. Irwin and
co-star John C. Rice performed a scene from that show for Thomas Edison's early
silent film cameras. Widely known as "The Kiss," it ignited a
scandalous (and profitable) public response. Irwin starred in
several more forgotten but profitable Broadway musicals, all designed as
vehicles for her, but the bulk of her career was spent as a headliner in
vaudeville. She retired in the early 1920s, reputed to be
one of the wealthiest women in show business up to that time.
Jackson, Ethel
Actress, singer
b. Feb. 3, 1877 (New York City) - d. Nov. 23, 1957 (East Islip, NY)
This attractive American soprano was studying music in Europe when she joined the
chorus of the D'Oyly Carte troupe, appearing in the original production
of Gilbert &
Sullivan's The Grand Duke
(1896). She returned
to America to appear in such forgettable Broadway musicals as A
Runaway Girl and Hotel Topsy Turvy (1902). She
"retired" in frustration, but returned to the stage in The
Blue Moon (1906). Soon afterward, she had the singular fortune to
win the title role in the original Broadway production of
Franz Lehar's
blockbuster hit The Merry Widow (1907). With handsome co-star
Donald Brian, Jackson waltzed into immortality
-- but she was unable to parlay this success into lasting stardom. In the years
that followed, she appeared intermittently in minor
musicals and serious dramas, making her final Broadway bow in the stage
version of Key Largo (1939).
Eggerth, Marta
Singer, actress
b. April 17, 1912 (Budapest)
Kiepura, Jan
Singer, actor
b. May 6, 1902 (Sonowicz, Poland) - d. Aug. 15, 1966 (Rye, NY)
After early careers in Europe, this husband-wife team found joint
stardom in a long-running Broadway revival of
Franz Lehar's perennial
favorite, The Merry Widow (1943). This Viennese classic struck a
nostalgic chord with wartime audiences, and the production raised
Eggerth & Kiepura to immediate American stardom. They later co-starred in the
Broadway failure Polonaise (1945), a Paris production of Princess
Czardas (1950), and Vienna productions of Der Zarewitsch
(1954) and Paganini (1956). Eggerth and Kiepura brought their Merry
Widow to London for a brief run in 1955.
Eggerth also co-starred in the short-lived
Rodgers &
Hart musical
Higher and Higher (1940). She only made occasional
stage appearances in later years, including the Diana Rigg production of
Colette (1982) and the Vienna production of Servus Du (1992).
King, Charles
Actor, singer
b. Oct. 31, 1898 (New York) - d. Jan. 11, 1944 (London)
This song and dance man got his start in minstrel shows and vaudeville,
making his Broadway debut in the chorus of The Yankee Prince (1908). He
was featured opposite Elsie Janis in The Slim Princess (1911), then
appeared in A Winsome Widow (1912) and such revues as The Passing
Show (1913) and Watch Your Step (1914). Stardom came when he played
Jerry Conroy in Little Nellie Kelly (1922), introducing
George M Cohan's nostalgic
"Nellie Kelly, I Love You." As Bilge Smith in Hit the Deck
(1927), he sang Vincent Youmans's
"Sometimes I'm Happy." He also starred in
Present Arms (1928).
King was tapped by MGM to star in the landmark
musical film Broadway Melody
(1929), where he introduced "You Were Meant For Me," and sang the jaunty
title tune surrounded by lead footed chorines. King introduced
"Happy Days Are Here Again" in Chasing Rainbows (1930),
then returned to Broadway to appear in Cole Porter's The New
Yorkers (1930). He made his last stage appearance in the short lived
Sea Legs (1937), and was in London when he died
at age 46.
Kirk, Lisa
(b. Elsa Marie Kirk)
Actress, singer, dancer
b. Feb. 25, 1926 (Brownsville, PA) - d. Nov. 11, 1990 (NYC)
This versatile comic actress won fame introducing
Rodgers
and Hammerstein's "The Gentleman is
a Dope" in Allegro (1947). As the original Lois Lane/Biana
in Kiss Me Mate (1948), she was the first to sing
Cole Porter's
"Why Can't You Behave," "Always True to You in My
Fashion" and "Tom, Harry or Dick." Kirk remained active in
nightclubs and regional theatre, returning periodically to musicals. She
dubbed the songs for Rosalind Russell in the film version of Gypsy
(1963), took over the female lead in Broadway's Here's Love (1964),
and played Lottie in Mack and Mabel (1974) -- where she introduced
Jerry Herman's "Tap You Troubles
Away." She was featured in the musical Home Again, Home Again
-- which closed before reaching Broadway in 1979. A longtime smoker, Kirk
died of lung cancer at age 62.
Klaw, Marcus
Producer, theatre owner
b. May 29, 1858 (Paducah, KY) - d. June 14, 1936 (Bracken Fell,
Hassocks)
An experienced attorney, Klaw formed a partnership with
Abe Erlanger, owning and managing a nationwide
chain of theatres. In 1896, they formed the Theatrical Syndicate, which gave them
monopolistic control of the bookings for almost every theater in the USA. Over
the next sixteen years, they set the rates and handled access to more than 700
houses. Their shameless greed made them countless enemies among fellow managers
as well as actors, musicians, etc.
Klaw and Erlanger served as producers for dozens of Broadway musicals,
including George M Cohan's
Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway
(1906), Victor Herbert's Little Nemo
(1908) and The Pink Lady (1911). They also financed the early editions of
Florenz Ziegfeld's Follies, Broadway's
first important revue series. After Klaw and Erlanger's partnership fell apart over
the Actor's Equity strike of 1919, Klaw focused primarily on producing dramas.
Lane, Lupino
(b. Henry George Lupino)
Actor, singer, dancer
b. June 16, 1892 (London) - d. Nov. 10, 1959 (London)
This popular comic actor made his West End debut as a dancer in Watch
Your Step and other revues. He was featured in the London and New York
casts of Afgar (1919), and made revue appearances in both cities
-- including the Ziegfeld Follies of 1924. He played
Maurice Chevalier's valet in the
early screen musical Love Parade (1929).
Back in London, Lane produced and starred in Twenty to One
(1935), a 383 performance hit in which he originated the character of Bill Snibson.
He played this street smart cockney again in a series of popular
sequels, beginning with the long running Me and My Girl (1937),
in which Lane introduced Noel Gay's
"The Lambeth Walk." He repeated the
role on film, as well as in the stage hits La-Di-Da-Di-Da
(1943), Meet Me Victoria (1944) and Sweetheart Mine
(1946). Lane spent his later years appearing in occasional revivals of Me
and My Girl.
Lang, Harold Richard
Dancer, actor, singer
b. Dec. 21. 1920 (Daly City, CA) - d. July 26, 1985 (Chico, CA)
After appearing with the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo and American
Ballet Theatre, this athletic dancer made his Broadway debut in the
ensembles of Mr. Strauss Goes to Boston (1945), Three To Make
Ready (1946) and Look Ma, I'm Dancin (1948). Lang won stardom
as Bill Calhoun in Kiss Me Kate (1948), introducing
Cole Porter's
"Bianca." After playing Ricky in the short lived Make a
Wish (1951), he played the title role in a long running revival of Pal
Joey (1952) -- a happy task he repeated in London two years later. A
weak actor, Lang was unable to parlay his early dance-based success into
a lasting Broadway career. He appeared in three disappointments -- Shangri-La
(1956), a weak Ziegfeld Follies (1957), and a short-lived revival of
On the Town (1959). His last New York appearance was as Teddy in
I Can Get It For You Wholesale (1962). From 1970 onwards, Lang
taught dance at California State University in Chico, remaining there
until his death due to pancreatic cancer at age 64.
Latouche, John Treville
Lyricist
b. Nov. 13, 1917 (Richmond, VA) - d. Aug. 7, 1956 (Calais, VT)
With a gift for literate rhyme, Latouche contributed individual lyrics
to such shows as Pins and Needles (1938) before collaborating
with Vernon Duke on the full scores of
Cabin in the Sky (1940)
and Banjo Eyes (1941). After a decade filled with such
disappointments as Duke Ellington's Beggar's Holiday (1946),
Latouche scored a critical triumph with composer Jerome Moross -- The
Golden Apple (1954). After the unsuccessful
Carol Channing vehicle The
Vamp (1955), he collaborated with composer Douglas Moore on the
acclaimed opera The Ballad of Baby Doe (1956). Latouche worked with
Leonard Bernstein on the brilliant
cult favorite Candide (1956), but was felled by a heart attack at age
38 several months before its premiere.
Leander, Zara
(b. Zara Stina Hedberg)
Actress, singer
b. Mar. 15, 1907 (Lake Vaner, Sweden) - d. June 23, 1981 (Stockholm)
A low but attractive singing voice and exceptional, statuesque
beauty took this performer from local Swedish productions to a
starring role in the Vienna stage hit Axel and der Himmelstur (1936). She
repeated this triumph on screen, becoming Germany's most popular musical
film stars. As World War II broke out, Leander refused
offers from Britain and the US, preferring to remain #1 in Germany. She
saved one or two useful colleagues from Nazi persecution, but looked the other
way when friends and even relatives were carted off to concentration camps.
With Adolph Hitler among her fans, Leander overcame the antagonism of propaganda
minister Josef Goebbels and starred in a series of screen musicals designed to
boost German morale. When Leander's producer could not find enough tall women
for a production number in Die Grosse Liebe (The Great Love -
1942), Hitler's personal SS guards were ordered to become a living wall of
long-limbed angelic "chorines," exchanging their uniforms for
fluttery gowns and picture hats. Die Grosse Liebe became one of Germany's
most popular wartime screen hits, and gay songwriter Bruno Baltz's ironic
"It Isn't the End of the World" and "I Know One Day a Miracle Will
Happen" became Reich favorites.
Leander left Germany well before the Nazi's were defeated,
but she was forever labeled as one of Hitler's stars
-- the "Diva of the Third Reich." Unapologetic, she overcame
hostility and eventually enjoyed something of a renaissance in films and occasional
stage musicals. Leander played Madame Armfeldt in the Viennese (1975) and
Swedish productions of A Little Night Music.
Lecocq, Charles Alexander
Composer
b. June 3, 1832 (Paris) - d. Oct. 24, 1918 (Paris)
A contemporary of Offenbach, Lecocq is not
as well remembered -- but he made a prolific contribution to the golden age of
French operetta in a career that stretched from 1857 to 1910. Marked by sparkling,
sophisticated scores, Lecocq's greatest hits included La Fille de Madame Angot
(1872) and La Petit Duc (1878), the only two of his fifty-plus scores that
are still heard with any regularity today.
Lee, Gypsy Rose
(b. Rose Louise Hovic)
Actress, stripper
b. Jan. 9, 1914 (Seattle) - d. Apr. 26, 1970 (Los Angeles)
A childhood in vaudeville followed by years as burlesque's stellar
"intellectual" stripper led Ms. Lee to an occasional career in musical
theatre. From the ensemble of Ziegfeld's Hot-Cha (1932), she
graduated to major roles in Melody (1933) and the Shubert produced Ziegfeld
Follies of 1936. Lee took over the title role of DuDarry Was a Lady
when Ethel Merman
left in 1940, and co-starred with
comedian Bobby Clark in Mike Todd's burlesque-flavored hit Star and Garter
(1942). Lee's memoirs formed the basis for the hit musical Gypsy
(1959). Three times married and divorced, her career was cut short by
cancer at age 56.
Leigh, Carolyn Paula
Lyricist
b. Aug. 21, 1926 (New York City) - d. Nov. 19, 1981 (NYC)
Leigh went from radio to pop lyric writing, providing the words to several
Frank Sinatra hits ("Young at
Heart," "Witchcraft," etc). Her first stab at Broadway came
with several of the lyrics for Mary Martin's
Peter Pan (1954), including "I Won't Grow Up" and
"I'm Flying." Leigh contributed to several forgettable revues,
including the so-called Ziegfeld Follies of 1957. She had better
luck collaborating with composer Cy Coleman
on several book musicals, starting with Wildcat (1960) -- in which
Lucille Ball introduced the popular "Hey, Look Me Over." Little
Me (1962) included two pop hits -- "I've Got Your Number" and
"Real Live Girl." For her final Broadway project, Leigh teamed with
film composer Elmer Bernstein for the poorly received How Now Dow Jones
(1967), which included the catchy march "Step to the Rear."
Leigh, Mitch