Chez Paree
Encyclopedia
The Chez Paree was a Chicago
nightclub
, which opened in 1932 and closed in 1960. Located in the Streeterville
neighborhood of Chicago at 610 N Fairbanks Ct, the club was host to many great entertainers, ranging from singers to comedians to vaudeville acts. A "new" Chez Paree opened briefly in the mid 1960s on 400 N. Wabash and was seen in the film Mickey One
with Warren Beatty
.
The Chez Paree was originally opened in 1932 by Maike Fritzel and Joe Jacobson. After reported financial problems operating the large club, it was sold to a group of partners in 1949; Jack Schatz, Don Jo Medlevine, Al Kaiser
(not the MLB player), and Dave Halper.
At the height of Chicago mob influence, the Chez Paree was noted for having been frequented by many of the recognizable mob names of that era. The address is now home to Schatz Development and an internet-based apartment listing service known as Domu.
Artists who performed at Chez Paree included:
Musicians
Comedians
Dancers/Other Celebrities
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
, which opened in 1932 and closed in 1960. Located in the Streeterville
Streeterville
Streeterville is a neighborhood in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States, north of the Chicago River in Cook County...
neighborhood of Chicago at 610 N Fairbanks Ct, the club was host to many great entertainers, ranging from singers to comedians to vaudeville acts. A "new" Chez Paree opened briefly in the mid 1960s on 400 N. Wabash and was seen in the film Mickey One
Mickey One
Mickey One is a 1965 surrealistic dramatic film starring Warren Beatty and directed by Arthur Penn from a script by Alan Surgal. Its kaleidoscopic camerawork, film noir atmosphere, lighting and design aspects, Kafkaesque paranoia, philosophical themes and Warren Beatty's performance in the title...
with Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
.
The Chez Paree was originally opened in 1932 by Maike Fritzel and Joe Jacobson. After reported financial problems operating the large club, it was sold to a group of partners in 1949; Jack Schatz, Don Jo Medlevine, Al Kaiser
Al Kaiser
Alfred Edward Kaiser , was a Major League Baseball outfielder. He played three seasons in the majors, between and , for the Chicago Cubs, Boston Braves and Indianapolis Hoosiers....
(not the MLB player), and Dave Halper.
At the height of Chicago mob influence, the Chez Paree was noted for having been frequented by many of the recognizable mob names of that era. The address is now home to Schatz Development and an internet-based apartment listing service known as Domu.
Artists who performed at Chez Paree included:
Musicians
- The Ames Brothers
- The Andrews SistersThe Andrews SistersThe Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews , soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews...
- Louis ArmstrongLouis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
- Pearl BaileyPearl BaileyPearl Mae Bailey was an American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968...
- Belle BakerBelle BakerBelle Baker was an American singer and actress. Popular throughout the 1910s and 1920s, Baker introduced a number of ragtime and torch songs including Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies" and "My Yiddishe Mama". She performed in the Ziegfeld Follies and introduced a number of Irving Berlin's songs...
- Polly BergenPolly BergenPolly Bergen is an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur.-Career:Bergen appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum...
- Tony BennettTony BennettTony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
- Ben BernieBen BernieBen Bernie , born Bernard Anzelevitz, was an American jazz violinist and radio personality, often introduced as The Old Maestro. He was noted for his showmanship and memorable bits of snappy dialogue....
- Bobby BreenBobby BreenBobby Breen is a Canadian-born actor and singer of the 1930s. He made his professional debut at age four in a night club in Toronto and was an immediate sensation. He made his radio debut soon after. He played in vaudeville and his sister paid for his musical education. Breen went to Hollywood in...
- Carol BruceCarol BruceCarol Bruce was an American band singer, Broadway star, and film and television actress.Bruce was born Shirley Levy in Great Neck, New York, the daughter of Beatrice and Harry Levy. She began her career as a singer in the late 1930s with Larry Clinton and his band...
- Cab CallowayCab CallowayCabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
- Kitty Carlisle
- Nat King ColeNat King ColeNathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
- Vic DamoneVic DamoneVic Damone is an American singer and entertainer.- Early life :Damone was born Vito Rocco Farinola in Brooklyn, New York to French-Italian immigrants based in Bari, Italy—Rocco and Mamie Farinola. His father was an electrician; and his mother taught piano. His cousin was the actress and singer...
- Dorothy DandridgeDorothy DandridgeDorothy Jean Dandridge was an American actress and popular singer, and was the first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress...
- Billy DanielsBilly DanielsWilliam Boone Daniels , better known as Billy Daniels, was a singer active in the United States and Europe from the mid-1930s to 1988, notable for his hit recording of "That Old Black Magic" and his pioneering performances on early 1950s television.Daniels was born in Jacksonville, Florida, where...
- Bobby DarinBobby DarinBobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
- Jean DarlingJean DarlingJean Darling is a former American child actress who was a regular in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1927 to 1929. She remains the last surviving cast member from the silent era.-Career:...
- Sammy Davis Jr.
- Morton DowneyMorton DowneyMorton Downey was a singer popular in the United States, enjoying his greatest success in the 1930s and 1940s. Downey was nicknamed "The Irish Nightingale".-Early years:...
- Billy EckstineBilly EckstineWilliam Clarence Eckstine was an American singer of ballads and a bandleader of the swing era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular...
- Dale EvansDale EvansDale Evans, was an American writer, movie star, and singer-songwriter. She was the third wife of singing cowboy Roy Rogers.-Early life:...
- Frances FayeFrances FayeFrances Faye was an American cabaret and show tune singer and pianist. She was born to a working-class Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City. She was a second cousin of actor Danny Kaye.-Career:...
- Benny FieldsBenny FieldsBenny Fields was a popular singer of the early 20th century, best known as one-half of the Blossom Seeley-Benny Fields vaudeville team...
and Blossom SeeleyBlossom Seeley-Biography:Seeley was born Minnie Guyer, in San Francisco, California, USA. A top vaudeville headliner, she was known as the "Queen of Syncopation" and helped bring jazz and ragtime into the mainstream of American music. She introduced the Shelton Brooks classic "Some of These Days" in vaudeville... - Gracie FieldsGracie FieldsDame Gracie Fields, DBE , was an English-born, later Italian-based actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall.-Early life:...
- Connie FrancisConnie FrancisConnie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
- Jane FromanJane FromanJane Froman was an American singer and actress. During her thirty-year career, Froman performed on stage, radio and television despite chronic injuries that she sustained from a 1943 plane crash...
- The Garland SistersJudy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
- Dolores Gray
- Mitzi GreenMitzi GreenMitzi Green was an American child actress for Paramount and RKO, in the early talkie era...
- Joel GreyJoel GreyJoel Grey is an American stage and screen actor, singer, and dancer, best known for his role as the Master of Ceremonies in both the stage and film adaptation of the Kander & Ebb musical Cabaret. He has won the Academy Award, Tony Award and Golden Globe Award...
- Connie HainesConnie HainesConnie Haines was an American singer. Her 200 recordings were frequently up-tempo big band songs with the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey orchestras, and Frank Sinatra...
- Phil HarrisPhil HarrisHarris and Faye married in 1941; it was a second marriage for both and lasted 54 years, until Harris's death. Harris engaged in a fistfight at the Trocadero nightclub in 1938 with RKO studio mogul Bob Stevens; the cause was reported to be over Faye after Stevens and Faye had ended a romantic...
- Woody HermanWoody HermanWoodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
- Al HibblerAl HibblerAlbert George "Al" Hibbler was an American baritone vocalist, who sang with Duke Ellington's orchestra before having several pop hits as a solo artist. Some of his singing is classified as rhythm and blues, but he is best classified as a bridge between R&B and traditional pop music...
- Billie HolidayBillie HolidayBillie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
- Libby HolmanLibby HolmanLibby Holman was an American torch singer and stage actress who also achieved notoriety for her complex and unconventional personal life.-Early life:...
- Lena HorneLena HorneLena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
- Betty HuttonBetty HuttonBetty Hutton was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedienne and singer.-Early life:Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg, daughter of a railroad foreman, Percy E. Thornburg and his wife, the former Mabel Lum . While she was very young, her father abandoned the family for...
- Ina Ray HuttonIna Ray HuttonIna Ray Hutton was an American female leader during the Big band era, and sister to June Hutton.Hutton was born as Odessa Cowan in Chicago, Illinois of African American descent. She began dancing and singing in stage revues at the age of eight. Cowan's mother Marvel Ray was a local pianist and...
- Mahalia JacksonMahalia JacksonMahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
- Allan Jones
- Kitty KallenKitty KallenKitty Kallen is an American popular singer who sang with a number of big bands in the 1940s, coming back in the 1950s to score her biggest hit, "Little Things Mean a Lot" in 1954.-Career:...
- Frankie LaineFrankie LaineFrankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
- Frances LangfordFrances LangfordJulia Frances Langford was an American singer and entertainer who was popular during the Golden Age of Radio and also made film appearances over two decades.-Birth:...
- LiberaceLiberaceWladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...
- George LiberaceGeorge LiberaceGeorge Liberace was an American musician and television performer.Born in Menasha, Wisconsin, he was the elder brother and business partner of famed US entertainer Liberace...
- Ted LewisTed Lewis (musician)Theodore Leopold Friedman, better known as Ted Lewis , was an American entertainer, bandleader, singer, and musician. He led a band presenting a combination of jazz, hokey comedy, and schmaltzy sentimentality that was a hit with the American public. He was known by the moniker "Mr...
- Ella LoganElla LoganElla Logan was a Scottish-born actress and singer, who appeared on Broadway, recorded and had a nightclub career in the United States and internationally.-Early years:...
- Vincent LopezVincent LopezVincent Lopez was an American bandleader and pianist.Vincent Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York and was leading his own dance band in New York City by 1917...
- Abe LymanAbe LymanAbe Lyman was a popular bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including Your Hit Parade....
- June MacCloyJune MacCloyJune MacCloy was an American actress and singer in the 1930s and 1940s.Born in Sturgis, Michigan, MacCloy moved to Toledo, Ohio as a child.-Theater:...
- Rose MarieRose MarieRose Marie is an American actress. As a child performer she had a successful singing career as Baby Rose Marie....
- Peter Marshall
- Dean MartinDean MartinDean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
- Tony MartinTony Martin (entertainer)Tony Martin is an American actor and singer.-Career:Tony Martin was born on Christmas Day, 1913 as Alvin Morris in San Francisco, California to Jewish immigrant parents. He received a saxophone as a gift from his grandmother at the age of ten. In his grammar school glee club, he became an...
- Johnny MathisJohnny MathisJohn Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
- Borrah MinnevitchBorrah MinnevitchBorrah Minnevitch , born Bora Minjevic, was a notable harmonica player, actor, and leader of his group The Harmonica Rascals...
- Carmen MirandaCarmen MirandaCarmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...
- Helen MorganHelen MorganHelen Morgan was an American singer and actress who worked in films and on the stage. A quintessential torch singer, she made a big splash in the Chicago club scene in the 1920s...
- Gertrude NiesenGertrude NiesenGertrude Niesen was an American torch singer, actress, comedienne and songwriter who achieved popular success in musicals and films in the 1930s and 1940s.-Life and career:...
- Helen O'ConnellHelen O'ConnellHelen O'Connell was an American singer, actress, and dancer.Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell joined the Jimmy Dorsey band in 1939 and achieved her best selling records in the early 1940s with "Green Eyes", "Amapola," "Tangerine" and "Yours"...
- Louis PrimaLouis PrimaLouis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...
- Tito PuenteTito PuenteTito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...
- Johnnie RayJohnnie RayJohnnie Ray was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor of what would become rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music and his animated stage personality.-Early life:John Alvin Ray was born in...
- Harry RichmanHarry RichmanHarry Richman was an American entertainer. He was a singer, actor, dancer, comedian, pianist, songwriter, bandleader, and night club performer, at his most popular in the 1920s and 1930s....
- Beverly RobertsBeverly RobertsBeverly Roberts was an American film and stage actress of the 1930s, and entertainment business executive through the 1970s.-Career:...
- Charles 'Buddy' Rogers
- Lillian RothLillian RothLillian Roth was an American singer and actress.-Early life:Roth was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She was only 6 years old when her mother took her to Educational Pictures, where she became the company's trademark, symbolized by a living statue holding a lamp of knowledge...
- Jean SablonJean SablonJean Sablon was a popular French singer and actor.The son of a composer, with brothers and sisters who had successful careers of their own in musical entertainment, Jean Sablon studied piano at the Lyceé Charlemagne in Paris...
- Wini ShawWini ShawWini Shaw , sometimes credited as Winifred Shaw, was an American actress, dancer and singer. Although credited with a 1910 year of birth, she was actually born in 1907 as per the Social Security Death Index under her married name Wini O'Malley .-Early life:She was born as Winifred Lei Momi in San...
- Ethel ShuttaEthel ShuttaEthel Shutta was an American actress and singer, who came to prominence through her performances on Jack Benny's radio show, her role in the early Eddie Cantor musical Whoopee!, and her Broadway comeback in Follies at the age of 74.By age 7, she was known as "the little girl with the big voice"...
- Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
- Keely SmithKeely SmithKeely Smith is an American jazz and popular music singer who enjoyed popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. She collaborated with, among others, Louis Prima and Frank Sinatra.-Career:...
- Billy StrayhornBilly StrayhornWilliam Thomas "Billy" Strayhorn was an American composer, pianist and arranger, best known for his successful collaboration with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington lasting nearly three decades. His compositions include "Chelsea Bridge", "Take the "A" Train" and "Lush Life".-Early...
- Jack TeagardenJack TeagardenWeldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden , known as "Big T" and "The Swingin' Gate", was an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, regarded as the "Father of Jazz Trombone".-Early life:...
- Kay ThompsonKay ThompsonKay Thompson was an American author, composer, musician, actress and singer. She is best known as the creator of the Eloise children's books.-Background:Catherine Louise Fink was born in St...
and The Williams Brothers - Mel TorméMel TorméMelvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
- Helen TraubelHelen TraubelHelen Francesca Traubel was an American opera and concert singer. A dramatic soprano, she was best known for her Wagnerian roles, especially those of Brünnhilde and Isolde. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, she began her career as a concert singer and went on to sing at the Metropolitan...
- Sophie TuckerSophie TuckerSophie Tucker was a Russian/Ukrainian-born American singer and actress. Known for her stentorian delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertainers in America during the first half of the 20th century...
- Rudy ValleeRudy ValléeRudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
- Gus VanVan and SchenckVan and Schenck were popular United States entertainers in the 1910s and 1920s: Gus Van , baritone and Joe Schenck , tenor. They were vaudeville stars and made appearances in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1918, 1919, 1920 and 1921...
- Sarah VaughanSarah VaughanSarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
- Fran WarrenFran WarrenFrances Wolfe , known by her stage name, Fran Warren, is an American popular singer.She was born as to a Jewish family in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City...
- Dinah WashingtonDinah WashingtonDinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
Comedians
- Allen & RossiAllen & RossiAllen & Rossi was a comedy team composed of Marty Allen and Steve Rossi, active from 1957 until 1968. They appeared on over 700 television shows including 44 appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, including three of the four Ed Sullivan episodes on which The Beatles appeared...
- Morey AmsterdamMorey AmsterdamMorey Amsterdam was an American television actor and comedian, best known for the role of Buddy Sorrell on The Dick Van Dyke Show in the early 1960s.-Early life:...
- Milton BerleMilton BerleMilton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...
- Joey BishopJoey BishopJoey Bishop was an American entertainer who was perhaps best known for being a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin...
- Ben BlueBen BlueBen Blue , born Benjamin Bernstein, was a Canadian-American actor and comedian.Born to a Jewish family in Montreal, Quebec, at the age of nine, Blue emigrated to Baltimore in the United States where he won a contest for the best impersonation of Charlie Chaplin...
and Ben LessyBen LessyBen Lessy was an American television and film actor. He was born in New York, New York, United States.-Career:Lessy appeared in 32 films and television programs between 1951 and 1981... - Wally BrownWally BrownWally Brown was an actor, comedian, and long-time partner of Alan Carney.- Biography :Wally was born in Malden, Massachusetts and served as a vaudevillian. In 1942, he began his film career in Hollywood at RKO Radio Pictures with the film Petticoat Larceny...
and Alan CarneyAlan CarneyAlan Carney was an American actor and comedian.Alan Carney was born David Boughal in Brooklyn, New York. He had performed in vaudeville for years as a comic dialectican. After making his first film, 1941's Convoy, Carney signed a contract at RKO Pictures, in choice supporting roles in such films... - Red Buttons
- Sid CaesarSid CaesarIsaac Sidney "Sid" Caesar is an Emmy award winning American comic actor and writer known as the leading man on the 1950s television series Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour, and to younger generations as Coach Calhoun in Grease and Grease 2.- Early life :Caesar was born in Yonkers, New York,...
- Jack CarterJack Carter (comedian)Jack Chakrin , known by his professional name of Jack Carter, is a Jewish-American comedian, actor and host. Brooklyn Born Carter had long-running comedy act similar to fellow rapid pace contemporaries Milton Berle and Morey Amsterdam...
- Myron CohenMyron CohenMyron Cohen was an American comedian and raconteur.Cohen began as a salesman in the New York City garment industry. When calling on customers, before showing his samples, he would tell a joke in order to put everyone at ease and establish a friendly mood...
- Jimmy DuranteJimmy DuranteJames Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...
- Totie FieldsTotie FieldsTotie Fields was an American comedienne.-Life and career:Fields was born Sophie Feldman in Hartford, Connecticut. She started singing in Boston clubs while still in high school, taking the stage name of Totie Fields...
- Paul GilbertPaul Gilbert (actor)Paul Gilbert was an American film and television actor. Born in New York City as Ed MacMahon, Gilbert played various roles and appeared as himself from The Spike Jones Show in 1954 through Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In in 1973...
- Jack GilfordJack GilfordJack Gilford was an American actor on Broadway, films and television.-Early life:Gilford was born Jacob Aaron Gellman on the lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, and grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn...
- Buddy HackettBuddy HackettBuddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...
- Peter Lind HayesPeter Lind HayesPeter Lind Hayes was an American vaudeville entertainer, songwriter, and film and television actor. He was born Joseph Conrad Lind in San Francisco, California....
- Lou HoltzLou Holtz (actor)Lou Holtz was an American vaudevillian and comic actor.He was discovered by vaudevillian Elsie Janis in San Francisco while still in his teens, and came to New York. He appeared in his first Broadway show in 1913, World of Pleasure...
- Bob HopeBob HopeBob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
- George JesselGeorge JesselGeorge Jessel may refer to:*George Jessel , American actor*George Jessel , English jurist*George Jessel of the Jessel Baronets...
- Danny KayeDanny KayeDanny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
- Alan KingAlan King (comedian)Alan King was an American actor and comedian known for his biting wit and often angry humorous rants. King became well known as a Jewish comedian and satirist. He was also a serious actor who appeared in a number of movies and television shows. King wrote several books, produced films, and...
- Jack E. LeonardJack E. LeonardJack E. Leonard was an American comedian who made frequent appearances on television variety and game shows.-Biography:...
- Buddy LesterBuddy LesterBuddy Lester was a veteran actor of dozens of character roles of film and television, who regularly appeared in Jerry Lewis features, including The Patsy, The Ladies Man, The Nutty Professor, Three on a Couch, Smorgasbord, Hardly Working" and The Big Mouth.Lester also portrayed Vince Massler, one...
- Jerry LewisJerry LewisJerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
- Joe E. LewisJoe E. LewisJoe E. Lewis , born Joseph Klewan in New York City, was an American comedian and singer.-Biography:...
- Gary MortonGary MortonGary Morton was the second husband of Lucille Ball. He was a stand-up comedian, whose primary venues were the hotels and resorts of the Borscht Belt in upstate New York.-Relationship with Lucille Ball:...
- Zero MostelZero MostelSamuel Joel “Zero” Mostel was an American actor of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Max Bialystock in the original film version...
- Jan MurrayJan MurrayJan Murray was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and game show host who made his name on the Borscht Belt.-Early life:Murray was born Murray Janofsky in The Bronx, New York City...
- Tommy NoonanTommy NoonanTommy Noonan was a comedy genre film performer, screenwriter and producer. He acted in a number of 'A' and 'B' pictures from the 1940s through the 1960s, and he is best known for his supporting performances as Gus Esmond, Marilyn Monroe's wealthy boyfriend, in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , and as the...
- Martha RayeMartha RayeMartha Raye was an American comic actress and standards singer who performed in movies, and later on television....
- The Ritz Brothers
- Jimmy SavoJimmy SavoJimmy Savo was an American Vaudeville, Broadway, nightclub, film and television performer, comedian, juggler, and mime artist....
- Herb ShrinerHerb ShrinerHerbert Arthur "Herb" Shriner was an American humorist, radio personality and television host. Shriner was known for his homespun monologues, usually about his home state of Indiana...
- Red SkeltonRed SkeltonRichard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
- Larry StorchLarry StorchLawrence Samuel "Larry" Storch is an American actor best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for top cartoon shows, including Mr...
- Danny ThomasDanny ThomasDanny Thomas was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor, best known for starring in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy . He was also the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital...
- Mae WestMae WestMae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
- Bert WheelerWheeler & WoolseyBert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey were a famous American film comedy team of the 1930s....
- Yacht Club BoysYacht Club BoysThe Yacht Club Boys was a quartet of American comic singers, popular in the 1920s and 1930s: Charles Adler, George Kelly, Billy Mann, and Jimmie Kern . They made recordings from the 1920s and appeared as a specialty act in several feature films of the 1930s...
- Henny YoungmanHenny YoungmanHenry "Henny" Youngman was a British-born American comedian and violinist famous for "one-liners", short, simple jokes usually delivered rapid-fire...
Dancers/Other Celebrities
- Carmen AmayaCarmen AmayaCarmen Amaya was a flamenco dancer and singer, of gypsy origin, born in the Somorrostro slum of Barcelona, Spain, nowadays....
- Bill BairdBill BairdWilliam F. "Bill" Baird is the founder of the Pro Choice League. Baird established the nation's first abortion referral center in 1964, and later the first birth control and abortion center on a college campus. He was sent to jail for teaching birth control and distributing abortion literature in...
's Marionettes - Edgar BergenEdgar BergenEdgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.-Early life:...
- Ray BolgerRay BolgerRaymond Wallace "Ray" Bolger was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow and Kansas farmworker Hank in The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
- John BolesJohn Boles (actor)-Early life:Boles was born in Greenville, Texas, into a middle-class family. He graduated with honors from the University of Texas in 1917 and married Marielite Dobbs in that same year. His parents wanted him to be a doctor and Boles studied and finally got his B.A. degree, but the stage called...
- Louise BrooksLouise BrooksMary Louise Brooks , generally known by her stage name Louise Brooks, was an American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, noted for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks is best known for her three feature roles including two G. W...
- Cyd CharisseCyd CharisseCyd Charisse was an American actress and dancer.After recovering from polio as a child, and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s...
- Jack ColeJack Cole (choreographer)Jack Cole was an American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director known as the father of theatrical jazz dance.-Early life:...
- Carmen De LavalladeCarmen De LavalladeCarmen De Lavallade is a dancer, choreographer, professor and stage and film actress.-Early Years:Carmen De Lavallade was born in Los Angeles on March 6, 1931, to Afro-Creole parents from New Orleans, Louisiana. She was raised by her aunt who owned one of the first African American history...
- Paul DraperPaul Draper (dancer)Paul Draper was a noted American tap dancer and choreographer. Born into an artistic, socially prominent New York family, the nephew of Ruth Draper was an innovator in the arts. Despite the pressure his family put on him to become an engineer, Paul’s love for dance persisted and ultimately won out...
- Katherine DunhamKatherine DunhamKatherine Mary Dunham was an American dancer, choreographer, songwriter, author, educator, and activist...
- Bob FosseBob FosseRobert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...
- Zsa Zsa GaborZsa Zsa GaborZsa Zsa Gabor is a Hungarian-born American stage, film and television actress.She acted on stage in Vienna, Austria, in 1932, and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936. She emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a sought-after actress with "European flair and style", with a personality that...
- Tess GardellaTess GardellaTherese "Tess" Gardella was an Italian American performer whose stage persona was "Aunt Jemima".A native of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Gardella performed on both stage and screen, usually in blackface. In 1927, she originated the role of Queenie in the classic stage musical Show Boat...
- Lita GreyLita GreyLita Grey was an American actress and the second wife of Charlie Chaplin. She was born in Hollywood, California, in 1908, to a Mexican-born mother and a father of Irish heritage and christened Lillita Louise MacMurray.-Personal life:Grey married four times...
- Harriet HoctorHarriet HoctorHarriet Hoctor was a ballerina, dancer, actress and instructor from Hoosick Falls, New York. Composer George Gershwin composed a symphonic orchestral piece specifically for Hoctor in the film Shall We Dance .-Family:Born to Timothy Hoctor and Elizabeth Kearny, Harriet Hoctor was one of four...
- Betty and Jane KeanJane KeanJane Kean is an American actress.-Career:Jane Kean and her older sister, , formed a comedy duo that worked the nightclub circuit throughout the 1940s and '50s, and the two appeared on Broadway as sisters in the short-lived 1955 musical Ankles Aweigh.She studied acting with Sanford Meisner at the...
- Jeni LeGon
- Hal Le RoyHal Le RoyHal Le Roy was a dancer, actor and singer appearing on stage, in film and on television.-Career:Le Roy was born John LeRoy Schotte in Cincinnati in 1913. He broke into New York theater as a dancer, and quickly worked his way into Broadway roles where his dance style created a sensation in the 1931...
- Marie McDonaldMarie McDonaldMarie McDonald was an American singer and actress known as "The Body Beautiful" and later nicknamed "The Body".- Early life :...
- The Nicholas Brothers
- Eleanor PowellEleanor PowellEleanor Torrey Powell was an American film actress and dancer of the 1930s and 1940s, known for her exuberant solo tap dancing.-Early life:...
- June PreisserJune PreisserJune Preisser was an American actress, briefly popular in musical films during the late 1930s and early 1940s, many of which capitalized on her skills as an acrobat.-Life and career:...
- Mickey RooneyMickey RooneyMickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
- Lupe VélezLupe VélezLupe 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...
- Señor WencesSeñor WencesWenceslao Moreno , better known as Señor Wences, was a Spanish ventriloquist. His popularity grew with his frequent appearances on CBS-TV's Ed Sullivan Show in the 1950s and 1960s.-Early life:...