Hazel Forbes
Encyclopedia
Hazel Forbes was an American dancer and actress from Gettysburg, South Dakota
. She was blond and petite. Her true surname was Froidevaux.
Her professional career began at one of the Atlantic City, New Jersey
beauty pageants where she won honors as Miss Long Island
. Forbes was 16 when she was chosen Miss United States
in the Paris International Beauty Pageant of 1926. She became a showgirl in New York City
at the age of 17 in 1927. She was hired away from Florenz Ziegfeld
and his Ziegfeld Follies
by Broadway theatre
producer Earl Carroll
. This was for a January 1929 production at his Earl Carroll Theatre
. Carroll tempted Forbes with a substantial offer for a new dance review. Ziegfeld eventually won the struggle and Forbes starred in Whoopee and other shows, in support of Eddie Cantor
.
Forbes married automobile salesman, Harry Judson, in 1928. In 1931 she wed Paul O. Richmond in Kennedyville, Maryland. They were happy together but Richmond died suddenly in 1932. He left Forbes a fortune estimated at $3,000,000 from his toothpaste and hair shampoo interests.
After Richmond's death Forbes went to Hollywood and made Bachelor Bait and Down To Their Last Yacht, both films from 1934. She received a series of threatening letters which dissuaded her from continuing in motion pictures. She donated her salary as a movie extra to charity because of the money she was willed by Richmond.
She met entertainer Harry Richman
and married him in March 1938, in Palm Springs, California
. Playboy Richman was well-known for his earlier romances with Clara Bow
, Dorothy Darrell, showgirl Edith Roark, Virginia Biddle, Lina Basquette
, Peggy Hopkins Joyce
, and Lenore Ulric
. He and Forbes shared a sumptuous home in Beechurst, Long Island. Shortly after their wedding Forbes contracted pneumonia
and was saved, in part, through the use of the drug sulfanilimide. The couple considered adopting a baby.
By 1942 Forbes was divorced from Richman and was being wooed by millionaire Max Bamberger.
Hazel Forbes died in 1980 in Los Angeles, California
. She is buried in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in Glendale, Calif.
Gettysburg, South Dakota
Gettysburg is a city in Potter County, South Dakota, United States, along the 45th parallel. The population was 1,162 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Potter County. Gettysburg area historical tornado activity is 42 percent less than the overall U.S...
. She was blond and petite. Her true surname was Froidevaux.
Her professional career began at one of the Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
beauty pageants where she won honors as Miss Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. Forbes was 16 when she was chosen Miss United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the Paris International Beauty Pageant of 1926. She became a showgirl in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at the age of 17 in 1927. She was hired away from Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. , , was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies , inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat...
and his Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
by Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
producer Earl Carroll
Earl Carroll
Earl Carroll was an American theatrical producer, director, songwriter and composer born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Career:...
. This was for a January 1929 production at his Earl Carroll Theatre
Earl Carroll Theatre
Earl Carroll Theatre was the name of two important theaters owned by Broadway impresario and showman Earl Carroll. One was located on Broadway in New York City and the other on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, California.-Broadway:...
. Carroll tempted Forbes with a substantial offer for a new dance review. Ziegfeld eventually won the struggle and Forbes starred in Whoopee and other shows, in support of Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...
.
Forbes married automobile salesman, Harry Judson, in 1928. In 1931 she wed Paul O. Richmond in Kennedyville, Maryland. They were happy together but Richmond died suddenly in 1932. He left Forbes a fortune estimated at $3,000,000 from his toothpaste and hair shampoo interests.
After Richmond's death Forbes went to Hollywood and made Bachelor Bait and Down To Their Last Yacht, both films from 1934. She received a series of threatening letters which dissuaded her from continuing in motion pictures. She donated her salary as a movie extra to charity because of the money she was willed by Richmond.
She met entertainer Harry Richman
Harry Richman
Harry 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....
and married him in March 1938, in Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
. Playboy Richman was well-known for his earlier romances with Clara Bow
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shopgirl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex...
, Dorothy Darrell, showgirl Edith Roark, Virginia Biddle, Lina Basquette
Lina Basquette
Lina Basquette was an American actress noted as much for her more than 75 years in entertainment beginning in the silent film era, as her tumultuous personal life and nine marriages.-Early years:...
, Peggy Hopkins Joyce
Peggy Hopkins Joyce
Peggy Hopkins Joyce was an American actress and celebrity, famed as much for her several marriages to wealthy men, colorful divorces, scandalous affairs, her diamonds and generally lavish lifestyle as for her work on stage or screen.-Brief Biography:Born Marguerite Upton in Berkley, Virginia, she...
, and Lenore Ulric
Lenore Ulric
Lenore Ulric was a star of the Broadway stage and Hollywood films of the silent-film and early sound era. Her father, Franz Xavier Ulrich, was a United States Army hospital steward...
. He and Forbes shared a sumptuous home in Beechurst, Long Island. Shortly after their wedding Forbes contracted pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
and was saved, in part, through the use of the drug sulfanilimide. The couple considered adopting a baby.
By 1942 Forbes was divorced from Richman and was being wooed by millionaire Max Bamberger.
Hazel Forbes died in 1980 in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. She is buried in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in Glendale, Calif.