Actress, Dancer. Born in 1909 (some sources indicate 1910), her family moved to New York City, New York, where she learned tap and popular dance before leaving school entirely to dance in nightclubs and in the theatre. It was at one of these nightclubs where she met future husband Al Jolson. Following their 1928 marriage, she moved to Hollywood, California, where she signed with Warner Brothers Movie Studios. She appeared (often alongside crooner Dick Powell) in a number of successful musical comedies, most notably "42nd Street", "Gold Diggers of 1933", "Footlight Parade" and "Dames", all of which featured elaborate dance routines choreographed by Busby Berkeley. She divorced Jolson in 1939 citing mental cruelty (she would later refer to the marriage as "a long mistake"). In 1941, she married a businessman and settled down to private life. After twenty-eight years of marriage, her husband passed away from cancer, paving the way for her return to Broadway in 1971's "No No Nanette." She continued to appear in the show until suffering a brain aneurysm in 1974, leading to a period of physical therapy and eventual recovery. Four years after her final film appearance in 1989, she passed away from kidney cancer.
Actress, Dancer. Born in 1909 (some sources indicate 1910), her family moved to New York City, New York, where she learned tap and popular dance before leaving school entirely to dance in nightclubs and in the theatre. It was at one of these nightclubs where she met future husband Al Jolson. Following their 1928 marriage, she moved to Hollywood, California, where she signed with Warner Brothers Movie Studios. She appeared (often alongside crooner Dick Powell) in a number of successful musical comedies, most notably "42nd Street", "Gold Diggers of 1933", "Footlight Parade" and "Dames", all of which featured elaborate dance routines choreographed by Busby Berkeley. She divorced Jolson in 1939 citing mental cruelty (she would later refer to the marriage as "a long mistake"). In 1941, she married a businessman and settled down to private life. After twenty-eight years of marriage, her husband passed away from cancer, paving the way for her return to Broadway in 1971's "No No Nanette." She continued to appear in the show until suffering a brain aneurysm in 1974, leading to a period of physical therapy and eventual recovery. Four years after her final film appearance in 1989, she passed away from kidney cancer.
Bio by: Bryan Untiedt
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