A Dancer’s Life: Meet Mona Crawford
Photographic print: Mona Crawford, headshot, New York, NY, c. 1950s/1960s. Courtesy Mona Crawford. Image is subject to copyright laws. Please do not appropriate.
The 1943 Miss Delaware, who received her pageant title at age 14 after entering the competition on a dare, would go to dance and sing in many nightclubs around the country, appear on television, as well as The Great White Way.
Mona Crawford, a native of Wilmington, Delaware, remembers an inspiration to perform at the early age of 7. Later, as a working model in New York City, Mona was first approached by choreographer Boots McKenna outside the Brill Building while waiting for a lunch date. McKenna was looking for dancers for a production at The Clover Club on Biscayane Boulevard in Miami, Florida.
Jack Goldman was owner. The Clover Club was one of the top supper clubs in the US and also one of the first major nightclubs to employ and showcase Black performers, including Cab Calloway. Stars such as Patti Page and Johnny Ray also performed. Goldman who became a famous impresario, brought the act The Vagabonds to the club. They became a major attraction and enjoyed a long stint.
Paper cover photo souvenir: The Clover Club, Miami, Florida, c. 1940s. Courtesy John Hemmer Archive.
Before a modeling and dance career took off, at age 14, Mona entered the Miss Delaware contest on a dare and won the title. Reportedly, “While the Miss America people were not happy with their underage contestant, they allowed her to compete—with the understanding she wouldn’t be able to win anything.”
After arriving in New York City, Mona studied dance with June Taylor and acting with Stella Adler. Mona recalls June Taylor always wearing fanciful hats. She would rarely dance but gave instruction from her chair. “We rehearsed for June Taylor in a nightclub – I’m not sure where or which one – but she loved hats. She was always wearing a different hat. Jackie Gleason would come and watch. The June Taylor Dancers performed on his show. June Taylor was Jackie’s sister-in-law. He was married to Marilyn Taylor Gleason. “
As a dancer, her career would take Mona to Boston, New York and Palm Island, Miami Beach, Florida. “My sister Beverly Crawford was a showgirl, and I was a dancer. We performed in one production together at the Boston Latin Quarter nightclub location. I went on to perform at the Latin Quarter in New York City [in the production Folies Parisiennes] and Miami. Beverly went to New York also but got into modeling. She invented the practice of modeling for lunchtime cafe goers. Mainly women who would lunch together at upscale restaurants in Manhattan. The models would walk around the tables, displaying the latest fashions while patrons ate their lunch.” One place was the well known The Sign of the Dove, a fine dining restaurant on the Upper East Side along 3rd Avenue. Later Beverly moved to Israel where she brought cafe modeling to the famous King David Hotel in Jerusalem, Israel, which has hosted many royalty and other public figures over the decades.
Paper program: Mona Crawford and other performers featured, Beaumont Petroleum Club, c. 1960s, Beaumont, Texas. Courtesy Mona Crawford. Image subject to copyright laws. Please do not appropriate.
“I performed at many nightclubs. Iceland and La Martinique in New York City come to mind, and others across the country. Grossingers in the Catskills, Golden Door in Rochester, New York, Petroleum Club, Beaumont, Texas, Balinese Room in Galveston, Texas, Le Bistro in Atlantic City, New Jersey. There was also Fontainebleau and El Patio in Miami Beach, Florida, and Chez Paree in Montreal, Canada. Others along with way.”
Photographic print: Publicity portrait, Mona Crawford, New York, NY, c. 1950s/1950s. Courtesy Mona Crawford. Image subject to copyright laws. Please do not appropriate.
Iceland was popular in the 1940s. It was located at 1680 Broadway, between 52nd and 53rd Street. The restaurant-theatre staged regular entertainment and its menu offered Scandinavian dishes by way of “Our Famous Smorgasbord Dinner” priced at $1.49 in 1946.
Postcard: Exterior Golden Key Club, New York, NY, 1940s. Courtesy John Hemmer Archive.
La Martinique was a small club that was part of Hotel Martinique which that operated from the 1940s through the early 1950s before the restaurant was replaced by another establishment. It was located in the basement of 57 West 57th Street. The nightclub was owned by Dario Goldfarb and Jim Vernon. There were stand-up comics, a lead, and a chorus line. The club brought in many famous names to perform including Danny Kaye and Zero Mostel.
Mona remembers, “There was a place called Gold Key Club. It wasn’t a nightclub. It was in a 3 or 4 story townhouse at 26 West 56 Street. You had to have a gold key to get in. One night Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra were there. I used to visit a friend at the Gold Key Club. He was a gangster. His name was Tony Bender {birth name, Anthony C. Strollo [1899 – disappeared 1962]. I’d sit and have coffee with him. His wife was Jewish and so am I, so he was kind of protective of me. Tony once he told me he was going to turn state evidence to protect his children, but he disappeared before that happened. I guess someone found him out.
When I danced at The Quarter, Lou Walters wanted me to go to join one of his productions in Vegas, but I would have had to be topless, and I decided that wasn’t for me.”
As a dancer, singer and actress, Mona toured with comedian’s Ben Blue and Sid (Syd) Slate.
Singer, Musician, Actor, Ben Blue (1901-1975) began his career in vaudeville. By the 1940s he was making his way into Hollywood films in different comedic roles. Blue grew to be a top attraction at nightclubs around the country. Known as the “sad-faced comedian”, Blue was a pantomime in the early years of his career. Later he performed on many television shows.
“I did a lot of skits – singing – that sort of thing. Ben let everyone think we were having an affair! I didn’t care. I knew he loved his wife and he never touched me.” Sid [sometimes credited as Syd] was a Broadway, film and television performer from the 1930s through the 1960s.
Mona’s television work includes appearances on the variety and talk shows of the 1940s and ‘50s such as The Celeste Holmes Show, The Milton Berle Show, and The Jimmy Durante Show.
Photographic print: Vikki LaMotta, Jimmy Durante, Mona Crawford, backstage, Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida, c. 1950s. Courtesy Mona Crawford. Image subject to copyright laws. Please do not appropriate.
“The choreographer, Doug Coudy, from the Copa also choreographed some of these shows. I can’t recall which, it could have been The Jimmy Durante Show too. Doug was a Broadway dancer and choreographer.”
Behind the camera, Mona acted as Associate Producer on the Emmy award-winning Ladies of the Press Eleanor Roosevelt episode. “Rhoda Diamond and I were producers on the show which was aired on Channel 13. It was an interview conducted by Faye Emmerson who won the Emmy for this interview with Eleanor Roosevelt. It was something”, Mona recounts.
When asked about her fondest memory of her career in entertainment, Mona says, “Being on stage in New York City with Robert Preston. He was the lead in Ben Franklin in Paris, a Broadway show that wasn’t around for long, but a great cast. I was thrilled to be part of it. Robert Preston was a gentleman and very nice person and so was his wife.” The show opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and was directed and choreographed by Michael Kidd.
“Throughout my career I met some wonderful people. I have been fortunate.”
Today Mona enjoys her life in Florida. This story is based on a phone interview between the John Hemmer Archive and Mona Crawford in late 2023 and early 2024.
About the Author
Kirsten
Kirsten Larvick is a documentarian and archivist. She is influenced by interests in mid-century political and cultural history, non-fiction filmmaking and the preservation of personal heritage and cinema art legacies.
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