Category is: Comedy

A Dancer’s Life: Meet Mona Crawford

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… continue reading ›

A Dancer’s Life: Meet Sal Angelica, Part II

The John Hemmer Archive’s The History of An Era, documents single and multipart articles to bring lived experiences of the nightclub era to light. This is the second installment of a three-part series on performer Sal Angelica, who began his life and career in New York City before traveling abroad and eventually landing in Vegas. To… continue reading ›

A Dancer’s Life: Meet Mollie Fennell Numark, Part I

Born in England at the onset of The Great Depression, Mollie Fennell Numark embarked upon a dancer’s life under unlikely circumstances. Shaped by experiences from a world faced with vast uncertainty, her disciplined career brought her from the great stages of England to the most renowned American nightclubs of the mid-20th century. Mollie remembers her… continue reading ›

Diary of a Showgirl: Meet Betty Jo Spyropulos, Part II

Beginnings I grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, the oldest of ten children. I attended public schools. I remember receiving a vaccination shot at an early age. Our school was just about seven blocks away, so it was a nice walk. On the street where we lived there were houses on one side and a park… continue reading ›

Honoring Lloyd Kolmer (1930-2019)

Lloyd Kolmer, who carved a name for himself as a pioneer of celebrity endorsed advertising, climbed the entertainment industry ladder at an early age during the 1950s and ‘60s. A native New Yorker, Kolmer was the son of William and Birdie Kolmer and attended Kohut School for Boys in Harrison, New York. Upon graduating high… continue reading ›

The Latin Quarter Social Club, 2019

Live entertainment enjoyed a great high in the United States from vaudeville of the late 1800’s to the rise of the Cafe Society following the end of Prohibition in the early 1930s. The mid-20th Century represents the beginning-of-the-end of this particular social tradition. Although photojournalism soared in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, documentation from performers… continue reading ›

Honoring Rip Taylor (1931-2019)

Charles Elmer Taylor Jr. was born in 1931 in Washington D.C. and was raised by his mother. As a young man he was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War. It was during his time abroad in the service that Taylor embarked on his career in comedy. During his military stint, Taylor experimented with pantomiming to… continue reading ›