1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to steph you missed in history class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,920 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy B. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. They were 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:19,919 Speaker 1: going to talk about one of the highest paid and 5 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: most famous actors of the early twentieth century. I know 6 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: we've been on kind of an entertainment kick lately. That 7 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:32,520 Speaker 1: was actually yep. Uh So, this particular actor acted alongside 8 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 1: Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and Rudolf Valentino. It was friends 9 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:40,559 Speaker 1: with Charlie Chaplin. He had a Broadway theater named after him, 10 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: and he was one of the first movie stars to 11 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: build his own mansion in Los Angeles. But his name 12 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:48,840 Speaker 1: is not nearly as familiar today as all those other 13 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: stars that I just mentioned, because what made him famous 14 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: was his skill at female impersonation, which fell increasingly out 15 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: of favor later on in his career. He is Julian Elting, 16 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: and in nineteen fifty, almost a decade after his death, 17 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: he was still being described as the greatest of all 18 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: impersonators of women, and a one note that I do 19 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: want to make about how to say his name. There 20 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: are numerous print sources from when he lived that insists 21 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: that it was pronounced elting like with a hard G. 22 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: But there is a lot of old footage floating around 23 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,559 Speaker 1: as well as more recent footage of people talking about 24 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: him where people say it Eltinge. And apparently he picked 25 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: a stage name on purpose because of the potential for 26 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 1: mispronouncing it, thinking that it would quote serve to fix 27 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: it more firmly with the public. Uh so, just we're 28 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: just gonna go with elting I mean, I understand, for example, 29 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: my name gets mispronounced all the time, but to me 30 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: it's fun because my maiden name was very boring and 31 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: no one ever rested. So I'll answered to Frey fry free, 32 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: any of those work fine well. And I definitely never 33 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 1: saw any footage of everybody of anybody saying welcome Julian 34 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: Eltinge and like, that's not how you say that. I mean, 35 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,080 Speaker 1: I want to say el tins just reading it because 36 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: there's an e on the end, right, But no, So 37 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: for today it's l ting mm hmm. And Julian el 38 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 1: ting was born William Julian Dalton known as Billy, on 39 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: May fourteenth, eight one, some sources reported as eighteen eighty three, though, 40 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:35,799 Speaker 1: So just know that if you go looking. He was 41 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,799 Speaker 1: born to Michael and Julia Baker Dalton in Newtonville, Massachusetts. 42 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: Today Newtonville is one of the villages that makes up 43 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: the city of Newton. Four days after his birth, he 44 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: was baptized at Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Church. 45 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: From there, Elting's story about how he got into show 46 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: business immediately gets fuzzy just from moment one. According to 47 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: some sources, the family moved west in pursuit of the 48 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: gold rush not not long after he was born. They 49 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: headed to California first, and then they backtracked to Butte, Montana. 50 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: So one would have been well after the peak of 51 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: the gold rush in California. But Baute was in its 52 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,679 Speaker 1: mining heyday right around then, so that might make a 53 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: little bit of sense when he failed to make it 54 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: as a prospector, though Michael Dalton started working as a barber. 55 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: In this version of the story, Julia Dalton encouraged the 56 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: young billy to dress up and entertain patrons at nearby saloons, 57 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: but when his father caught him dancing in address, he 58 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: beat him as punishment and then sent him back to 59 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: Boston to live with an aunt. The other most common 60 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: version of Billy's early life is that at the age 61 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: of ten, he got a part in the Cadet Theatricals, 62 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: and these were all male performances that were staged by 63 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: the First Core of Cadets. The First Core of Cadets 64 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: was a volunteer militia connected to Boston's upper class. A 65 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: lot of its members were Harvard graduates with their own 66 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: all male theater experience in the form of Harvard's Hasty 67 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: Pudding Theatricals. The Cadet Theatricals were staged for fundraising purposes, 68 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: in this case to pay for the construction of an 69 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: armory that still stands today as the castle at Park 70 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:19,039 Speaker 1: Plaza and in Boston. I found numerous references to the 71 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: fact that the reason they needed to an armory is 72 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: because they were afraid of an immigrant worker uprising, and 73 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,360 Speaker 1: I went looking for exactly what that was, I mean, 74 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:30,919 Speaker 1: other than just the tone of the time, Like, was 75 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: there a specific thing that prompted them to need to 76 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 1: build a giant castle like armory because of the threat 77 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: of immigrant worker uprisings? I did not go far enough 78 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: down that rabbit hole to answer it while writing this podcast, 79 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: but as the story goes, young Billy stole the show 80 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 1: so thoroughly that the group started writing parts just for him. So, 81 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: regardless of which of those stories is closer to the truth, 82 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: it does seem that at the age of fourteen, Billy 83 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,359 Speaker 1: Dalton was in Boston working at a dry goods store, 84 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:11,040 Speaker 1: and in nine hundred he definitely did have a role 85 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: in the Cadets theatrical production of Milady and the Musketeer, 86 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: which was a parody of the Three Musketeers. He had 87 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: been taking dance classes with Lila Vaile's Wyman, who ran 88 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: a dance school above Boston's Tremont Theater she had reckoned. 89 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: She had recommended him to Robert Barnett, who did everything 90 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: from writing to producing with the Cadet Theatricals. I have 91 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 1: a question, yep, it's there any possibility that these variant 92 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: stories of his background were maybe seated by him, the 93 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: person who also chose a name that could be pronounced 94 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: differently to set himself in people's minds. That is likely, um. 95 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 1: And there's I mean, there's also there's stuff that as 96 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,800 Speaker 1: I was researching this, there would be lines in in 97 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: papers that were like, you should take all of this 98 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 1: media coverage with a grain of salt, because a lot 99 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: of this, like entertainment reporters would just make up quotes 100 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:11,480 Speaker 1: from people. By this point, working with the Cadet Theatricals, 101 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: Billy Dalton had already started going by the name Billy Elting, 102 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: having borrowed the surname of a childhood friend. He wasn't 103 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:20,479 Speaker 1: a member of the First Core of Cadets or a 104 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: Harvard graduate, even though later publicity would claim that he 105 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: had gone to Harvard. Nevertheless, he was cast as Mignonette, 106 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:30,479 Speaker 1: and this may be where the discrepancy and his birth 107 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: year comes from. He was about to turn nineteen, but 108 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: the rest of the cast thought he was more like 109 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: fifteen or sixteen. Milady and the Musketeer raised thousand dollars 110 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: to help pay off the mortgage on the First Core 111 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: of Cadets giant castle like Armory, and the show was 112 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:52,520 Speaker 1: generally praised. Elting's performance in particular, was very well reviewed, 113 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:54,800 Speaker 1: with some Boston papers saying that he was a better 114 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: dancer than the man in the lead female role. The 115 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: next year, Barnett was Stay Aaging, a show for the 116 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:04,480 Speaker 1: Bank Officers Association. Like the First Core of Cadets, the 117 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: Bank Officers Association staged all male reviews to raise money, 118 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: in this case for a fund to help its members 119 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 1: if they became ill or disabled. The play was missed Simplicity, 120 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: and Barnett wrote the role of Claire Deloineville for his 121 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: rising star Billy Elting. Here is how the Boston Evening 122 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: Transcript reviewed this performance. Quote as in the Cadet Theatricals, 123 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: one had here fresh proof of how bewitchingly, intoxicating, le 124 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: beautiful a young man can be in girl's clothes. Anything 125 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: more unsettling than Mr. Elting's Claire Deloineville were hard to imagine. 126 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: Even his veiled baritone voice had the perturbing, velvety charm 127 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 1: of a rich, subdued contralto. There was not an item 128 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: in his whole appearance, look, manner, and action that was 129 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: not delusively feminine. Looking into a mirror, he might like 130 00:07:57,320 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 1: narcissus fall in love with himself. That reviewers seems almost angry, 131 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: and how good a female person he is. Miss Simplicity 132 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: brought in ten thousand dollars for the Bank Officers Association. 133 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: In three they put on Barren Humbug, described as a 134 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: Hungarian musical play with Elting cast in the role of 135 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: Countess Sylvia. Although the show itself drew mixed reviews, Elting's 136 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: performance was once again highly praised. The Sunday Harold called 137 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: it a revelation, and its reviewer wrote, quote one almost 138 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:33,319 Speaker 1: wondered if the bank officers had not secured a remarkably 139 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 1: attractive actress to play the role. At this point, Milly 140 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: Elting was well known in Boston and to some extent 141 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: outside of it, because some of the shows that he 142 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: was in would sometimes go on tour after the end 143 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 1: of their Boston run. But after his performance and Miss Simplicity, 144 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,040 Speaker 1: he got a chance to go on Broadway. And we 145 00:08:52,040 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: will talk more about that. After a sponsor break. After 146 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: the Boston run of Miss Simplicity closed, composer and producer 147 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,080 Speaker 1: Edward E. Rice hired Julian Elting, who by now had 148 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 1: dropped the name Billy, to appear on Broadway. The show 149 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 1: was Mr Wicks of Wickham and it opened at the 150 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 1: Bijou Theater on September nineteen o four, and his role 151 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:21,440 Speaker 1: of John Smith, Elting dressed as a woman and sang 152 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: a song called not Like Other Girls. That's how many 153 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,559 Speaker 1: times called the show. Quote catchy and refined, and called 154 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 1: Elting's performance one of its two big hits, but The 155 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,320 Speaker 1: New York Times called it a poor show, poorly acted 156 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:44,040 Speaker 1: with no redeeming features. It's just like movie reviews today. Um. 157 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: In spite of those decidedly mixed reviews, this was a 158 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:49,840 Speaker 1: great time for Elding to make his way to New York. 159 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: Theater in New York City goes way back before the 160 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds, but the theater district we now know as 161 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,800 Speaker 1: Broadway was just getting started in nineteen o four. The 162 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 1: Amsterdam and the Lyceum were two of the earliest Broadway theaters, 163 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:06,959 Speaker 1: and they were both built in nineteen o three. In 164 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: nineteen o four, Long Acre Square was renamed Times Square 165 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 1: after the New York Times opened its office tower at 166 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: the intersection of forty two and Broadway. The Times Square 167 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: subway station to open that year as well, and theater 168 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 1: started relocating from the Union Square and Medicine Square Garden 169 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: areas to this newly booming district. By thanks to all 170 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: the newly installed electric lighting, this stretch of Broadway would 171 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:36,720 Speaker 1: be called the Great White Way. Vaudeville was also thriving 172 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: in New York at this time, Both vaudeville and American 173 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: burlesque had roots in the minstrel shows that had been 174 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,400 Speaker 1: popular in the United States from the early nineteenth century 175 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:49,000 Speaker 1: through the years after the end of the Civil War. 176 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:52,840 Speaker 1: In minstrel shows, white actors in black face put on 177 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:57,120 Speaker 1: acts that lampoon and stereotyped black people, sometimes lifting the 178 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 1: work of black playwrights and songwriters to do it. Although 179 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: women eventually became a bigger part of minstrel performance, especially 180 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: in the earlier years, women's roles were usually played by men. Minstrel, vaudeville, 181 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,720 Speaker 1: and burlesque shows all had some elements in common, but 182 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:19,080 Speaker 1: with a very different theme in tone. By the time 183 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 1: that minstrel shows fell out of favor, female impersonation and 184 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: male impersonation were both part of vaudeville and burlesque. Vaudeville 185 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,960 Speaker 1: impersonators were often very careful to frame their acts as 186 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:35,680 Speaker 1: wholesome family entertainment, while burlesque impersonators sometimes took a more 187 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: satirical or titillating approach. Elting had made his vaudeville debut 188 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:43,760 Speaker 1: at B. F. Keep's Theater in Boston, and he continued 189 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:47,320 Speaker 1: his vaudeville performances as he was becoming more well known 190 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: in New York. Female impersonators in general tended to be 191 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,800 Speaker 1: some of Vaudeville's highest paid performers, and Elting was one 192 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:57,719 Speaker 1: of the highest paid among them. For his act, he 193 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:00,320 Speaker 1: put on a corset, dresses, makeup and win eggs, and 194 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,200 Speaker 1: he wedged to speed into dainty little shoes to carry 195 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:05,320 Speaker 1: off the illusion that he was a beautiful woman on 196 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 1: a stage. He also sang as a bare tone opting 197 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,960 Speaker 1: opting not to use a falsetto voice or to otherwise 198 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 1: try to make his voice sound higher than it really was. 199 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:18,000 Speaker 1: Sometimes he'd take his wig off at the end of 200 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: his performances to show the audience that he was a man. 201 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:24,840 Speaker 1: Here's how he described it quote, A man on the 202 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:28,319 Speaker 1: stage must make up differently than a woman. His idea 203 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,400 Speaker 1: is to give strong lines to his face, accent the 204 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 1: masculine traits, and tone down whatever softer feminine lines nature 205 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 1: has endowed him with. In my work, it is just 206 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:42,120 Speaker 1: the opposite. I must tone down the dominant masculine characteristics 207 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:44,720 Speaker 1: of my face and figure and seek to bring out 208 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: those feminine lines that even the most masculine man has 209 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 1: somewhere about him. A man does not have to worry 210 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:53,680 Speaker 1: much about the correct color of rouge or powder to 211 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: go with his complexion. But with a woman's makeup, that 212 00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: is where you find true art. Whether it was on 213 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:05,839 Speaker 1: uh more traditional Broadway theater or whether it was in vaudeville, 214 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:12,119 Speaker 1: Julian Elting and his female impersonation became enormously popular, especially 215 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,520 Speaker 1: among women. In the words of comedian and actor W. C. 216 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:20,439 Speaker 1: Fields quote, women went into ecstasies over him, men went 217 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: into the smoking room, and as a side note, are 218 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: recent podcast subject Windsor Mackay drew him as part of 219 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: an act at the Orpheum Vaudeville Theater in Chicago. We 220 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 1: did not mean for all of these things to interlode, 221 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 1: didn't uh. In fact, we had already um I in 222 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: my imagination that episode had already even come out to 223 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: listeners when I discovered that. But my that's not correct. 224 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: We had recorded it, but it wasn't actually released as 225 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:53,600 Speaker 1: of when we are doing this right now in the studio. 226 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:57,800 Speaker 1: So in New York, Elting became friends with playwright and 227 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:01,319 Speaker 1: composer George M. Cohen, who the song give my regards 228 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 1: to Broadway and along with a lot of other big 229 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:06,720 Speaker 1: names in show business. Cohen was a Freemason and a 230 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: member of Pacific Lodge number two thirty three. Elting eventually 231 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 1: joined the Freemasons as well, and was able to make 232 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: a lot of show business connections through the through the lodge. 233 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 1: By seven, Elting was so famous that he was able 234 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:24,280 Speaker 1: to go on a European tour to Vienna, Berlin, Paris 235 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:27,880 Speaker 1: and London. In London, he gave a command performance for 236 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: King Edward the Seventh that Windsor Castle. The King was 237 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 1: so delighted that he gave Elting a white bulldog as 238 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 1: a thank you gift. In nineteen ten, The Fascinating Widow 239 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 1: debuted in New Jersey with Elting as the star. Auto 240 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: Harbuck had written the play especially for him, and it 241 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 1: featured Elting in male and female roles, with a lot 242 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: of costume changes back and forth between them. The basic premise, 243 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: Elting plays a man who gets into legal trouble after 244 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:00,200 Speaker 1: punching someone in the nose and disguises himself as the 245 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 1: eponymous Fascinating Widow to make his escape. Because of the 246 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: huge success of The Fascinating Widow, these quick changes between 247 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:13,640 Speaker 1: masculine and feminine clothing became a hallmark of Elting's performances. 248 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,440 Speaker 1: I wish I had a good grasp of the logistics 249 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 1: of that. Yeah, I tried to figure out um exactly, 250 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: like I tried to get a better play by play 251 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 1: of how all this would go down. I am imagining 252 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 1: there were stage hands and and dressers and costumers helping 253 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 1: with all of the quick changes. But I didn't find 254 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: a lot of discussion of that. Like I mean, I've, 255 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 1: you know, done enough theater that I I know how 256 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: a quick change of clothing works. But it's the makeup 257 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 1: that makes me go After we had just heard in 258 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: his own words, how differently you had to do makeup 259 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:55,040 Speaker 1: for performing as a woman versus performing as a man. 260 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 1: It just gives me curiosities. There was makeup and hair involved, 261 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: and core And also he was not a small person. 262 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 1: He like I saw one thing that said he was 263 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: six feet tall and another that said that he was 264 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: five nine, But the five nine was talking about when 265 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 1: he was doing his teenage roles, So like he he 266 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 1: wasn't a petite person. So like he was wearing these 267 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:25,080 Speaker 1: custom made gowns that would would fit his rather large 268 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:28,800 Speaker 1: body and putting on corsets and on and on. It's 269 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: it seems exhausting to me. I would watch that part 270 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 1: of the show. Can I pay to sit backstage and 271 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,680 Speaker 1: watch that happen? But this same year that we're talking about, 272 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: before we went on our divergence on quick Changes, Elting 273 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 1: became the highest paid male actor in the country with 274 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: a contract that guaranteed him three thousand dollars a week. 275 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 1: Producer A. H. Woods also offered him a contract plus 276 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,720 Speaker 1: ten thousand dollars capital to start the Woods Elting in 277 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:59,440 Speaker 1: Bloom Theater Company. Construction on the Elting Theater on Street 278 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:03,480 Speaker 1: started in nineteen eleven. The Fascinating Widow opened on Broadway 279 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:06,439 Speaker 1: that year as well, running for fifty two performances before 280 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:10,080 Speaker 1: going on tour. Fifty two doesn't sound like a lot 281 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: in terms of today's Broadway schedule, where shows will run 282 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 1: for years and years and years and years, but at 283 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:23,159 Speaker 1: the time that was a more successful run. The Elting 284 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: Theater opened in nineteen twelve after Julian had returned from 285 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:30,120 Speaker 1: touring with The Fascinating Window Widow, but by the time 286 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: the theater was finished, he was drawing crowds that were 287 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:36,400 Speaker 1: just too big for the Elting Theaters eight and eighty 288 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,679 Speaker 1: nine seats to handle. He never wound up performing at 289 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,639 Speaker 1: the theater that was named after him. He also eventually 290 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: sold his share of the theater company back to A. H. Woods, 291 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,200 Speaker 1: saying that he liked being on stage a lot more 292 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 1: than he likes trying to run things. Elting was at 293 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: the height of his theatrical career, but the tone of 294 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,920 Speaker 1: his press coverage started to shift in the nineteen teens. 295 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:02,400 Speaker 1: In most of viewers wrote about his flawlessly pulling off 296 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,680 Speaker 1: the illusion of femininity, the loveliness of his voice, and 297 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,959 Speaker 1: his skill at dancing. But over the next few years, 298 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:11,480 Speaker 1: more and more of his reviews were laced through with 299 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:16,200 Speaker 1: the idea that female impersonators were suspicious and that Elting 300 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:19,720 Speaker 1: stood out in contrast to them. One review ran in 301 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:22,439 Speaker 1: The New York Evening World that said, quote, there are 302 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:25,679 Speaker 1: a host of female impersonators, and those who are not 303 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:31,880 Speaker 1: abominations are pests. Elting is the exception. This media coverage 304 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:35,879 Speaker 1: reflected shifting social views. Gender roles were starting to shift 305 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,240 Speaker 1: in the wake of World War One, and, as as 306 00:18:38,359 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: so often happens when social norms are starting to change, 307 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:45,680 Speaker 1: people who lived outside of those norms in one way 308 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:50,360 Speaker 1: or another, we're seen as at best suspects, so female 309 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: impersonation was being seen less as a suitable form of entertainment, 310 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: especially for women, and more as some kind of hints 311 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: that a performer might be dv in some way. Elting 312 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: worked continually to combat this suspicion. On stage. He refused 313 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:09,560 Speaker 1: to take flowers when they were offered to him from 314 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:13,200 Speaker 1: the footlights, because that would be too feminine. He also 315 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:15,600 Speaker 1: only took parts where there was some need for his 316 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: character to cross dress. The reasons for cross dressing weren't 317 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 1: necessarily wholesome. Sometimes it was to escape after having committed 318 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: a crime, but it's not portrayed as just for fun 319 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: or because he enjoys it. His nineteen fifteen role in 320 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 1: Cousin Lucy is a good example. Written by Charles Klein 321 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: with music by Jerome Kern, Cousin Lucy is a three 322 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:40,120 Speaker 1: act musical farce about a man who fakes his own 323 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,359 Speaker 1: death and assumes the identity of his air that being 324 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:48,399 Speaker 1: Cousin Lucy. This play required Elting to make dozens of 325 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,760 Speaker 1: costume changes, with the costumes themselves being one of the 326 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 1: most highly praised things about the show, but the reviews 327 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 1: highlight what we've just been talking about. The October nine, 328 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:02,440 Speaker 1: fifteen edition of The American Theater reads quote. A considerable 329 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:06,159 Speaker 1: number of persons resent the appearance on the stage of 330 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 1: female impersonators, and the more capable they are in presentation 331 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: of female charms, vagaries, and foibles, the more deep rooted 332 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: becomes the prejudice. On the other hand, there would seem 333 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:20,440 Speaker 1: to be a still greater number who fairly batten on 334 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 1: such anomalous fair. Julian Elting, the real leader in this 335 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 1: curious form of art, has made a fortune imitating the 336 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: fair sex. Offstage, Elting presented himself as abundantly masculine. He 337 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:39,119 Speaker 1: smoked cigars and boxed, including staging boxing matches for public 338 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:42,920 Speaker 1: display when he was on tour. There were also rumors 339 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,640 Speaker 1: that he started fights with anyone who dared to call 340 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: him a sissy. This masculinity played a part in his marketing. 341 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 1: To His publicity photos always included pictures of him and 342 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: masculine attire as his quote real self, in addition to 343 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:01,879 Speaker 1: the pictures of him in feminine costume. Sometimes posters and 344 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: programs for the shows included both pictures together in one frame. 345 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 1: In interviews, he also talked about how this was just 346 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:13,000 Speaker 1: an act, that he didn't enjoy wearing dresses, and that 347 00:21:13,119 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: if he could make his living without doing female impersonation, 348 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: he certainly would. Even though female impersonation was starting to 349 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:25,840 Speaker 1: be viewed with increasing distrust, Elting's biggest career move was 350 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,639 Speaker 1: still to come. And we're going to talk about Elting 351 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:39,240 Speaker 1: in Hollywood after a sponsor break. Julian Elting had become 352 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:42,560 Speaker 1: famous on stage in New York City. His name was 353 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:46,560 Speaker 1: so synonymous with female impersonation that it became shorthand for 354 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: stage roles that involved cross dressing, sort of like Timmy 355 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:52,000 Speaker 1: was cast in the Julian Elting role in the play. 356 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,680 Speaker 1: This made the research interesting. As I was reading archival 357 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:59,119 Speaker 1: newspaper articles, there were all these results for Julian Elting 358 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,040 Speaker 1: that were really about other people being described as being 359 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:06,200 Speaker 1: in the Julian Elting role. This work, though, was really 360 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:10,160 Speaker 1: taking its hole on him. Most of his performances required 361 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,320 Speaker 1: numerous high speed changes in and out of costumes, and 362 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,919 Speaker 1: his feminine costumes tended to involve corsets and layers and 363 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:21,399 Speaker 1: heavy gowns, and just doing that work under hot stage 364 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:25,440 Speaker 1: lights in theaters that didn't have air conditioning was exhausting 365 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:29,240 Speaker 1: his most successful plays also went on tour after they 366 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:33,399 Speaker 1: closed their runs, making stops and cities large and small, 367 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 1: and the travel itself was almost as physically demanding as 368 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 1: the time on stage. So as films started to grow 369 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,720 Speaker 1: in popularity, the idea of starring in them wasn't just 370 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: about potentially becoming even wealthier and more famous. It was 371 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:50,560 Speaker 1: about working on a schedule that didn't require thirty five 372 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,240 Speaker 1: costume changes a night under hot lights. He wouldn't have 373 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: to keep an entire show's worth of lines committed to memory, 374 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,159 Speaker 1: or take his work on the road. He could at 375 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,080 Speaker 1: his work to studios and sets and actually have time 376 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: to rest between pictures. If he was working in film, 377 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: he'd also have more time to devote to some of 378 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:13,160 Speaker 1: his other pursuits. There was a Julian Elting cosmetic line, 379 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:17,680 Speaker 1: which included a particularly popular cold cream keeping up that 380 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:23,159 Speaker 1: masculine appearance. There was also Julian Elting Cigars. He published magazines, 381 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 1: including Julian Elting's Magazine of Beauty Hints and Tips. One 382 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,440 Speaker 1: of these tips was that women should take up boxing 383 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:34,640 Speaker 1: to help improve their confidence. Elting was also a supporter 384 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,399 Speaker 1: of the movement for women's suffrage and a proponent of 385 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 1: the idea that you should just lay off what other 386 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,800 Speaker 1: women are wearing. In the interview with the Boston Globe, 387 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:46,639 Speaker 1: he said, quote, let woman be happy in her own way. 388 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: If she thinks she looks well with a barrel of 389 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:51,640 Speaker 1: false hair on her head, let her wear it. If 390 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:53,720 Speaker 1: she wants to powder, to paint, or to crowd a 391 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:55,960 Speaker 1: number two shoe on a six and a half foot 392 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 1: let her do it if she can. When a reporter 393 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 1: rebutted that this hypothetical person might be making a caricature 394 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 1: of herself, Elting answered, quote, possibly, but she doesn't know it. 395 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:09,719 Speaker 1: On the contrary, she believes she has added to her 396 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:13,440 Speaker 1: personal adornment. I repeat, let her go on thinking so 397 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: since it makes her happy. Spending more time in front 398 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:20,360 Speaker 1: of a camera instead of on stage gave Elting more 399 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: time and more energy for all of this stuff that 400 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:25,679 Speaker 1: we've been talking about. He made his film debut with 401 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,320 Speaker 1: a cameo in How Molly Malone Made Good in nineteen fifteen. 402 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 1: In nineteen seventeen, he signed a three picture contract with 403 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,160 Speaker 1: Lasky Paramount Company, and all that touring that he had 404 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: done with the stage performances really paid off. The huge 405 00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 1: audience that he had already established followed him directly to 406 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 1: movie theaters, and for a time he was a bigger 407 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: box office draw than Charlie Chaplin. His films included silent 408 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:53,640 Speaker 1: adaptations of some of his stage work, including The Fascinating Widow, 409 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:57,040 Speaker 1: and in many he had the starring role. He was 410 00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:01,200 Speaker 1: Clifford Townsend, who disguised himself as the idle adventuring woman 411 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 1: in The Adventurous. In Made to Order, he disguised himself 412 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:07,840 Speaker 1: as a woman to infiltrate a gang of diamond smugglers. 413 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:12,440 Speaker 1: In Madam Behave, he was Jack Mitchell, who disguised himself 414 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:16,680 Speaker 1: as the aforementioned Madam when an important witness disappears during 415 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 1: a court case. He also appeared in an all star 416 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:23,959 Speaker 1: production of patriotic episodes for the Second Liberty Loan with 417 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:28,720 Speaker 1: Mary Pickford, after which she nicknamed him Lady Bill. Combined 418 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,640 Speaker 1: with his stage work, Elting's work in film made him 419 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 1: incredibly wealthy. After his death, the Associated Press reported that 420 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:40,119 Speaker 1: at his wealthiest, he'd been worth about three million dollars. 421 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:42,919 Speaker 1: It was also during his time in Hollywood that he 422 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,920 Speaker 1: built his Los Angeles mansion, a Spanish colonial revival full 423 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:51,160 Speaker 1: of antiques called Villa Capistronome. This was one of several 424 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,720 Speaker 1: homes he owned on both coasts, and he lived there 425 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:58,120 Speaker 1: with his mother. Even at the height of his film popularity, 426 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: he did do some work on stage, and he continued 427 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 1: to be well received, especially when he went back to 428 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: the city where he got his start. One review from 429 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,000 Speaker 1: Boston in nineteen eighteen read quote, although it is a 430 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:13,719 Speaker 1: corking good bill all the way through the program at 431 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:16,880 Speaker 1: Keith's this week, if deprived of all but the headline act, 432 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:21,880 Speaker 1: would fill the house for the headliners. Julian Elting, native Bostonian, 433 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,879 Speaker 1: sometime member of the Boston Cadets and leading female impersonator 434 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 1: in the world, who, after winning laurels on many stages 435 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:32,919 Speaker 1: and on the screen, is back for the brief space 436 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: of a week on the stage where he made his 437 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:39,879 Speaker 1: professional debut. You wouldn't know it from that review, but 438 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:44,199 Speaker 1: the widespread suspicion of cross dressing and female impersonation was 439 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:48,399 Speaker 1: really growing in the late nineteen teens. The public, the media, 440 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 1: and law enforcement began to conflate the idea of cross 441 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:55,679 Speaker 1: dressing with the idea of homosexuality, which at the time 442 00:26:56,119 --> 00:27:00,119 Speaker 1: was viewed as deviant homosexuality and cross dressing became were 443 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:03,160 Speaker 1: and more entwined in people's minds, and more and more 444 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:07,120 Speaker 1: cities and states passed laws to ban both homosexual behavior 445 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:11,880 Speaker 1: and cross dressing. In California, where Elting was living, so 446 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 1: called crimes against nature had been outlawed since in eighteen fifty. 447 00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:19,359 Speaker 1: The law was updated to name specific sex acts in 448 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:23,640 Speaker 1: nineteen fifteen, and at the same time, police in California 449 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:27,240 Speaker 1: started rating and breaking up drag parties, balls, and other 450 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:32,160 Speaker 1: events where people, especially men, cross dressed, charging those arrested 451 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 1: with quote social vagrancy. Elting managed to keep his stage 452 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,880 Speaker 1: and film career going in spite of all this social change. 453 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: Through the nineteen twenties. His movies were a huge box 454 00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: office draw, and he was still performing to sell out 455 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 1: crowds at theaters all over the country. But then in 456 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty he dropped from public view. The Motion Picture 457 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:57,520 Speaker 1: Production Code AK the Hayes Code, was released that year. 458 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 1: It was, more formally quote a code to maintain social 459 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:05,439 Speaker 1: and community values in the production of silence, synchronized and 460 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:09,639 Speaker 1: talking motion pictures. Under the heading of sex. Number four 461 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:13,919 Speaker 1: was sex perversion or any inference to it is forbidden 462 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:19,399 Speaker 1: and that included female impersonation. Elting had spent his entire 463 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:24,080 Speaker 1: life trying to completely separate himself from anything that might 464 00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:27,280 Speaker 1: make anyone think he was, in the language of the time, 465 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,960 Speaker 1: an invert. If he had ever done anything to make 466 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,520 Speaker 1: anyone think that he was having a relationship with another man, 467 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,600 Speaker 1: his career would have been over immediately. We just had 468 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:40,000 Speaker 1: an episode on James Whale, who was like totally contradictory 469 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: to this idea. He was an openly gay man at 470 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:48,160 Speaker 1: the same time as this, But James Whale's career was 471 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,080 Speaker 1: not dependent upon him doing something that was already seen 472 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 1: as suspicious in terms of gender. He was also not 473 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:57,360 Speaker 1: performing for the public like as a director, he was 474 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:02,160 Speaker 1: removed from the public eye. So Julian Elting never had 475 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:06,680 Speaker 1: a public relationship with anyone. He didn't even have close 476 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:10,160 Speaker 1: friendships with other men in his industry. When he died, 477 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:13,640 Speaker 1: hundreds of people came to his funeral, but everyone who 478 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:16,080 Speaker 1: spoke at it could only really talk about his career. 479 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 1: No one could talk about him as a person because 480 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:23,640 Speaker 1: no one really knew him, and it's not completely clear 481 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:28,560 Speaker 1: what elting sexual orientation was. Harry Hay was co founder 482 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: of the Matachine Society, which was one of the first 483 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 1: gay rights organizations in the United States back when the 484 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:38,000 Speaker 1: gay rights movement was known as the homophile movement. He 485 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:41,520 Speaker 1: told historian and author Daniel Herowitz that Elting was involved 486 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 1: with other men in a phone interview that he gave 487 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 1: in But the creators of a documentary called Lady Bill 488 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 1: The Julian Elting Story give a totally different read of 489 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,920 Speaker 1: his life. In their projects description at the New York 490 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:57,160 Speaker 1: Foundation for the Arts, they say, quote, it has taken 491 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: years to uncover the threads of Elting's private life, but 492 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 1: we have finally located family and relatives of friends, many 493 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:07,360 Speaker 1: of whom retained both his possessions and letters. Every bit 494 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:09,960 Speaker 1: of evidence points to the fact that Julian Elting was 495 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:14,880 Speaker 1: not a homosexual. In fact, fear of public condemnation transformed 496 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: Julian Elting into a man with a distinctly a sexual 497 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 1: personality who poured his soul into the perfection of his art, which, 498 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,080 Speaker 1: in the end, in spite of all his efforts to 499 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:29,000 Speaker 1: maintain its legitimacy, became the object of ridicule and hate. 500 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:33,920 Speaker 1: This makes his tragedy perhaps even greater, Regardless of the 501 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:38,640 Speaker 1: question of identity. Same sex relationships were suspicious at best 502 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 1: when Julian Elting lived, and he made a lifelong effort 503 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:46,400 Speaker 1: to give the world absolutely no cause for suspicion. But 504 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 1: that couldn't protect him from a rising tide of homophobia, 505 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:53,480 Speaker 1: or from the perception that homosexuality and cross dressing were 506 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 1: absolutely connected. It also couldn't protect him from laws that 507 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:01,600 Speaker 1: were passed because of this perception. In other words, the 508 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,280 Speaker 1: Hayes Code meant that Elting could not work in film. 509 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:08,560 Speaker 1: The increasing existence of laws against cross dressing meant that 510 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,760 Speaker 1: he could not work on stage either. All of this 511 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,480 Speaker 1: happened not long after the onset of the Great Depression, 512 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:18,000 Speaker 1: during which Elting lost most of his fortune, so he 513 00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:21,320 Speaker 1: mostly disappeared for about a decade, during which time he 514 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:26,240 Speaker 1: struggled with alcohol abuse. In ninety Elting tried to make 515 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:29,560 Speaker 1: a comeback. He was supposed to appear at Hollywood's Cafe 516 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:33,040 Speaker 1: Rendezvous in January of that year, but the police wouldn't 517 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:36,120 Speaker 1: let him in. When they finally did let him perform, 518 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:39,480 Speaker 1: it wasn't as a female impersonator. Instead, he wore a 519 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 1: tuxedo with one of his dresses next to him on 520 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,960 Speaker 1: a mannequin. He performed the songs that he was scheduled 521 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:49,160 Speaker 1: to sing, and in between them he described the dresses 522 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:51,280 Speaker 1: he would have had on if he had been allowed 523 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 1: to do so. Back in New York, lyricistem producer Billy 524 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 1: Rose had opened a nightclub called the Diamond Horseshoe and 525 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:02,280 Speaker 1: the Paramount Hotel and Tie Square in ninety eight, and 526 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty one he invited Elting to perform there. 527 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,400 Speaker 1: Elting did go on, but he became ill during a performance, 528 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:12,280 Speaker 1: and he was found dead in his apartment on March seventh, 529 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 1: nineteen forty one, at the age of fifty nine. The 530 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,479 Speaker 1: cause of his death is not clear, and although he 531 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:21,920 Speaker 1: continued to be known as the greatest of all impersonators 532 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:24,280 Speaker 1: of women for at least a decade after his death, 533 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 1: his name mostly faded from public memory. So to end 534 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:33,760 Speaker 1: on a slightly happier note, the Elting Theater still exists today. 535 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:36,920 Speaker 1: It became a burlesque house during the Great Depression, and 536 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 1: when obscenity laws put an end to burlesque performance, it 537 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:42,840 Speaker 1: was made into a movie theater. It closed for a time, 538 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 1: and then on March second, it was moved a little 539 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,680 Speaker 1: more than a hundred and fifty feet down forty two 540 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:51,680 Speaker 1: street from the seventh Avenue end of the block toward 541 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:55,000 Speaker 1: the eighth Avenue end, and there it became the lobby 542 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:59,920 Speaker 1: of a MC Empire five. During this move and restoration concern, 543 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:03,400 Speaker 1: emitters pieced together a mural that had been part of 544 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:08,480 Speaker 1: the original Elting theater. It portrayed the three muses and conservatives. 545 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:12,200 Speaker 1: Work involved reassembling the pieces of the mural, repairing some 546 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:15,920 Speaker 1: cuts and holes, and removing all of paint. As they worked, 547 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 1: they came to the conclusion that all three of the 548 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:22,480 Speaker 1: muses are Julian Elting, based on similarities to his appearance 549 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:26,040 Speaker 1: and demeanor and clothing and his publicity photos. So if 550 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:29,440 Speaker 1: you go to the AMC Empire twenty five your Times Square, 551 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 1: you can look up at the ceiling. That's probably Julian 552 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:35,600 Speaker 1: Elting looking back at you. That's so cool. Now I 553 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:37,680 Speaker 1: know what I'm gonna do next time I'm in New York. 554 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:40,680 Speaker 1: I kept looking. I was like, that's the theater right 555 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,040 Speaker 1: by where we always stay whenever we're in New York. 556 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:47,400 Speaker 1: For so also giant thanks to my friend Amy for 557 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:49,800 Speaker 1: loaning me the Book of Bohemian Los Angeles and The 558 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:54,040 Speaker 1: Making of Modern Politics by Daniel Hurwitz, which inspired this episode, 559 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:57,400 Speaker 1: like maybe a year ago, Amy, I promise I'm going 560 00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,920 Speaker 1: to bring this book back to you the next time 561 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:02,160 Speaker 1: I see you. I have now had it for an 562 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:06,960 Speaker 1: embarrassingly long time. No one ever land me anything. I 563 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:09,839 Speaker 1: think we all fall victim to that, especially you know, 564 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:13,360 Speaker 1: in a job like ours, where we're doing lots of reading. 565 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:15,520 Speaker 1: It's easy for books to get shuffled around on the 566 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:18,719 Speaker 1: priority list. That's something things don't make it back up 567 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:21,680 Speaker 1: for a year, it happen. I even I had read 568 00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:24,759 Speaker 1: the book. I had thought I should do a podcast 569 00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:28,960 Speaker 1: sometime on this Julian Elting person. Uh, And then I 570 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:33,120 Speaker 1: brought the book with me to return it to her, 571 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:36,719 Speaker 1: and then left it behind by accident when we went 572 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:41,040 Speaker 1: to dinner. And that, Yeah, I'm just not very responsible 573 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:43,719 Speaker 1: with other people's belongings apparently. So that's the story of 574 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:46,640 Speaker 1: Julian Elting. Now, do you have a listener mail for us? 575 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:50,600 Speaker 1: I do. This is from Erica. Erica says, thank you 576 00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:53,080 Speaker 1: for your wonderful podcast. I found it several months ago, 577 00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:55,640 Speaker 1: and it has made my commute and busy work portions 578 00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:58,000 Speaker 1: of my job so much more enjoyable. I very much 579 00:34:58,040 --> 00:34:59,960 Speaker 1: enjoyed your recent episode on a lot of rhine ger, 580 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:03,680 Speaker 1: especially the portion about her film Prince Ahmed. I was 581 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:07,719 Speaker 1: immediately reminded of the Prince Ahmed character in Aladdin, which 582 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:10,080 Speaker 1: touches on the same stories. I wonder if that was 583 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:13,279 Speaker 1: a deliberate inclusion by Disney, perhaps as a homage to 584 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:17,160 Speaker 1: her pioneering work. It seems there are several references to 585 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:20,120 Speaker 1: her film in Disney's Aladdin, apart from the name itself, 586 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:24,000 Speaker 1: including the battle with Jafar as a giant snake. I 587 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,640 Speaker 1: am also reminded that I had meant to email you 588 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:30,080 Speaker 1: after I listened to the Last Carolina Parakeet episode in March. 589 00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:33,280 Speaker 1: Just one month after that episode aired, the last male 590 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,719 Speaker 1: Northern white rhino died after months of failing health. He 591 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:41,000 Speaker 1: was named Sudan and living in a conservancy in Kenya 592 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:44,120 Speaker 1: which have been trying to save the species through breathing attempts, 593 00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:47,160 Speaker 1: which failed. This leaves only two female northern white rhinos 594 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:51,200 Speaker 1: left in the world. Both are there at the same conservancy, 595 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:54,360 Speaker 1: and the only hope for the species is advances in 596 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:58,719 Speaker 1: cell biology or cloning and rhino I vf listening to 597 00:35:58,719 --> 00:36:00,920 Speaker 1: the fate of Lonesome George of my Heart. But I 598 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:03,840 Speaker 1: thank you for breaking more attention to the destruction of 599 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:06,920 Speaker 1: these subspecies thanks to human activity. Thanks again for all 600 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:10,960 Speaker 1: the fascinating topics. I always look forward to the next releases. 601 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:14,560 Speaker 1: Best Erica. I don't know if Holly has answers to 602 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:19,080 Speaker 1: the Aladdin question, since that episode was her research. I 603 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:21,920 Speaker 1: don't have a definitive answer. I will tell you this, 604 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:26,279 Speaker 1: particularly after having worked on Drawn. The more people you 605 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:29,360 Speaker 1: talk to in the animation industry, the more you realize 606 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:33,680 Speaker 1: almost all of them really love animation history. So I 607 00:36:33,719 --> 00:36:37,600 Speaker 1: would be shocked if that were not a purposeful direct reference. 608 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:40,640 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, cool. If you have not listened to Drawn, 609 00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:43,120 Speaker 1: that is the podcast that Holly has been working on 610 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:48,880 Speaker 1: with Cartoon Network. That is lovely. Why, thank you, and 611 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:53,319 Speaker 1: I'll talk about cartoons, which is like heaven. And I 612 00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:55,439 Speaker 1: also wanted to read this email because of the part 613 00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:58,120 Speaker 1: about the last northern white Rhino that did seem to 614 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:01,239 Speaker 1: happen almost immediately after that episode came out, which is 615 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:05,640 Speaker 1: that doesn't happen that often, but periodically we will put 616 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:07,920 Speaker 1: on an episode and then right after that something will 617 00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:11,760 Speaker 1: happen that seems directly connected to what we just talked about. 618 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:14,000 Speaker 1: And so when that happened, we had a lot of 619 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:17,319 Speaker 1: people that were like, oh, did you hear about the rhino? Yes, 620 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:21,520 Speaker 1: we had some very sad story. So if you would 621 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:23,520 Speaker 1: like to write to us about this or any other podcast, 622 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:26,680 Speaker 1: History podcast, we're at History Podcast at how stuff works 623 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:29,000 Speaker 1: dot com. And we're also on social media as a 624 00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:31,440 Speaker 1: miss in History. That is our Facebook and Pinterest and 625 00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:36,200 Speaker 1: Instagram and Twitter. And you can come to our website, 626 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:38,600 Speaker 1: which is missing history dot com, find show notes for 627 00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:41,080 Speaker 1: all the episodes Holly and I have done together and 628 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:43,799 Speaker 1: a searchable archive of every episode ever. And you can 629 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:47,799 Speaker 1: find and subscribe to our podcast or drawn at Apple podcast, 630 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:56,400 Speaker 1: Google Play, wherever else you get podcasts. For more on 631 00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:58,920 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics, does it how stuff 632 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:07,880 Speaker 1: works dot com