1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:06,080 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. We just had an episode about Barbette, the 2 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: female impersonator who became a sensation in the nineteen twenties, 3 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: particularly in Paris, and in part because he revealed that 4 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:16,079 Speaker 1: he was a man as one of the final portions 5 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:19,280 Speaker 1: of the act. But female impersonation was certainly not new. 6 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:21,920 Speaker 1: We mentioned that in the episode. It certainly was not 7 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: new as a popular entertainment in New York on the 8 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:28,480 Speaker 1: vaudeville stage. Julian Elting was making a name for himself 9 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:31,639 Speaker 1: on that vaudeville stage when vander Barbette was still just 10 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: a small child. Yeah, Julian Elting later became known as 11 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,639 Speaker 1: the greatest of impersonators of women, and we covered him 12 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: on the show in twenty eighteen. We are bringing that 13 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:48,239 Speaker 1: episode out us today's Saturday Classics, So enjoy. Welcome to 14 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: Stuff you missed in History class A production of iHeartRadio. Hello, 15 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcasts. I'm Tracy B. Wilson and 16 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Frye. Today were going to talk about one 17 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 1: of the highest paid and most famous actors of the 18 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: early twentieth century. I know we've been on kind of 19 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: an entertainment kick lately. That was al yep, so this 20 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:21,959 Speaker 1: particular actor acted alongside Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and Rudolph Valentino, 21 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: who was friends with Charlie Chaplin. He had a Broadway 22 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 1: theater named after him, and he was one of the 23 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:31,400 Speaker 1: first movie stars to build his own mansion in Los Angeles. 24 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,680 Speaker 1: But his name is not nearly as familiar today as 25 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 1: all those other stars that I just mentioned, because what 26 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: made him famous was his skill at female impersonation, which 27 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: fell increasingly out of favor later on in his career. 28 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: He is Julian Elting and in nineteen fifty, almost a 29 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: decade after his death, he was still being described as 30 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 1: the greatest of all impersonators of women. And a one 31 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: note that I do want to make about how to 32 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: say his name. There are new were as print sources 33 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:03,640 Speaker 1: from when he lived that insists that it was pronounced 34 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:08,960 Speaker 1: elting like with a hard G. But there is a 35 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 1: lot of old footage floating around, as well as more 36 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: recent footage of people talking about him where people say 37 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:19,080 Speaker 1: it Eltinge. And apparently he picked a stage name on 38 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: purpose because of the potential for mispronouncing it, thinking that 39 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: it would quote serve to fix it more firmly with 40 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: the public. Uh so, just we're just gonna go with Elting. 41 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 1: I mean, I understand, for example, my name gets mispronounced 42 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: all the time, but to me it's fun because my 43 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 1: maiden name was very boring and know it. Ever, so 44 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: I'll answer to Frey fry Free. Any of those work 45 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,520 Speaker 1: fine well. And I definitely never saw any footage of 46 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: everybody of anybody saying welcome Julian eltingeing, Like, that's not 47 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: how you say that. I want to say Eltin's just 48 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:04,639 Speaker 1: reading it because there's an E on the end, right, 49 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: But no, So for today it's Elting and Julian Elting 50 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: was born William Julian Dalton, known as Billy, on May 51 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,359 Speaker 1: fourteenth to eighteen eighty one. Some sources report it as 52 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:20,919 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty three, though, so just know that if you 53 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: go looking. He was born to Michael and Julia Baker 54 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: Dalton in Newtonville, Massachusetts. Today Newtonville is one of the 55 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: villages that makes up the city of newton Four days 56 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: after his birth, he was baptized at Our Lady Help 57 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: of Christians Catholic Church. From there, Elting's story about how 58 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: he got into show business immediately gets fuzzy just from 59 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: moment one. According to some sources, the family moved west 60 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: in pursuit of the gold rush not long after he 61 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: was born. They headed to California first, and then they 62 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: backtracked to Butte, Montana. So eighteen eighty one would have 63 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: been well after the peak of the gold rush in California, 64 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: but Butte was in its mining heyday right around then, 65 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: so that might make a little bit of sense when 66 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: he failed to make it as a prospector, though Michael 67 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: Dalton started working as a barber. In this version of 68 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: the story, Julia Dalton encouraged the young Billy to dress 69 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: up and entertain patrons at nearby saloons, but when his 70 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,280 Speaker 1: father caught him dancing in a dress, he beat him 71 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:25,159 Speaker 1: his punishment and then sent him back to Boston to 72 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: live with an aunt. The other most common version of 73 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 1: Billy's early life is that at the age of ten, 74 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: he got a part in the Cadet theatricals, and these 75 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: were all male performances that were staged by the First 76 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:39,599 Speaker 1: Corps of Cadets. The First Corps of Cadets was a 77 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: volunteer militia connected to Boston's upper class. A lot of 78 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 1: its members were Harvard graduates with their own all male 79 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: theater experience in the form of Harvard's Hasty Pudding theatricals. 80 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 1: The Cadet theatricals were staged for fundraising purposes, in this 81 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: case to pay for the construction of an armory that 82 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: still stands today as the cast at Park Plaza in Boston. 83 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,239 Speaker 1: I found numerous references to the fact that the reason 84 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: they needed to an armory is because they were afraid 85 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: of an immigrant worker uprising, and I went looking for 86 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: exactly what that was. I mean, other than just the 87 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 1: tone of the time, was there a specific thing that 88 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: prompted them to need to build a giant castle like 89 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: armory because of the threat of immigrant worker uprisings. I 90 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: did not go far enough down that rabbit hole to 91 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:34,480 Speaker 1: answer it while writing this podcast. But as the story goes, 92 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:38,599 Speaker 1: young Billy stole the show so thoroughly that the group 93 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 1: started writing parts just for him. So regardless of which 94 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:47,239 Speaker 1: of those stories is closer to the truth, it does 95 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:50,240 Speaker 1: seem that by eighteen ninety five, at the age of fourteen, 96 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: Billy Dalton was in Boston working at a dry goods store, 97 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: and in nineteen hundred he definitely did have a role 98 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: in the Cadet's Theatricals production of Lady and the Musketeer, 99 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,600 Speaker 1: which was a parody of the Three Musketeers. He had 100 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:08,200 Speaker 1: been taking dance classes with Lyla Vale's Wyman, who ran 101 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 1: a dance school above Boston's Tremont Theater. She had reconed 102 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:16,479 Speaker 1: she had recommended him to Robert Barnett, who did everything 103 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: from writing to producing with the Cadet Theatricals. I have 104 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: a question, yep, it's there any possibility that these variant 105 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: stories of his background were maybe seated by him, the 106 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 1: person who also chose a name that could be pronounced 107 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: differently to set himself in people's minds. That is likely, 108 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,679 Speaker 1: And there's I mean, there's also there's stuff that as 109 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: I was researching this, there would be lines and papers 110 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: that were like, you should take all of this media 111 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:49,479 Speaker 1: coverage with a grain of salt, because a lot of this, 112 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: like entertainment reporters would just make up quotes from people nice. 113 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,520 Speaker 1: By this point, working with the Cadet Theatricals, Billy Dalton 114 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: had already started going by the name Billy Elting, having 115 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,840 Speaker 1: borrowed the surname of a childhood friend. He wasn't a 116 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:07,719 Speaker 1: member of the First Corps of Cadets or a Harvard graduate, 117 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: even though later publicity would claim that he had gone 118 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: to Harvard. Nevertheless, he was cast as Mignonette, and this 119 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: may be where the discrepancy in his birth year comes from. 120 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: He was about to turn nineteen, but the rest of 121 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: the cast thought he was more like fifteen or sixteen. 122 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 1: Milady and the Musketeer raised twenty five thousand dollars to 123 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: help pay off the mortgage on the First Corps of 124 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 1: Cadets giant castle like Armory, and the show was generally praised. 125 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: Elting's performance in particular, was very well reviewed, with some 126 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:41,840 Speaker 1: Boston papers saying that he was a better dancer than 127 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: the man in the lead female role. The next year, 128 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: Barnett was staging a show for the Bank Officers Association. 129 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: Like the First Corps of Cadets, the Bank Officers Association 130 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:55,640 Speaker 1: staged all male reviews to raise money, in this case 131 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: for a fund to help its members if they became 132 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: ill or disabled. Miss Simplicity and Barnett wrote the role 133 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: of Claire de Loinville for his rising star Billy Elting. 134 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:12,000 Speaker 1: Here is how the Boston Evening Transcript reviewed this performance quote, 135 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: as in the Cadet theatricals, one had here fresh proof 136 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,760 Speaker 1: of how bewitchingly, intoxicatingly beautiful a young man can be 137 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:24,239 Speaker 1: in girls' clothes. Anything more unsettling than mister Elting's Claire 138 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: de Loinville were hard to imagine. Even his veiled baritone 139 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 1: voice had the perturbing, velvety charm of a rich, subdued contralto. 140 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: There was not an item in his whole appearance, look, manner, 141 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 1: and action that was not delusively feminine. Looking into a mirror, 142 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 1: he might, like Narcissus, fall in love with himself. That 143 00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:50,959 Speaker 1: reviewer seems almost angry at how good a female impersonator 144 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 1: he is. Miss Simplicity brought in ten thousand dollars for 145 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: the Bank Officers Association. In nineteen oh three, they put 146 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:02,440 Speaker 1: on Baron Humbug, described as a Hungarian musical play, with 147 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: Elting cast in the role of Countess Sylvia. Although the 148 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:10,079 Speaker 1: show itself drew mixed reviews, Elting's performance was once again 149 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: highly praised. The Sunday Harold called it a revelation, and 150 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 1: its reviewer wrote, quote, one almost wondered if the Bank 151 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:21,080 Speaker 1: officers had not secured a remarkably attractive actress to play 152 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,840 Speaker 1: the role. At this point, Billy Elting was well known 153 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,440 Speaker 1: in Boston and to some extent outside of it, because 154 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:29,720 Speaker 1: some of the shows that he was in would sometimes 155 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: go on tour after the end of their Boston run. 156 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:35,960 Speaker 1: But after his performance and Miss Simplicity, he got a 157 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:39,000 Speaker 1: chance to go on Broadway, and we will talk more 158 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: about that after a sponsor break. After the Boston run 159 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: of Miss Simplicity closed, composer and producer Edward E. Rice 160 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:58,199 Speaker 1: hired Julian Elting, who by now had dropped the name Billy, 161 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: to appear on Broadway. The show was Mister Wicks of Wickham, 162 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: and it opened at the Bijou Theater on September nineteenth, 163 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: nineteen oh four, and his role of John Smith, Elting 164 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 1: dressed as a woman and sang a song called not 165 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: Like Other Girls. That's how many Times called the show 166 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: quote catchy and refined, and called Elting's performance one of 167 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:22,120 Speaker 1: its two big hits, but The New York Times called 168 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: it a poor show, poorly acted with no redeeming features. 169 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:34,080 Speaker 1: It's just like movie reviews today. In spite of those 170 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,640 Speaker 1: decidedly mixed reviews. This was a great time for Elting 171 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: to make his way to New York. Theater in New 172 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:43,560 Speaker 1: York City goes way back before the nineteen hundreds, but 173 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,400 Speaker 1: the theater district we now know as Broadway was just 174 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:49,840 Speaker 1: getting started in nineteen oh four. The New Amsterdam and 175 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: the Lyceum were two of the earliest Broadway theaters, and 176 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:56,400 Speaker 1: they were both built in nineteen oh three. In nineteen 177 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 1: oh four, Long Acre Square was renamed Times Square after 178 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 1: the New York Times opened its office tower at the 179 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 1: intersection of forty second and Broadway. The Times Square subway 180 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:09,719 Speaker 1: stationed opened that year as well, and theaters started relocating 181 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: from the Union Square and Madison Square Garden areas to 182 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: this newly booming district. By nineteen ten, thanks to all 183 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:20,840 Speaker 1: the newly installed electric lighting, this stretch of Broadway would 184 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:25,680 Speaker 1: be called the Great White Way. Vaudeville was also thriving 185 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: in New York at this time. Both vaudeville and American 186 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: burlesque had roots in the menstrel shows that had been 187 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 1: popular in the United States from the early nineteenth century 188 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: through the years after the end of the Civil War. 189 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,240 Speaker 1: In minstrel shows, white actors in blackface put on acts 190 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 1: that lampooned and stereotyped black people, sometimes lifting the work 191 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:50,439 Speaker 1: of black playwrights and songwriters to do it. Although women 192 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 1: eventually became a bigger part of menstrual performance, especially in 193 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 1: the earlier years, women's roles were usually played by men. 194 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 1: Minstrel vaudeville, and burlesque shows all had some elements in common, 195 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,800 Speaker 1: but with a very different theme and tone. By the 196 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 1: time that minstrel shows fell out of favor, female impersonation 197 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:15,360 Speaker 1: and male impersonation were both part of vaudeville and burlesque. 198 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: Vaudeville impersonators were often very careful to frame their acts 199 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:24,400 Speaker 1: as wholesome family entertainment, while burlesque impersonators sometimes took a 200 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:29,199 Speaker 1: more satirical or titillating approach. Elting had made his vaudeville 201 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 1: debut at BF Keef's Theater in Boston, and he continued 202 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:36,320 Speaker 1: his vaudeville performances as he was becoming more well known 203 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 1: in New York. Female impersonators in general tended to be 204 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:43,800 Speaker 1: some of vaudeville's highest paid performers, and Elting was one 205 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,680 Speaker 1: of the highest paid among them. For his act, he 206 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:49,360 Speaker 1: put on a corset dresses, makeup, and wigs, and he 207 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,360 Speaker 1: wedged his feet into dainty little shoes to carry off 208 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,960 Speaker 1: the illusion that he was a beautiful woman on a stage. 209 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: He also sang as a baritone, opting not to use 210 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: a falsetto voice or to otherwise try to make his 211 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,719 Speaker 1: voice sound higher than it really was. Sometimes he'd take 212 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: his wig off at the end of his performances to 213 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,199 Speaker 1: show the audience that he was a man. Here's how 214 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,560 Speaker 1: he described it quote. A man on the stage must 215 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 1: make up differently than a woman. His idea is to 216 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:21,280 Speaker 1: give strong lines to his face, accent the masculine traits, 217 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,560 Speaker 1: and tone down whatever softer feminine lines nature has endowed 218 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: him with. In my work, it is just the opposite. 219 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,280 Speaker 1: I must tone down the dominant masculine characteristics of my 220 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,439 Speaker 1: face and figure and seek to bring out those feminine 221 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 1: lines that even the most masculine man has somewhere about him. 222 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 1: A man does not have to worry much about the 223 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:43,760 Speaker 1: correct color of rouge or powder to go with his complexion, 224 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:46,760 Speaker 1: but with a woman's makeup. That is where you find 225 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:53,280 Speaker 1: true art. Whether it was on more traditional Broadway theater 226 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:56,440 Speaker 1: or whether it was in vaudeville Julian Elting and his 227 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:02,680 Speaker 1: female impersonation became enormously popular, especially among women. In the 228 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 1: words of comedian and actor W. C. Fields quote, women 229 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:10,400 Speaker 1: went into ecstasies over him, men went into the smoking room, 230 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 1: and as a side note our recent podcast subject Windsor 231 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 1: mackay drew him as part of an act at the 232 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 1: Orpheum Vaudeville Theater in Chicago. We did not mean for 233 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: all of these things to Interlowe didn't. In fact, we 234 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 1: had already I in my imagination that episode had already 235 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: even come out to listeners when I discovered that. But 236 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: that's not correct. We had recorded it, but it wasn't 237 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 1: actually released as of when we are doing this right 238 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 1: now in the studio. So in New York, Elting became 239 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,120 Speaker 1: friends with playwright and composer George M. Cohen, who wrote 240 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 1: the song give My Regards to Broadway and, along with 241 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 1: a lot of other big names in show business, Cohen 242 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:57,240 Speaker 1: was a Freemason and a member of Pacific Lodge number 243 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: two thirty three. Elting eventually joined the Freemasons as well, 244 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:03,800 Speaker 1: and was able to make a lot of show business 245 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:08,400 Speaker 1: connections through the lodge. By nineteen oh seven, Elting was 246 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: so famous that he was able to go on a 247 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 1: European tour to Vienna, Berlin, Paris and London. In London, 248 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: he gave a command performance for King Edward the Seventh 249 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 1: that Windsor Castle. The King was so delighted that he 250 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 1: gave Elting a white bulldog as a thank you gift. 251 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 1: In nineteen ten, The Fascinating Widow debut in New Jersey 252 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: with Elting as the star. Otto Harbach had written the 253 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: play especially for him, and it featured Elting in male 254 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: and female roles, with a lot of costume changes back 255 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:43,760 Speaker 1: and forth between them. The basic premise, Elting plays a 256 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: man who gets into legal trouble after punching someone in 257 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: the nose and disguises himself as the eponymous Fascinating Widow 258 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: to make his escape. Because of the huge success of 259 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: The Fascinating Widow, these quick changes between masculine and feminine 260 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: clothing became a hallmark of Elting's performances. I wish I 261 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:08,320 Speaker 1: had a good grasp of the logistics of that. Yeah, 262 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 1: I tried to figure out exactly like I tried to 263 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 1: get a better play by play of how all this 264 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: would go down. I am imagining there were stage hands 265 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: and dressers and costumers helping with all of the quick changes. 266 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,080 Speaker 1: But I didn't find a lot of discussion of that. 267 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: Like I mean, I've, you know, done enough theater that 268 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: I know how a quick change of clothing works. But 269 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: it's the makeup that makes me go hmmm. After we 270 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 1: had just heard in his own words, how differently you 271 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:42,720 Speaker 1: had to do makeup for a performing as a woman 272 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: versus performing as a man. It's just gives me curiosities. 273 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:49,720 Speaker 1: There was makeup and hair involved, and corsets. And also 274 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:54,800 Speaker 1: he was not a small person. He Like I saw 275 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:57,560 Speaker 1: one thing that said he was six feet tall and 276 00:16:57,600 --> 00:16:59,680 Speaker 1: another that said that he was five nine. But the 277 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: five nine was talking about when he was doing his 278 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 1: teenage rolls, So like, he wasn't a petite person, So 279 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:10,960 Speaker 1: like he was wearing these custom made gowns that would 280 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:16,960 Speaker 1: would fit his rather large body and putting on corsets 281 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:19,679 Speaker 1: and on and on. It seems exhausting to me. I 282 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:21,720 Speaker 1: would watch that part of the show. Can I pay 283 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 1: to sit backstage and watch that happen? But this same 284 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 1: year that we're talking about, before we went on our 285 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:31,399 Speaker 1: divergence on quick changes nineteen ten, Elting became the highest 286 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 1: paid mail actor in the country with a contract that 287 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 1: guaranteed him three thousand dollars a week. Producer AH Woods 288 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: also offered him a contract plus ten thousand dollars capital 289 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: to start the Woods Elting and Bloom Theater Company. Construction 290 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: on the Elting Theater on forty second Street started in 291 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,760 Speaker 1: nineteen eleven. The Fascinating Widow opened on Broadway that year 292 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:56,240 Speaker 1: as well, running for fifty two performances before going on tour. 293 00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: Fifty two doesn't sound like a lot in terms of 294 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:03,080 Speaker 1: to day's Broadway schedule, where shows will run for years 295 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 1: and years and years and years, but at the time 296 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:13,160 Speaker 1: that was a more successful run. The Elting Theater opened 297 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 1: in nineteen twelve after Julian had returned from touring with 298 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 1: The Fascinating Widow, but by the time the theater was finished, 299 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: he was drawing crowds that were just too big for 300 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 1: the Elting Theater's eight hundred and eighty nine seats to handle. 301 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,320 Speaker 1: He never wound up performing at the theater that was 302 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: named after him. He also eventually sold his share of 303 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,119 Speaker 1: the theater company back to A. H. Woods, saying that 304 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:37,439 Speaker 1: he liked being on stage a lot more than he 305 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:40,920 Speaker 1: likes trying to run things. Elting was at the height 306 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:44,080 Speaker 1: of his theatrical career, but the tone of his press 307 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:48,480 Speaker 1: coverage started to shift in the nineteen teens. In nineteen ten, 308 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,920 Speaker 1: most reviewers wrote about his flawlessly pulling off the illusion 309 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,200 Speaker 1: of femininity, the loveliness of his voice, and his skill 310 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:58,520 Speaker 1: at dancing. But over the next few years, more and 311 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: more of his reviews were lacey through with the idea 312 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 1: that female impersonators were suspicious and that Elting stood out 313 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:08,959 Speaker 1: in contrast to them. One review ran in The New 314 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,879 Speaker 1: York Evening World that said, quote, there are a host 315 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:16,640 Speaker 1: of female impersonators, and those who are not abominations are pests. 316 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:22,639 Speaker 1: Elting is the exception. This media coverage reflected shifting social views. 317 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:25,399 Speaker 1: Gender roles were starting to shift in the wake of 318 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:29,000 Speaker 1: World War One, and is, as so often happens when 319 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:32,920 Speaker 1: social norms are starting to change, people who lived outside 320 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:35,760 Speaker 1: of those norms in one way or another were seen 321 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 1: as at best suspects. So female impersonation was being seen 322 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 1: less as a suitable form of entertainment, especially for women, 323 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: and more as some kind of hint that a performer 324 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:53,040 Speaker 1: might be deviant in some way. Elting worked continually to 325 00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:57,320 Speaker 1: combat this suspicion. On stage. He refused to take flowers 326 00:19:57,359 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 1: when they were offered to him from the footlights because 327 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: that would be too feminine. He also only took parts 328 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 1: where there was some need for his character to cross dress. 329 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: The reasons for cross dressing weren't necessarily wholesome. Sometimes it 330 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: was to escape after having committed a crime, but it's 331 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,439 Speaker 1: not portrayed as just for fun or because he enjoys it. 332 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:21,360 Speaker 1: His nineteen fifteen role in Cousin Lucy is a good example. 333 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:25,359 Speaker 1: Written by Charles Klin with music by Jerome Kern, Cousin 334 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,360 Speaker 1: Lucy's a three act musical farce about a man who 335 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:30,919 Speaker 1: fakes his own death and assumes the identity of his 336 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:36,280 Speaker 1: air that being Cousin Lucy. This play required Elting to 337 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:40,400 Speaker 1: make dozens of costume changes, with the costumes themselves being 338 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:43,119 Speaker 1: one of the most highly praised things about the show, 339 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: But the reviews highlight what we've just been talking about. 340 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 1: The October nineteen fifteen edition of The American Theater reads quote, 341 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:54,680 Speaker 1: A considerable number of persons resents the appearance on the 342 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:57,840 Speaker 1: stage of female impersonators, and the more capable they are 343 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: in presentation of female charm, vagaries and foibles. The more 344 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: deep rooted becomes the prejudice. On the other hand, there 345 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 1: would seem to be a still greater number who fairly 346 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:13,440 Speaker 1: battened on such anomalous fair Julian Elting, the real leader 347 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,080 Speaker 1: in this curious form of art, has made a fortune 348 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 1: imitating the fair sex. Off stage, Elting presented himself as 349 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:27,120 Speaker 1: abundantly masculine. He smoked cigars and boxed, including staging boxing 350 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 1: matches for public display when he was on tour. There 351 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,880 Speaker 1: were also rumors that he started fights with anyone who 352 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,919 Speaker 1: dared to call him a sissy. This masculinity played a 353 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:42,120 Speaker 1: part in his marketing too. His publicity photos always included 354 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,959 Speaker 1: pictures of him in masculine attire as his quote real self, 355 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: in addition to the pictures of him in feminine costume. 356 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,639 Speaker 1: Sometimes posters and programs for the shows included both pictures 357 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,680 Speaker 1: together in one frame. In interviews, he also talked about 358 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:00,560 Speaker 1: how this was just an act, that he didn't enjoy 359 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,439 Speaker 1: wearing dresses, and that if he could make his living 360 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:08,920 Speaker 1: without doing female impersonation, he certainly would. Even though female 361 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:13,560 Speaker 1: impersonation was starting to be viewed with increasing distrust. Elting's 362 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 1: biggest career move was still to come, and we're going 363 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:19,840 Speaker 1: to talk about Elting in Hollywood after a sponsor break. 364 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:32,240 Speaker 1: Julian Elting had become famous on stage in New York City. 365 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:36,040 Speaker 1: His name was so synonymous with female impersonation that it 366 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:39,400 Speaker 1: became shorthand for stage roles that involved cross dressing, sort 367 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:42,240 Speaker 1: of like Timmy was cast in the Julian Elting role 368 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:44,959 Speaker 1: in the play. This made the research interesting. As I 369 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:48,960 Speaker 1: was reading archival newspaper articles, there were all these results 370 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,960 Speaker 1: for Julian Elting that were really about other people being 371 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 1: described as being in the Julian Elting role. This work, though, 372 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,560 Speaker 1: was really taking its hole on him. Most of his 373 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:04,040 Speaker 1: Performz's required numerous high speed changes in and out of costumes, 374 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:07,560 Speaker 1: and his feminine costumes tended to involve corsets and layers 375 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:11,760 Speaker 1: and heavy gowns, and just doing that work under hot 376 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:16,200 Speaker 1: stage lights in theaters that didn't have air conditioning was exhausting. 377 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:20,000 Speaker 1: His most successful plays also went on tour after they 378 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:24,199 Speaker 1: closed their runs, making stops in cities large and small, 379 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: and the travel itself was almost as physically demanding as 380 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 1: the time on stage. So as films, started to grow 381 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,520 Speaker 1: in popularity. The idea of starring in them wasn't just 382 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:38,359 Speaker 1: about potentially becoming even wealthier and more famous. It was 383 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:41,320 Speaker 1: about working on a schedule that didn't require thirty five 384 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 1: costume changes a night under hot lights. He wouldn't have 385 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:48,120 Speaker 1: to keep an entire show's worth of lines committed to memory, 386 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,920 Speaker 1: or take his work on the road. He could limit 387 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:53,879 Speaker 1: his work to studios and sets and actually have time 388 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 1: to rest between pictures. If he was working in film, 389 00:23:57,359 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 1: he'd also have more time to devote to some of 390 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:03,960 Speaker 1: his other pursuits. There was a Julian Elting cosmetic line, 391 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:08,399 Speaker 1: which included a particularly popular cold cream keeping up that 392 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: masculine appearance. There was also Julian Elting's Cigars. He published magazines, 393 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,640 Speaker 1: including Julian Elting's Magazine of Beauty Hints and Tips. One 394 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:20,240 Speaker 1: of these tips was that women should take up boxing 395 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:25,400 Speaker 1: to help improve their confidence. Elting was also a supporter 396 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:28,159 Speaker 1: of the movement for women's suffrage and a proponent of 397 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,760 Speaker 1: the idea that you should just lay off what other 398 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,760 Speaker 1: women are wearing. In a nineteen twelve interview with The 399 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,639 Speaker 1: Boston Globe, he said, quote, let woman be happy in 400 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:39,199 Speaker 1: her own way. If she thinks she looks well with 401 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:41,439 Speaker 1: a barrel of false hair on her head, let her 402 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 1: wear it. If she wants to powder, to paint, or 403 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:46,080 Speaker 1: to crowd a number two shoe on a six and 404 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:48,400 Speaker 1: a half foot let her do it if she can. 405 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,639 Speaker 1: When a reporter rebutted that this hypothetical person might be 406 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 1: making a caricature of herself, Elting answered quote, possibly, but 407 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: she doesn't know it. On the contrary, she believes she 408 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:03,160 Speaker 1: has asked to her personal adornment. I repeat, let her 409 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:07,040 Speaker 1: go on thinking so, since it makes her happy. Spending 410 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:09,400 Speaker 1: more time in front of a camera instead of on 411 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:12,840 Speaker 1: stage gave Elting more time and more energy for all 412 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:15,440 Speaker 1: of this stuff that we've been talking about. He made 413 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 1: his film debut with a cameo in How Molly Malone 414 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:22,200 Speaker 1: Made Good in nineteen fifteen. In nineteen seventeen, he signed 415 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,840 Speaker 1: a three picture contract with Lasky Paramount Company, and all 416 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,720 Speaker 1: that touring that he had done with the stage performances 417 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:32,240 Speaker 1: really paid off. The huge audience that he had already 418 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:35,199 Speaker 1: established followed him directly to movie theaters, and for a 419 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 1: time he was a bigger box office draw than Charlie Chaplin. 420 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:42,720 Speaker 1: His films included silent adaptations of some of his stage work, 421 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,159 Speaker 1: including The Fascinating Widow, and in many he had the 422 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:50,480 Speaker 1: starring role. He was Clifford Townsend, who disguised himself as 423 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:54,760 Speaker 1: the title adventuring woman in The Adventuress. In Made to Order, 424 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:57,400 Speaker 1: he disguised himself as a woman to infiltrate a gang 425 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:01,880 Speaker 1: of diamond smugglers. In Madame ba Have, he was Jack Mitchell, 426 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,880 Speaker 1: who disguised himself as the aforementioned madam when an important 427 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 1: witness disappears during a court case. He also appeared in 428 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: an all star production of patriotic episodes for the Second 429 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:17,360 Speaker 1: Liberty Loan with Mary Pickford, after which she nicknamed him 430 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:21,560 Speaker 1: Lady Bill. Combined with his stage work, Elting's work in 431 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:26,280 Speaker 1: film made him incredibly wealthy. After his death, the Associated 432 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:29,639 Speaker 1: Press reported that at his wealthiest, he'd been worth about 433 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,879 Speaker 1: three million dollars. It was also during his time in 434 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:36,320 Speaker 1: Hollywood that he built his Los Angeles mansion, a Spanish 435 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:41,199 Speaker 1: colonial revival full of antiques, called Villa Capistrano. This was 436 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:43,760 Speaker 1: one of several homes he owned on both coasts, and 437 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,480 Speaker 1: he lived there with his mother even at the height 438 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:51,639 Speaker 1: of his film popularity. He did do some work on stage, 439 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:54,919 Speaker 1: and he continued to be well received, especially when he 440 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: went back to the city where he got his start. 441 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:01,399 Speaker 1: One review from Boston in nineteen eighteen read quote, although 442 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:03,639 Speaker 1: it is a corking good bill all the way through 443 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: the program at Keith's this week, if deprived of all 444 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:09,640 Speaker 1: but the headline act, would fill the house for the 445 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:13,879 Speaker 1: headliner is Julian Elting, native Bostonians, sometime member of the 446 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:18,359 Speaker 1: Boston Cadets, and leading female impersonator in the world, who, 447 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 1: after winning laurels on many stages at on the screen, 448 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: is back for the brief space of a week on 449 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:28,640 Speaker 1: the stage where he made his professional debut. You wouldn't 450 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,399 Speaker 1: know it from that review, but the widespread suspicion of 451 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 1: cross dressing and female impersonation was really growing. In the 452 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:40,440 Speaker 1: late nineteen teens. The public, the media, and law enforcement 453 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,719 Speaker 1: began to conflate the idea of cross dressing with the 454 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:48,000 Speaker 1: idea of homosexuality, which at the time was viewed as deviant. 455 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,800 Speaker 1: Homosexuality and cross dressing became more and more entwined in 456 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,520 Speaker 1: people's minds, and more and more cities and states passed 457 00:27:55,600 --> 00:28:01,200 Speaker 1: laws to ban both homosexual behavior and cross dressing in California, 458 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:04,399 Speaker 1: where Elting was living, so called crimes against nature had 459 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:08,080 Speaker 1: been outlawed since in eighteen fifty. The law was updated 460 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 1: to name specific sex acts in nineteen fifteen, and at 461 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 1: the same time, police in California started rating and breaking 462 00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:19,920 Speaker 1: up drag parties, balls, and other events where people, especially men, 463 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 1: cross dressed, charging those arrested with quote social vagrancy. Elting 464 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,520 Speaker 1: managed to keep his stage and film career going in 465 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:33,160 Speaker 1: spite of all this social change. Through the nineteen twenties, 466 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,919 Speaker 1: his movies were a huge box office draw, and he 467 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: was still performing to sell out crowds at theaters all 468 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 1: over the country. But then in nineteen thirty he'd dropped 469 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:46,360 Speaker 1: from public view. The Motion Picture Production Code aka the 470 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 1: Hays Code, was released that year. It was, more formally, quote, 471 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,800 Speaker 1: a code to maintain social and community values in the 472 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:58,840 Speaker 1: production of silence, synchronized and talking motion pictures. Under the 473 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:02,400 Speaker 1: heading of sex numbers or four was sex perversion or 474 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:07,200 Speaker 1: any inference to it is forbidden, and that included female impersonation. 475 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:12,720 Speaker 1: Elting had spent his entire life trying to completely separate 476 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:16,400 Speaker 1: himself from anything that might make anyone think he was 477 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 1: in the language of the time an invert. If he 478 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:22,560 Speaker 1: had ever done anything to make anyone think that he 479 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: was having a relationship with another man, his career would 480 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:28,000 Speaker 1: have been over immediately. We just had an episode on 481 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:31,600 Speaker 1: James Whale, who was like totally contradictory to this idea. 482 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,560 Speaker 1: He was an openly gay man at the same time 483 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:39,920 Speaker 1: as this. But James Whale's career was not dependent upon 484 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,120 Speaker 1: him doing something that was already seen as suspicious in 485 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:46,360 Speaker 1: terms of gender. He was also not performing for the 486 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 1: public like as a director. He was removed from the 487 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:54,160 Speaker 1: public eye. So Julian Elting never had a public relationship 488 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:58,760 Speaker 1: with anyone. He didn't even have close friendships with other 489 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 1: men in his industry. When he died, hundreds of people 490 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:04,920 Speaker 1: came to his funeral, but everyone who spoke at it 491 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:07,960 Speaker 1: could only really talk about his career. No one could 492 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 1: talk about him as a person because no one really 493 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:15,640 Speaker 1: knew him, and it's not completely clear what Elting's sexual 494 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:20,680 Speaker 1: orientation was. Harry Hay was co founder of the Mattachine Society, 495 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:23,600 Speaker 1: which was one of the first gay rights organizations in 496 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 1: the United States back when the gay rights movement was 497 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:30,080 Speaker 1: known as the homophile movement. He told historian and author 498 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:33,120 Speaker 1: Daniel Hrowitz that Elting was involved with other men in 499 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:35,680 Speaker 1: a phone interview that he gave in nineteen ninety seven, 500 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 1: But the creators of a documentary called Lady Bill The 501 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 1: Julian Elting Story give a totally different read of his life. 502 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,280 Speaker 1: In their project description at the New York Foundation for 503 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:48,360 Speaker 1: the Arts, they say, quote, it has taken years to 504 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:51,320 Speaker 1: uncover the threads of Elting's private life, but we have 505 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:54,960 Speaker 1: finally located family and relatives of friends, many of whom 506 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: retained both his possessions and letters. Every bit of evidence 507 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:01,760 Speaker 1: points to the fact that Julian Elting was not a homosexual. 508 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:06,840 Speaker 1: In fact, fear of public condemnation transformed Julian Elting into 509 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 1: a man with a distinctly asexual personality who poured his 510 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,200 Speaker 1: soul into the perfection of his art, which, in the end, 511 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:17,160 Speaker 1: in spite of all his efforts to maintain its legitimacy, 512 00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 1: became the object of ridicule and hate. This makes his 513 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:25,840 Speaker 1: tragedy perhaps even greater. Regardless of the question of identity, 514 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:30,920 Speaker 1: same sex relationships were suspicious at best when Julian Elting lived, 515 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 1: and he made a lifelong effort to give the world 516 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:38,520 Speaker 1: absolutely no cause for suspicion, but that couldn't protect him 517 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:41,600 Speaker 1: from a rising tide of homophobia, or from the perception 518 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:46,720 Speaker 1: that homosexuality and cross dressing were absolutely connected. It also 519 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:49,560 Speaker 1: couldn't protect him from laws that were passed because of 520 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:53,640 Speaker 1: this perception. In other words, the Hayes Code meant that 521 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 1: Elting could not work in film. The increasing existence of 522 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:00,160 Speaker 1: laws against cross dressing meant that he could not work 523 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 1: on stage either. All of this happened not long after 524 00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:06,760 Speaker 1: the onset of the Great Depression, during which Elting lost 525 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 1: most of his fortune, so he mostly disappeared for about 526 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,760 Speaker 1: a decade, during which time he struggled with alcohol abuse. 527 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:18,200 Speaker 1: In nineteen forty, Elting tried to make a comeback. He 528 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,800 Speaker 1: was supposed to appear at Hollywood's Cafe Rendezvous in January 529 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:24,280 Speaker 1: of that year, but the police wouldn't let him in. 530 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:27,600 Speaker 1: When they finally did let him perform, it wasn't as 531 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:31,760 Speaker 1: a female impersonator. Instead, he wore a tuxedo with one 532 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:34,920 Speaker 1: of his dresses next to him on a mannikin. He 533 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:37,479 Speaker 1: performed the songs that he was scheduled to sing, and 534 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 1: in between them he described the dresses he would have 535 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:42,600 Speaker 1: had on if he had been allowed to do so. 536 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,760 Speaker 1: Back in New York, lyricist and producer Billy Rose had 537 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:50,040 Speaker 1: opened a nightclub called the Diamond Horseshoe and the Paramount 538 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:53,160 Speaker 1: Hotel in Times Square in nineteen thirty eight, and in 539 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:57,120 Speaker 1: nineteen forty one he invited Elting to perform there. Elting 540 00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:00,000 Speaker 1: did go on, but he became ill during a performance, 541 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:03,040 Speaker 1: and he was found dead in his apartment on March seventh, 542 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:06,239 Speaker 1: nineteen forty one, at the age of fifty nine. The 543 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:09,200 Speaker 1: cause of his death is not clear, and although he 544 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:12,680 Speaker 1: continued to be known as the greatest of all impersonators 545 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:15,040 Speaker 1: of women for at least a decade after his death, 546 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:19,920 Speaker 1: his name mostly faded from public memory. So to end 547 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:24,520 Speaker 1: on a slightly happier note, the Elting Theater still exists today. 548 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:27,680 Speaker 1: It became a burlesque house during the Great Depression, and 549 00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:30,400 Speaker 1: when obscenity laws put an end to burlesque performance, it 550 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,600 Speaker 1: was made into a movie theater. It closed for a time, 551 00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:36,240 Speaker 1: and then on March second, nineteen ninety eight, it was 552 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:38,560 Speaker 1: moved a little more than one hundred and fifty feet 553 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:41,280 Speaker 1: down forty second Street from the seventh Avenue end of 554 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:44,840 Speaker 1: the block. Toward the eighth Avenue end, and there it 555 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:49,040 Speaker 1: became the lobby of AMC Empire twenty five. During this 556 00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:53,640 Speaker 1: move and restoration, conservators pieced together a mural that had 557 00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:56,840 Speaker 1: been part of the original Elting theater. It portrayed the 558 00:33:56,960 --> 00:34:01,440 Speaker 1: three muses, and Conservatives' work involved reassembling the pieces of 559 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:05,080 Speaker 1: the mural, repairing some cuts and holes, and removing old paint. 560 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:08,520 Speaker 1: As they worked, they came to the conclusion that all 561 00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:12,360 Speaker 1: three of the muses are Julian Elting, based on similarities 562 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:16,160 Speaker 1: to his appearance and demeanor and clothing and his publicity photos. 563 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:18,920 Speaker 1: So if you go to the AMC Empire twenty five 564 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:21,760 Speaker 1: in near Times Square, you can look up at the ceiling. 565 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,800 Speaker 1: That's probably Julian Elting looking back at you. That's so cool. 566 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:27,719 Speaker 1: Now I know what I'm gonna do next time I'm 567 00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:30,680 Speaker 1: in New York. I kept flicking. I was like, that's 568 00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:33,160 Speaker 1: the theater right by where we always stay whenever we 569 00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:36,880 Speaker 1: are in New York for a thing. So also giant 570 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:39,000 Speaker 1: thanks to my friend Amy for loaning me the book 571 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:42,160 Speaker 1: Bohemian Los Angeles and the Making of Modern Politics by 572 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:47,280 Speaker 1: Daniel Hurwitz, which inspired this episode. Like maybe a year ago, Amy, 573 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:49,560 Speaker 1: I promise I'm going to bring this book back to 574 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:52,200 Speaker 1: you the next time I see you. I have now 575 00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:55,640 Speaker 1: had it for an embarrassingly long time. No one ever 576 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,120 Speaker 1: land me anything. I think we all fall victim to that, 577 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:03,200 Speaker 1: especially you know, in a job like ours, where we're 578 00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:05,400 Speaker 1: doing lots of reading, it's easy for books to get 579 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:08,839 Speaker 1: shuffled around on the priority list at Sometimes things don't 580 00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:10,560 Speaker 1: make it back up for a year. It happens. Well, 581 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:13,880 Speaker 1: I even I had read the book. I had thought 582 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:18,920 Speaker 1: I should do a podcast sometime on this Julian elting person. Uh, 583 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:23,200 Speaker 1: And then I brought the book with me to return 584 00:35:23,239 --> 00:35:26,880 Speaker 1: it to her, and then left it behind by accident 585 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:30,960 Speaker 1: when we went to dinner. And that, Yeah, I'm not 586 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:34,120 Speaker 1: very responsible with other people's belongings apparently. So that's the 587 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:42,400 Speaker 1: story of Julian Eltingo. Thanks so much for joining us 588 00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:45,520 Speaker 1: on this Saturday. Since this episode is out of the archive, 589 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:47,879 Speaker 1: if you heard an email address or a Facebook RL 590 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:50,239 Speaker 1: or something similar over the course of the show, that 591 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:54,480 Speaker 1: could be obsolete. Now. Our current email address is History 592 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:59,520 Speaker 1: Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. Our old House Stuffworks email 593 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:02,719 Speaker 1: address no longer works. You can find us all over 594 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:06,400 Speaker 1: social media at Missed in History and you can subscribe 595 00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:10,600 Speaker 1: to our show on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, 596 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:16,919 Speaker 1: and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Stuff you Missed 597 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:20,080 Speaker 1: in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more 598 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:24,480 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or 599 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:26,480 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.