Central Library

Jack Clifford, born Virgil James Montani, was originally from Geneo, Italy. Clifford’s vaudeville fame came from his live performances, both as an actor and dancer. Clifford was noted for his marriage to Evelyn Nesbit in 1916, and after a fifteen year separation ended in divorce in 1933. Clifford died on November 10...

Maurice Barrett staged, produced, and performed in a number of Broadway productions in the early 20th century. Notable productions included: Smooth As Silk (1921), The Hindu (1922), Straight Thru the Door (1928), and The Traitor (1930). Barrett was best known for his roles portraying a Hindu character in "The Master o...

The photograph depicts the young woman Joan Archer. She stands in profile showing her from the waist up. She gazes upward toward the left corner of the pictorial space. She is dressed in a lace top with floral motif and wears a glass beaded necklace. A striped scarf with flowers and faux grapes adorn her short hair. He...

In this portrait, a gentleman by the name of Rolla looks down at the saxophone in his hands. He was purportedly a member of the Clyde McCoy band and has signed the photograph over the breast of his tuxedo "To Clyde. Sorry I couldn't sell you a house. Rolla". It is unclear what this message means or what it has to do wi...

Miss Egan, born with the name Mary Florence Cecilia Egan, was a violinist and bandleader during the 1920s through the 1930s. Her career started from the pit orchestras of Hollywood productions until she formed her own all-female orchestra in 1924 called Babe Egan's Hollywood Redheads. The group played in vaudeville alo...

The figure in this study is speculated to be Grace Darling. Grace Darling was a silent film actress best known for her leading role in "Beatrice Fairfax" (1916) as Beatrice herself, the editor of a love advice column. The film's significance comes with it being inspired by "Ask Beatrice Fairfax" the first newspaper adv...

Nora Bayes was a vaudevillian comedic performer. At the age of 18, Bayes entered Vaudeville. She was an effortless singer and could put over any song. By 1898, vaudeville was becoming accepted as a form of family entertainment. Bayes was a beauty with a husky voice and sold the songs with a vivacious manner. Her ef...

This photograph is of an elderly man seated outside of Hixon's studio. The man is purportedly a former KC Star newspaper vendor. He appears worn with disheveled hair imprinted by a hat once worn, long wiry beard, and deeply wrinkled hands. He also appears to be resting for a moment as he has closed his eyes and proppe...

Usually, rube comics were favored by rural audiences who liked their entertainers down to earth. In Chic’s case, you couldn’t get more down to earth than the outhouses that figured in his storytelling. Despite a preference for sophisticated monologists, Broadway audiences took to two of the cracker barrel types, includ...

The Duncan Sisters were American actresses and motion picture figures of the 1920s. They were 12 and 14 when they entered vaudeville in 1914. They performed, as the Duncan Sisters, and were noted for their radio personas, “Topsy and Eva”. Later Rosetta and Vivian would find greater success, as a stage duo, with th...