Central Library

Pearl Harper was a chorus girl and vaudeville actress. She was known for her telephone performance skit under the production of Starr Piano Company. The clever use of a telephone recording along with audio from a record player introduced multi-media sound to the stage. In this three-quarter length portrait, Harper stri...

Armand Kaliz was born in Paris, France in 1892. He made his Broadway debut in "The Hoyden" in 1907 and became successful in vaudeville and silent films. He appeared in films such as "The Temptress" (1926) with actresses such as Greta Garbo, making some 82 film appearances between 1917 and 1941. Many of his appearances...

Mike Helm, along with his brothers Ferdinand Jr. and Joseph Helm, founded two of the world's first full-time amusement parks named Electric Park in Kansas City, Missouri in 1899. The first Electric Park was built in land adjacent to the Helm Brothers Brewery (at the time the largest brewery in the world) in the East Bo...

John Sigvand “Ole” Olsen and Harold Ogden “Chic” Johnson were American comedians of vaudeville, radio, stage, motion pictures and television. Olsen and Johnson partnered in 1914 perfecting their comedy during the vaudeville era. Olsen and Johnson were also Broadway sensations most noted for their comedy “Hellzapoppin...

Kathleen O’Hanlon and her spouse, Theadore Zambuni, were both originally from Samos, Greece. This famed dance duo were popular among the vaudevillian circuit. O’Hanlon was noted for her performance in Schubert’s 1921 production of “The Passing Show” in the famous Winter Garden Theater. Additional work with Schubert...

Nan Halperin appeared on the vaudeville stage at the age of fifteen performing impersonations and comedic musical numbers. Over the course of her career, she became known as America’s “Famous Satirist” for her impersonations of the life stages of ordinary American women as well as the "Wonder Girl" because of how fast...

Asa Yoelson-Al Jolson was born in Lithuania. He changed his name to Al Jolson once he started to perform. Jolson was a celebrated singer and dancer on Broadway prior to gaining worldwide fame as the star of "The Jazz Singer". This 1927 film signaled the transition from silent pictures to sound. Known as "The World's G...

Two Guns, the last Chief of the Pikuni Blackfoot Indians, was also known as John Two Guns and John White Calf. A widely held belief, by some historians, is that Chief Two Guns was the main model for the Indian Nickel. The Chief headed a secret group known as the “Mad Dog Society” whose purpose was to protect and sust...

Grace La Rue was an American actress, singer, and vaudeville headliner. Grace La Rue was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1882 to Mrs. Lucy L. Parsons. La Rue was a stage name as it was more exotic sounding than her original surname of Parsons. She began her career as part of the team Burke and La Rue with her first hu...

Originally from a poor background in Scotland, Harry Lauder rose in the entertainment world to become a star of British Music Hall, American Vaudeville, Australian Variety, records, radio, and films. His act was a blend of storytelling and sly humor with sentimental ballads like “I Love a Lassie,” “Roamin’ in the Gloam...