Found 5 collections related to Janis, Elsie, 1889-1956

Felix Mendelsohn, Jr. (1906-1991), was an advertising copy writer based in Chicago. As a young man, Mendelsohn aspired to be a journalist. He found work writing promotional copy, booklets and brochures for various companies. He died in 1991 at the age of 84. The Felix Mendelsohn scrapbook holds a number of interviews with prominent actors and actresses of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. At the age of 21, aspiring journalist Felix Mendelsohn, Jr. conducted a number of interviews with famous stage performers in which he asked each one to describe the "most thrilling moment" of his or her career. Mendelsohn developed these interviews into profiles, and hoped to sell the resulting series to a newspaper or magazine, but was unable to do so. He later compiled the profiles into a scrapbook, adding photographs of all the interviewees, some of which were inscribed to him. The performers profiled were Helen Hayes, Otis Skinner, Helen Gahagan, John Drew, Irene Bordoni, Richard Bennett, Helen Menken, John Cromwell, Ina Claire, Dennis King, Fay Bainter, Laurette Taylor, Grant Mitchell, Lowell Sherman, Ruth Draper, Florence Reed, Estelle Winwood, John E. Kellard, Wilton Lackaye, O.P. Heggie, Effie Shannon, Elsie Janis, Frank Keenan, Leo Carillo, Amelita Galli-Curci, Arthur Byron, Louis Mann, Lenore Ulric, and Raymond Hitchcock. Mendelsohn also included in his scrapbook rejection notes the proposed series received from several newspapers and publishing syndicates, dated between 1927-1935. More photographs are tucked into the back of the book, mostly actors who were not interviewed by Mendelsohn and prominent personalities outside the field of theater; many of these photographs are autographed and inscribed to Mendelsohn. Subjects include Pauline Frederick, H. L. Mencken, Frank Harris, Fritz Feld, Whitford Kane, William Faversham, Fortune Gallo, James O'Donnell Bennett, Oscar Tschirky ("Oscar of the Waldorf"), and Burl Ives. less

Elsie Janis (1889-1956) was a performer in musical comedy, vaudeville, and motion pictures, and also a composer and screenwriter. Born Elsie Bierbower in Columbus, Ohio, March 16, 1889, Elsie Janis made her stage debut at the age of eight in THE CHARITY BALL, and quickly rose to popularity in vaudeville as "Little Elsie." She made her Broadway debut in THE VANDERBILT CUP in 1906, and also appeared in THE HOYDEN (1907), THE FAIR CO-ED (1909), THE SLIM PRINCESS (1910) and THE LADY OF THE SLIPPER (1912). Silent film appearances by Elsie Janis included THE CAPRICES OF KITTY (1915), 'TWAS EVER THUS (1915) and THE IMP (1919). Known as the "Sweetheart of the A.E.F" for entertaining Allied troops during World War I, Elsie Janis continued performing in vaudeville through the 1920's. After talking pictures were introduced she contributed songs and dialogue to several films, including MADAME SATAN (1930) and THE SQUAW MAN (1931) for Cecil B. DeMille, and REACHING FOR THE MOON (1931) for Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Aside from a brief return to the screen in WOMEN IN WAR (1940), Elsie Janis retired from show business after the death of her mother in 1932. She died in Los Angeles on February 26, 1956. The Elsie Janis diaries consist of five yearbook volumes covering the years 1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, and 1928, with one page devoted to each day. Most entries are written in ink, a few in pencil. The latter portion of the volume for 1920 is water-damaged. Elsie Janis was intimate with many of the stage and screen notables of her day, but references to them are sketchy. Her journal entries are brief and superficial, and read more like those found in datebooks than in diaries. less

Collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, financial papers, production records, photographs, and printed matter. Correspondence consists of requests for work or placement in a particular show, either at the New York Hippodrome or another of the theaters with which Burnside was affiliated, as well as correspondence referring to the logistics of productions, publicity and financial arrangements, club memberships, and professional organizations such as ASCAP. Other correspondence refers to his endeavors in the film industry, as a director with Paramount in New York City, 1923-1925, and in Hollywood, 1935-1938. Correspondence also concerns the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Celebration of 1926. Financial papers consist of theater accounts, box office and royalty statements, and securities and insurance records. Production notes include cast lists, property lists, program outlines, stage directions, reports, scripts, synopses, and light plots. Publicity photographs are accompanied by letters seeking auditions or parts in Burnside productions. Printed matter includes sheet music, promotional materials, newsclippings of reviews, and articles referring to Burnside, performers, shows, and productions he staged. less

Collection consists of correspondence, stage managers'reports, receipt books, roster and salary records, and some personal papers of Dillingham. Correspondence, 1903-1927, of Dillingham and his associates Bruce Edwards and Fred G. Latham with theatrical people relates mainly to the casting and production of shows at the Globe Theatre and at the Hippodrome. Some of the correspondence concerns the management of the road shows on tour in the United States. Records include stage managers' reports, 1910-1911 and 1926- 1927; receipt books, 1906-1907, 1913-1914 and 1920-1928, recording box office receipts for shows at the Globe Theatre; and roster and salary records, 1908-1909. Also, personal and miscellaneous papers, some of which were removed from the R.H. Burnside Papers, containing Dillingham's memoirs of his life in the theater, last will and testament, notebook, and research notes. less

The Railroad hour was a program which presented excerpts of famous musical comedies, as well as original stories, for radio audiences. Each half-hour episode of the program presented the highlights of one musical. Gordon MacRae was the host and leading man for each episode; his leading ladies came from radio and the Metropolitan Opera. less