Frances Charlotte Greenwood (June 25, 1890 – December 28, 1977) was an American actress and dancer. Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, Greenwood started in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

, and starred on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, movies and radio. Standing almost six feet tall (some sources say 5'10"), she was best known for her long legs and high kicks. She earned the unique praise of being, in her words, the "...only woman in the world who could kick a

giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, '' Giraffa camelopardal ...

in the eye."

Theatre

In 1913,

Oliver Morosco Oliver Morosco (June 20, 1875 – August 25, 1945) was an American theatrical producer, director, writer, film producer, and theater owner. He owned the Morosco Photoplay Company. He brought many of his theater actors to the screen. Frank A. Garb ...

cast her as Queen Ann Soforth of Oogaboo late in the run of L. Frank Baum and

Louis F. Gottschalk Louis Ferdinand Gottschalk (October 7, 1864 – July 15, 1934) was an American composer and conductor born in St. Louis, Missouri. The son of a Missouri governor, also named Louis, he studied music in Stuttgart, Germany, where his father, a jud ...

's '' The Tik-Tok Man of Oz'' (better known in its

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

as '' Tik-Tok of Oz''). In 1916, Morosco commissioned a successful star vehicle stage play titled ''So Long Letty''. In 1919 Morosco brought her back in the sequel ''Linger Longer Letty''. This role made her a star; she reprised it in the 1929 movie of the same name. She appeared with actors including Charles Ruggles,

Betty Grable Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer. Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million; for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she reign ...

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences ...

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

, and

Carmen Miranda Carmen Miranda, (; born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha, 9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955) was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, dancer, Broadway actress and film star who was active from the late 1920s onwards. Nicknamed "The Br ...

. Most of Greenwood's best work was done on the stage, and was lauded by such critics as James Agate,

Alexander Woollcott Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (January 19, 1887 – January 23, 1943) was an American drama critic and commentator for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, a member of the Algonquin Round Table, an occasional actor and playwright, and a prominent radio p ...

, and Claudia Cassidy. One of her most successful roles was that of Juno in

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

's '' Out of This World'' in which she introduced the Porter classic "I Sleep Easier Now". She had some discomfort with that play, as she had become a devout

Christian Scientist Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally known ...

and feared the play was too risqué.

Film

Greenwood appeared in numerous moving pictures. Her last memorable role was as the feisty "Aunt Eller" in the 1955 film adaptation of

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popular ...

's ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tell ...

'' (1955), starring

Gordon MacRae Albert Gordon MacRae (March 12, 1921 – January 24, 1986) was an American actor, singer and radio/television host who appeared in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals '' Oklahoma!'' (1955) and ''Carousel'' (1956) and who p ...

and

Shirley Jones Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as '' Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel'' (1956), and ''The M ...

Radio

Greenwood had her own radio program, '' The Charlotte Greenwood Show'', a

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

. It was broadcast 1944-1946, first on ABC and later on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. She also was in "Home in Indiana" on

Lux Radio Theatre ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...

October 2, 1944.

Recordings

Greenwood ventured into recorded music with an album of songs from

's musical '' Out of This World'' and another from the musical comedy ''Oh, by Jingo''.

Personal life

Greenwood first married actor

Cyril Ring Cyril Ring (December 5, 1892July 17, 1967) was an American film actor. He began his career in silent films in 1921. By the time of his final performance in 1951, he had appeared in over 350 films, nearly all of them in small and/or uncredited bit ...

, brother of actress

Blanche Ring Blanche Ring (April 24, 1871 – January 13, 1961) was an American singer and actress in Broadway theatre productions, musicals, and Hollywood motion pictures. She was best known for her rendition of "In the Good Old Summer Time." Early li ...

. They divorced. Her second husband was composer Martin Broones. He died in 1971.Greenwood profile
IBDB.com. Accessed November 8, 2022. Both unions were childless. In her post-retirement years, this comedienne who, in her own words, was “the only woman in the world who could kick a giraffe in the eye”, suffered severely from arthritis, though that word was not part of her vocabulary. She and Broones were Christian Scientists – he was a C.S. practitioner for several years, and consulted with

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

in that capacity. Greenwood died in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, aged 87. She had been out of the public eye for decades and it was months before the world took notice.

Stage work

Filmography

References

Sources

*Hayter-Menzies, Grant. ''Charlotte Greenwood: The Life and Career of the Comic Star of Vaudeville, Radio and Film''. McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina and London, 2007; . * *

External links

* * *
Charlotte Greenwood web site
* ttp://www.luminous-lint.com/app/image/35752838535166903556240262 1925 portrait of Charlotte Greenwood modeling fur and her hair coiffedtaken by Benjamin Strauss and Homer Peyton *
lithograph to the 1919 musical ''Linger Longer Letty''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, Charlotte 1890 births 1977 deaths 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American dancers 20th Century Studios contract players American female dancers American film actresses American radio actresses American stage actresses American musical theatre actresses American Christian Scientists Actresses from Philadelphia Converts to Christian Science Dancers from Pennsylvania Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players Vaudeville performers