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

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Greenwood started in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

, and starred on Broadway, 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 described herself as the "only woman in the world who could kick a giraffe in the eye."

Theatre

While still a teenager, Charlotte Greenwood made her professional stage debut in 1905 as a dancer in Ludwig Englander's musical ''The White Cat''. Between 1909 and 1912 Greenwood performed in vaudeville as part of a sister act, "Burnam and Greenwood." The act broke up when Greenwood was hired for the ''Winter Garden Revue''. 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. Garbut ...

cast her as Queen Ann Soforth of Oogaboo late in the run of

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', part of a series. In addition to the 14 ''Oz'' books, Baum penned 41 other novels ...

and Louis F. Gottschalk'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 ...

as ''

Tik-Tok of Oz ''Tik-Tok of Oz'' is the eighth book in the Oz series written by L. Frank Baum, published on June 19, 1914. The book has little to do with Tik-Tok and is primarily the quest of the Shaggy Man (introduced in ''The Road to Oz'') to rescue his b ...

''). 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, and for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she p ...

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, 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. Cantor was one of the prominent entertainers of his era. Some of h ...

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 films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, repertory theatre, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 19 ...

, and

Carmen Miranda Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha (9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955), known professionally as Carmen Miranda (), was a Portuguese-born Brazilian singer, dancer, and actress. Nicknamed "The Brazilian Bombshell", she was known for her signature ...

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

James Agate James Evershed Agate (9 September 1877 – 6 June 1947) was an English diarist and theatre critic between the two world wars. He took up journalism in his late twenties and was on the staff of ''The Manchester Guardian'' in 1907–1914. He late ...

Alexander Woollcott Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (January 19, 1887 – January 23, 1943) was an American drama critic for The New York Times and the New York Herald, critic and commentator for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, a member of the Algonquin Round Table, an ...

, 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 Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

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

Christian Scientist Activists, politicians, and military figures Activists *Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone (1882-1985) – Native American singer and activist * Bonnie Carroll – President and founder of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) *Henry ...

and feared the play was too risqué.

Film

Greenwood appeared in numerous movies. When not showcasing her trademark high kicks and splits in comic roles for musicals, she played occasional serio-comic roles such as Lon McAllister's aunt in '' Home in Indiana''. 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 musical ...

's ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...

'' (1955), starring Gordon MacRae 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! (film), Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel (fi ...

Radio

Greenwood had her own radio program, '' The Charlotte Greenwood Show'', a sitcom. It was broadcast from 1944 to 1946, first on ABC and later on NBC. She also was in "Home in Indiana" on

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

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 actor. By the time of his final performance in 1951, he had appeared in more than 350 films, nearly all of them in small and/or uncredited bit parts. Ring is probably best known today for ...

, 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 (film industry), Hollywood motion pictures. She was best known for her rendition of "In the Good ...

. 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. She and Broones were

Christian Scientists A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...

– he was a C.S. practitioner and teacher of Christian Science for over two decades, and consulted with

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She began her career as a big band singer in 1937, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey ...

in that capacity. Greenwood also became a listed public Christian Science practitioner until her death in 1977, using the name Charlotte Greenwood Broones. Greenwood died in Los Angeles at age 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 American vaudeville performers