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Jeanette Hackett, sometimes given as Janette Hackett, (March 7, 1898 – August 15, 1979) was an American dancer and choreographer popular in
She was born in
Retrieved March 12, 2024 However, Hackett and Delmar divorced in the late 1920s, and their performing partnership ended.Anthony Slide, "Janette Hackett", ''The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville'', University Press of Mississippi, 2012, pp.221-222"Portrait of Janette Hackett", ''Kansas City Public Library''
Retrieved March 12, 2024 In 1930, Hackett married singer John Steel. She began performing as a solo dancer, scantily clad, in dramatic performances supported by three male dancers. At the climax of their performances, Hackett would remove her main partner's mask and reveal him to be the
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 ...
in the 1920s and 1930s. For the first part of her career, she partnered Harry Delmar.
Life and career
She was born in New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, the daughter of Maurice and Florence Hackett
Florence Hackett (; January 1882August21, 1954) was an American film actress in the silent era. She was allegedly married to veteran film star Arthur V. Johnson, reputedly D.W. Griffith's favorite actor. Previously she was married to a man na ...
, an actress in silent film
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
s. Sources give various alternate spellings of her name, including Jeanette, Jenette and Jeannette. She was trained as a dancer by Kitty Doner, and performed in the chorus of ''The Passing Show
''The Passing Show'' was a musical revue in three acts, billed as a "topical extravaganza", with a book and lyrics by Sydney Rosenfeld and music by Ludwig Engländer and various other composers. It featured spoofs of theatrical productions ...
'', and as a nightclub
A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
dancer, before replacing Billie Shaw in the vaudeville act of Seabury and Shaw in the late 1910s. When Seabury also retired, Hackett joined forces with Missouri-born Harry Delmar (September 9, 1892 – August 29, 1984). As Hackett and Delmar, the couple made their debut as dancers at the 125th Street Theatre in 1919, and married soon afterwards.
Although initially not highly regarded as performers, they continued together in vaudeville and became increasingly popular through the 1920s. They regularly produced new dance revues, featuring revealing costumes, chorus girls, choreography by Hackett, and acrobatics by Delmar. They produced a 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 Stre ...
revue, ''Harry Delmar's Revels'', in 1927. Trav S.D., "Hackett and Delmar: Revels and Soundies", ''Travalanche'', September 8, 2013Retrieved March 12, 2024 However, Hackett and Delmar divorced in the late 1920s, and their performing partnership ended.Anthony Slide, "Janette Hackett", ''The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville'', University Press of Mississippi, 2012, pp.221-222"Portrait of Janette Hackett", ''Kansas City Public Library''
Retrieved March 12, 2024 In 1930, Hackett married singer John Steel. She began performing as a solo dancer, scantily clad, in dramatic performances supported by three male dancers. At the climax of their performances, Hackett would remove her main partner's mask and reveal him to be the
personification of death
Personifications of death are found in many religions and mythologies. In more modern stories, a character known as the Grim Reaper (usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a scythe) causes the victim's death by coming to collect that per ...
; she would then fall down a flight of stairs, pulling down the curtain behind her to end the performance. She continued to perform through the 1930s; one of her dance partners was Cesar Romero
César Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost 60 years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lover (stereotype), Latin lovers, historical ...
. She established a dance group, the "Janette Hackett Dancers" or "Janette Hackett Girls", who appeared in several short "soundies
A soundie is a three-minute American film displaying both the audio and video of a musical performance.
Over 1,850 soundies were produced between 1940 and 1946, regarded today as "precursors to music videos". Soundies exhibited a variety of mu ...
" in the 1940s, directed by William Forest Crouch
William Forest Crouch (January 16, 1904 – March 1968) was an American motion picture producer, director, writer, and film editor of the 1940s. He is best known for his Soundies musicals filmed for coin-operated movie jukeboxes, and for a few mu ...
.
Hackett died in New York City in 1979 at the age of 81.
References
External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, Janette 1898 births 1979 deaths American vaudeville performers American female dancers