March 16, 1932
By Robert Grandon
Sitting in the other night at the Club Seville in the wee hours of the other morning, the merrymakers became reminiscent… and before the session ended, pasts long forgotten had been remembered in detail.
Jack Barrymore, for instance, was only one of the famous stars who served his time as song-and-dance men. The production was “A Stubborn Cinderella,” which ran for many moons in Chicago. Jack did his bit opposite the heroine, Sallie Fisher, a prime favorite in her day.
Doug Fairbanks worked the same racket too. First of all, he was in “Fantana” with Julia Sanderson, participating in that famous duet “Just My Style”… Later, he was starred in “The Show Shop,” another musical, with Patricia (Pollyanna) Collinge.
You might not believe it to look at him, but Wallace Beery quit elephant training to become a chorus man… and he chorused so well that he was allowed to understudy Raymond Hitchcock in “The Yankee Counsul.” He still sings “All Dressed Up and No Place to Go.”
Ernest Torrence, of course, came from the musical comedy field, as did Reginald Denny.
But how many remember Mack Sennet as a chorus man? Well, he was… and in “Floradora.”
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