Female Impersonation

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Female Impersonation. Never as popular on American stages as in England, where there is a long tradition of pantomimes that featured comic crones and other women played by men, female impersonation nevertheless has enjoyed times of popularity in our theatre. One of the most famous impersonators of the 19th century was [ Patrick] Francis LEON [né Glassey] (b. 1844), who worked largely in the minstrel tradition. Born in New York and noted as a boy soprano, his company, Leon's Minstrels with Edwin Kelly, quickly became famous for its “Africanized opéra bouffe,” spoofs of such contemporary comic operas as The Grand Duchess or La Belle Hélène as “The Grand Dutch S” and “La Belle L. N.,” with Leon in the prima donna parts. The Clipper observed that his clowning was never offensive. “He does it with such dignity, modesty, and refinement that it is truly art.” Leon wore only the finest, most expensive costumes and excellent imitation jewelry. He was also an accomplished dancer in ballet as well as in the clogs and other standard routines of the time. Kelly and Leon disbanded their company in 1869. Leon continued to be a star attraction, often billed as “The Only Leon,” in minstrel groups, vaudeville, and in the loosely contrived musical comedies of the day well into the 1890s. The century's other famed impersonator was Neil BURGESS (1846–1910), a Bostonian who made his stage debut in variety with Spalding's Bell Ringers in 1865 and his New York debut as a solo artist in 1872 at Tony Pastor's, where he was billed as an “Ethiopian Comedian.” His first New York appearance as a female impersonator was in a Harrigan and Hart folio at their Theatre Comique in 1877 as “The Coming Woman.” Two years later he earned widespread fame in the title role of Widow Bedott, a role he played for the rest of his career. Two other great parts of his were Tryphena “Betsy” Puffy in Vim; or, A Visit to Puffy Farm (1882) and Aunt Abby Prue in The County Fair (1889). In 1891 he portrayed Lady Teazle in the first Lambs' Gambol. The greatest 20th‐century impersonator was Julian Eltinge, who brought the art to a refinement unequaled before or since. A major rival was Bert Savoy, who was far more outrageous and grotesque in his characterizations. In more recent times T. C. Jones offered superb satires of famous ladies, but his promising career was cut short by his early death. Female impersonation became more evident in the 1970s, but it was often associated with gay transvestite plays or camp comedy. Two artists who rose above this often amateurish exhibitionism were actor‐playwrights Charles Ludlam and Charles Busch, both refining the comic and camp aspects of impersonation into a fine art. Also recently popular are Australian comic Barry Humphries, whose impersonation of Dame Edna Everedge in the one‐person show Dame Edna: The Royal Tour (1999) was a hit on Broadway and the road, and Harvey Fierstein, who shone as the drag queen Arnold in his Torch Song Trilogy (1982) and as the Baltimore housewife Edna Turnblad in Hairspray (2002).