First and foremost of these early pioneers was William J. Dalton aka Julian Eltinge, the highest paid stage actor in the world in the 1920s. His fabulous estate, the “Villa Capistrano” was designed and built for him by the preeminent architectural firm of F. Pierpont and Walter S. Davis in 1918. The construction of the estate was followed by the Los Angeles press and featured in Photoplay Magazine and the Architectural Record. What is most fascinating about Eltinge is the nature of his craft; he was a “feminine illusionist”, a metaphor for what we would call today a drag queen, but of a very refined character. He was one of the most fascinating performing artists of his time; he was so good that he gave a command performance for King Edward VII at Windsor Castle and was dubbed the “loveliest woman on stage.” Although now mostly forgotten, William Dalton’s life story is worth remembering. Born in Massachusetts in 1883, he was already dressing as a little girl and performing on stage at the age of 10 with the Boston Cadets Annual Review. He performed so well that the following year the show was written around him. A short time later, he was living in Butte, Montana where he took cakewalk lessons at the Wayman Dance Studio at which Mrs. Wayman couldn’t help but notice that he outperformed the girls in the class. Her suggestion that he gave female impersonation a try resounded with him; by his twenty-first birthday he had a starring role in the musical, Mr. Wix of Wickham, which set him on the road to success. Although he carried the act off with precision, the illusion of femininity did not come easily. A stocky man, his male dresser “Shima” would corset him up and then spend the next two or more hours on the makeup and illusion-creating. On September 11, 1911, he opened on Broadway with “The Fascinating Widow”, a musical comedy at the Liberty Theater, which was judged his greatest success and set him on the road to stardom. The role had him playing a man, forced by circumstances to disguise himself as a woman! The show’s success and the fame that came thereafter led the producer, A. H. Woods, to bestow on Eltinge one of the theater’s highest claims to fame, having a theater named in his honor. The Eltinge Theater opened on 42nd Street the following year, designed by the well-known theater architect Thomas W. Lamb. The Eltinge served as a legitimate stage for many years after which it became a disreputable burlesque house and was closed after a public outcry against immorality in 1943. The theater became a cinema the next year and is currently a Cineplex and has been picked up and relocated in its entirety at a new location down the block. Although he may have been gay, Eltinge used a super-masculine façade in public to combat the rumors of his sexual preferences. Located at 2327 Fargo Street in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.
Photo courtesy Watson Family Photo Archive
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Julian Eltinge established himself as the greatest female impersonator in the history of the American theater. Unlike other gender illusionists of his time, who typically presented themselves as caricatures of femininity, Eltinge presented the illusion of actually being a woman. No one before or since has rivaled his success. His solo debut in New York in 1907, in which he parodied the Gibson Girl was a smash hit and catapulted him to the pinnacle of female impersonators. As Varitety enthused, "The audience was completely deceived as to Eltinge's sex, until he removed his wig... his act is far and away above what is described as female impersonation." Removing his wig to the audience's great amazement became a regular part of his act, always delivered at a high point of the performance for maximum effect.
Notes taken from the book, Silver Lake Chronicles: Exploring an Urban Oasis in Los Angeles.. Photo courtesy of the Bill Taube Photo Collection, .used with permission. Please do not use this image in any media without my permission. © All rights reserved.
Tags: Julian Eltinge William Dalton Michael Locke Silver Lake History Female Impersonators
© All Rights Reserved
Julian Eltinge established himself as the greatest female impersonator in the history of the American theater. Unlike other gender illusionists of his time, who typically presented themselves as caricatures of femininity, Eltinge presented the illusion of actually being a woman. No one before or since has rivaled his success. His solo debut in New York in 1907, in which he parodied the Gibson Girl was a smash hit and catapulted him to the pinnacle of female impersonators. As Varitety enthused, "The audience was completely deceived as to Eltinge's sex, until he removed his wig... his act is far and away above what is described as female impersonation." Removing his wig to the audience's great amazement became a regular part of his act, always delivered at a high point of the performance for maximum effect.
Notes taken from the book, Silver Lake Chronicles: Exploring an Urban Oasis in Los Angeles.. Photo courtesy of the Bill Taube Photo Collection, .used with permission. Please do not use this image in any media without my permission. © All rights reserved.
Tags: Julian Eltinge William Dalton Michael Locke Silver Lake History Female Impersonators
© All Rights Reserved
Julian Eltinge established himself as the greatest female impersonator in the history of the American theater. Unlike other gender illusionists of his time, who typically presented themselves as caricatures of femininity, Eltinge presented the illusion of actually being a woman. No one before or since has rivaled his success. His solo debut in New York in 1907, in which he parodied the Gibson Girl was a smash hit and catapulted him to the pinnacle of female impersonators. As Varitety enthused, "The audience was completely deceived as to Eltinge's sex, until he removed his wig... his act is far and away above what is described as female impersonation." Removing his wig to the audience's great amazement became a regular part of his act, always delivered at a high point of the performance for maximum effect.
Notes taken from the book, Silver Lake Chronicles: Exploring an Urban Oasis in Los Angeles.. Photo courtesy of the Bill Taube Photo Collection, .used with permission. Please do not use this image in any media without my permission. © All rights reserved.
Tags: Julian Eltinge William Dalton Michael Locke Silver Lake History Female Impersonators
© All Rights Reserved