Maybe St. Andrew’s Day isn’t near as popular as St. Patrick’s, but somewhere under all this greasepaint there lies a card-carryin’, kilt-wearin’ member of the Stewart clan and ye ought to knaw where his fealty lies! In honor of the day of our patron Saint, some tributes to a few favorite variety Scots. Just click on the links to learn more about them: Jennie Quigley (a.k.a. the Scottish Queen); Sir Harry Lauder; Will Fyffe; Molly McIntyre; Jimmy Finlayson; Eric Campbell; Tommy Lorne; Ella Logan; Walford Bodie; Jack Buchanan; Mary Garden; Apollo (The Scottish Hercules; the MacNicol Family of Magicians; G.S. Melvin; and for a taste of the home country, check out this post on the Collins Variety Agency, which dominated Scottish music hall in the early 20th century!
Happy St. Andrew’s Day!
To find out more about these variety artists and the history of vaudeville, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.
(Travalanche) 