Fay Marbe (born this day in 1899) was a Jazz Age siren who reportedly had “Society” origins. Discovered while dancing at a charity event, she was cast in the Broadway show Oh, Boy (1917). This she parlayed into several Broadway shows throughout the late teens and 20s, a headlining vaudeville career, and several films. Her beauty appears to have been legendary (follow the link below to learn just how legendary). Often described as looking “Oriental” (a common compliment at the time, it was also bestowed on the Dolly Sisters), she may have been of Romanian extraction. Her public life seems to have ceased around 1930; her biological one did in 1986.
Here she is in racy little news item from 1930: http://www.britishpathe.com/video/fay-marbe-a-million-dollars-charms-on-sleeve
To find out more about 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) 