Dexter Maitland (1918-1985) was a comedy straight man in burlesque during its dying days as well as what was then unfortunately known as a “tit singer”…which just meant that he was a singer in burlesque. Ironically his sunniest burlesque days were decades after the form became history, in Ann Corio’s Broadway show This Was Burlesque (1965, and then revived again in 1981), and in the film The Night They Raided Minsky’s.
To find out more about the variety arts past and present, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous
(Travalanche) 