Hilda Ferguson | |
|---|---|
 Ferguson, c. 1924 | |
| Born | Hildegarde Gibbons January 16, 1903 |
| Died | October 3, 1933 (aged 30) Manhattan, NY, U.S. |
| Occupation |
|
| Spouse | Robert Belmont Ugarte (m. 1919,divorced) |
Hilda Ferguson (born Hildegarde Gibbons) was an American dancer and showgirl.
Ferguson was the youngest of six children born to Robert Lee Gibbons, a sign painter, and Demariah (Sterling) Gibbons in the Hamilton neighborhood of Baltimore. At the age of 15, she eloped with Honduran dental student Robert Ugarte and was married on June 2, 1919. The following year, she gave birth to a daughter, Yolanda Emily. Ferguson left her husband and child and moved to New York City around 1921. [1]
Ferguson's first mention as an entertainer came on June 23, 1922, when she was noted as a "Bathing Beach Revue" member at Murray's Cabaret on 42nd Street. The notice was primarily about the dismissal of a police indecency charge against the show. [2]
Later that year, her career was significantly boosted when she was cast in The Music Box Revue on Broadway. She participated in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1923, 1924, and 1925. Her last major show was the musical Yours Truly, which ran in 1927.
Ferguson's primary claim to fame in entertainment was as a Ziegfeld girl, renowned for her "Great Shimmy Dance," reportedly performed in an elaborate feathered headdress. [3]
Ferguson had a consistently turbulent personal life. In March 1923, her roommate, model Dorothy "Dot" King, was murdered. Police considered Ferguson a suspect, as she reportedly had a dramatic falling out with King just before the latter's death. There was also suspicion regarding Ferguson's abrupt departure for Europe soon after the crime. The murder was never solved. [4]
After her last show, Ferguson announced a plan to marry Aaron Benesch, a sixty-year-old millionaire; the wedding never happened. She was romantically linked to various men, including the actor George Raft, composer Arthur Gershwin, and bootlegger Nucky Johnson. She was arrested as a material witness in 1931 after a lover, gangster "Tough Willie" McCabe, was stabbed. [5]
She had a serious drinking problem and has been described as "the blonde darling of the underworld who could pour an incredible amount of straight gin through her pert rosebud lips." She spent the end of her life "broke and broken" in her native Baltimore. [6]
Ferguson died in 1933 from peritonitis, an infection of the digestive tract. She was buried in an unmarked grave in Loudon Park Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland. [7]
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air.
Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies (1907–1931), inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat. He was known as the "glorifier of the American girl". Ziegfeld is a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame.
Fania Borach, known professionally as Fanny Brice or Fannie Brice, was an American comedian, illustrated song model, singer, and actress who made many stage, radio, and film appearances. She is known as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series The Baby Snooks Show.
Hildegarde Loretta Sell, known as Hildegarde was an American cabaret singer, who was well known for the song "Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup".
Gilda Gray was a Polish-American dancer and actress who popularized a dance called the "shimmy" which became fashionable in 1920s films and theater productions.
Margaretha "Greta" Keller was an Austrian and American cabaret singer and actress, who worked in some Hollywood movies and television dramas.
Ziegfeld Girls were the actresses, singers, chorus girls, showgirls and other female performers who appeared in Florenz Ziegfeld's theatrical Broadway revue spectaculars known as the Ziegfeld Follies, produced in New York City. The revues were originally based on the Folies Bergère of Paris. Ziegfeld girls also included female performers who participated in the Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic and the Ziegfeld 9 O'Clock Revue (1919-1920).
Doris Eaton Travis was an American dancer, stage and film actress, dance instructor, owner and manager, writer, and rancher, who was the last surviving Ziegfeld Girl, a troupe of acclaimed chorus girls who performed as members in the Broadway theatrical revues of the Ziegfeld Follies.
Anna Pennington was an American actress, dancer, and singer who starred on Broadway in the 1910s and 1920s, notably in the Ziegfeld Follies, and George White's Scandals.
Pearl Eaton Levant was an American Broadway performer, actress, choreographer, and dance supervisor of the 1910s and 1920s.
John W. Steel was an American tenor. He was featured in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1919 and 1920 and Irving Berlin's Music Box Revues of 1922 and 1923.
Blanche Mehaffey was an American showgirl and film actress.
Bee Palmer was an American singer, dancer, and showgirl who achieved fame during the Jazz Age as the "Shimmy Queen."
The Belle of New York is a 1919 silent film directed by Julius Steger and starring Marion Davies.
Florence O'Denishawn, was an American actress and model, and one of the first group of dancers associated with the Denishawn school.
The Earl Carroll Vanities was a Broadway revue that Earl Carroll presented in the 1920s and early 1930s. Carroll and his show were sometimes controversial.
Vera K. Maxwell was an American actress, dancer, choreographer, and showgirl.
Norma Taylor was an American dancer and showgirl.
Gladys Feldman was an American actress, dancer, and showgirl.
| Shows | |
|---|---|
| Radio | |
| Films | |
| People | |
| Related articles | |
