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Mollie
Williams Show featured a host of the Columbia Wheel's most talented comedians, soubrettes, and chorus girls. Williams herself appeared during the second act. She sang, danced, joked, and starred in dramatic playlets that she wrote. Williams kept the Dance L'Enticement in the show, but instead of performing it herself she gave it to the male comedians and played it for laughs. Citing Williams’ star power,
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with women. Early in her career, she told reporters that she tested new burlesque bits on her sisters. Later, Williams admitted that she would listen closely to women in the audience and rewrite scenes until they laughed. As a producer, Williams honed her image as a sympathetic boss, casting herself as a friend to the chorus girls because she had once been one herself.
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Postal workers in numerous cities organized parades and parties in
Williams’ honor. They bought tickets to The Mollie Williams Show for themselves and their families. They "made it their business to mention that they had seen Miss Williams' show when delivering letters to households and that the show
194:
Williams began producing her own shows with her own company during the 1915–1916 season of The Mollie
Williams Show. It was around this time that she first performed her best known acts, namely a letter carrier ragtime number and a fashion show “for the ladies.” Williams frequently touted her appeal
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reported, “Miss
Williams’ insistence upon a certain figure for her services has caused her to reject many offers that would have been decidedly alluring to almost any principal woman in burlesque.” During that same year, she sued a motion picture company for royalties after they staged and filmed a
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With support from producer Max
Spiegel, Williams became head of her own burlesque company in 1912. As director and star of The Mollie Williams Show, she succeeded in creating a “snappy musical show when in perfect running order ought to be ranking right up among leaders of the Eastern Wheel.” The
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The 1923–1924 season of The Mollie
Williams Show smashed house records for ticket sales in major cities along the Columbia Wheel route. The show's success that year was due to Williams' public support for Senate Bill 1898, the Postal Salary Readjustment Bill. On the advice of the assistant
180:. Williams' imitation of Held was a hit, one that led to principal roles in shows produced by Jack Singer and Robert Manchester. During this time, Williams was known for her wisecracking comedy and risqué dramatic scenes, such as the Dance L’Enticement.
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superintendent of the
Brooklyn Post Office, Williams used her popular letter carrier dance number to champion improved wages for postal workers. She went so far as to meet in Washington with the bill's sponsor, Pennsylvania Congressman
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burlesque critic wrote, “burlesque boasts very few women of the Mollie
Williams type. The lack of them is a prevailing weakness with most of the wheel shows...Mollie is a whole show in herself.”
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traffic stop to catch her off guard. As a producer, Williams staged overtly political material. For example, Williams' Wilson Show campaigned for the reelection of
Woodrow Wilson during the
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Throughout her life, Williams dedicated herself to causes. In 1914, she turned down a leading role in
Maurice Jacob's The Cherry Blossoms when the two failed to agree on a fair salary.
160:. She was one of four children born to Adolph Hersh and Henrietta (Miers) Hersh. Both Adolph and Henrietta descended from German Jewish immigrants and the family lived in East Harlem.
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In 1901, Williams married Albert Thomas Thetford, an insurance agent from Brooklyn. Two years later they had a son, Edwin Thetford, who was Williams’ only child. Edwin attended the
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172:(originators of “get the hook”) using the name Mollie Williams. Williams was subsequently signed as a chorus girl in Al Reeve's Big Beauty Show on the
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176:. In 1907, while performing in the chorus of The Behman Show, Williams persuaded the producer to stage her impersonation of
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artist and producer. She was best known for producing, writing, and starring in her own revue, The Mollie Williams Show.
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202:. Williams’ box office returns were second only to Jean Bedini, Columbia's top-performing male producer and performer.
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231:. He died in 1941. In 1946, Williams married Hugh Dewart, President of Mohican Stores, Inc.
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789:"(sheet music) I Know You. By Andrew B. Sterling, Henry Lewis and Arthur Lange"
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Gerard, Barney (January 4, 1956). "Burlesque - Its Rise and Demise".
774:. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden Foundation
757:. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden Foundation
740:. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden Foundation
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531:"Mollie Ever Was a Merry-Merry Herself, So Girls All Like Her".
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The Mollie Williams Show was a major financial success for the
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New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb
313:. Manhattan, New York, New York. Enumeration District: 0918.
628:"New York, New York, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018"
592:"New York, New York, Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937"
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289:"New York, New York, Extracted Birth Index, 1878-1909"
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Mollie Williams died in New York on January 5, 1954.
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486:"Lingerie, Drama, and Fun Blend in Williams Show".
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770:Digital Collections, The New York Public Library.
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561:"Postal Workers Here to Honor Mollie Williams".
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576:"Mollie Williams Tieup with Letter Carriers".
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156:Mollie Hersh was born on March 18, 1884, in
565:. Pittsburgh. December 16, 1924. p. 7.
307:"Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900"
136:; March 18, 1884 – January 5, 1954) was an
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423:"Gossip of the Stage - Mollie Williams".
580:. February 28, 1924. pp. 1 and 27.
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243:. Williams was an active member of the
645:"Hugh Dewart, 73, Stores' Executive".
516:"Says Women Are Best Judge of Plays".
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546:"Mollie Does Bit to Aid Mail Force".
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675:"Made Movie Star Against Her Will".
460:. September 6, 1912. pp. 32–33.
168:In 1905, Hersh appeared on stage at
863:20th-century American women singers
89:Actor, Producer, Writer, Comedienne
848:American musical theatre producers
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535:. November 7, 1920. pp. 5–D.
475:. September 27, 1912. p. 26.
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505:. February 14, 1917. p. 10.
445:. November 24, 1912. p. 10.
858:20th-century American comedians
823:20th-century American actresses
520:. October 24, 1926. p. 21.
277:. January 23, 1954. p. 41.
206:Postal Salary Readjustment Bill
755:"Mollie Williams, photographs"
694:. October 17, 1916. p. 7.
610:"New York, State Census, 1915"
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853:20th-century American singers
843:American burlesque performers
649:. March 14, 1949. p. 19.
241:Presidential Election of 1916
690:"Columbia Has Wilson Show".
705:"Burlesque Booth at Fair".
660:"Mollie's Engagement Off".
409:. New York: Hawthorn Books.
405:The American Burlesque Show
383:"Manchester Signs Mollie".
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787:Digital Repository, SUNY.
427:. May 12, 1908. p. 2.
338:"Miner's Bowery Theatre".
123:Edwin Thetford (1903-1941)
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873:Comedians from Manhattan
868:Actresses from Manhattan
838:American stage actresses
833:American women comedians
471:"Mollie Williams Show".
401:Zeidman, Irving (1967).
323:: CS1 maint: location (
158:Manhattan, New York City
78:Manhattan, New York City
59:Manhattan, New York City
174:Eastern Burlesque Wheel
147:Mollie Williams in 1916
828:American women singers
245:Actors Fund of America
170:Miner's Bowery Theatre
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35:Strand Studio NY, 1924
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732:at Wikimedia Commons
664:. December 21, 1914.
425:Brooklyn Daily Eagle
213:Melville Clyde Kelly
679:. January 17, 1914.
490:. October 18, 1916.
439:"Society and Drama"
372:. October 24, 1908.
368:"The Behman Show".
342:. October 7, 1905.
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138:American burlesque
772:"Mollie Williams"
738:"Mollie Williams"
728:Media related to
563:The Gazette Times
548:Dayton Daily News
518:Dayton Daily News
503:Washington Herald
443:Washington Herald
387:. April 16, 1910.
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72:(1954-01-05)
45:Mollie Hersh
818:1954 deaths
813:1884 births
501:"Gayety ".
807:Categories
254:References
152:Early life
97:1905-1920s
51:1884-03-18
275:Billboard
178:Anna Held
114:(m. 1946)
108:(m. 1901)
319:cite web
120:Children
707:Variety
662:Variety
578:Variety
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355:Variety
236:Variety
187:Variety
102:Spouses
164:Career
132:(born
796:2019
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325:link
80:, US
67:Died
61:, US
41:Born
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
