Ruby Keeler

“You’re going out a youngster, but you’ve got to come back a star,” Warner Baxter told Ruby Keeler in the 1933 film 42nd Street. The actor’s scripted words would prove prophetic. The film propelled her to stardom.
Ruby Keeler’s rags-to-riches story is told in this pictorial biography (with text as well). Born on August 25, 1910 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, her father an iceman, her family moved to New York City in 1912. Soon enrolled in the Professional Children’s School, she got her first taste of life on the stage, eventually finding her way to Broadway. Her dancing brought her the pivotal role in 42nd Street and she was soon one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood. Her performance in No, No, Nanette in 1971, her first Broadway show in 41 years, met with rave reviews.
Keeler’s life, including her ill-fated marriage to performer Al Jolson, is recounted here, with many never-before-seen photographs.

The late Nancy Marlow-Trump, stage, screen and television actress, was a close friend of Ruby Keeler until Keeler’s death in 1993.

Nancy Marlow-Trump
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 180
Bibliographic Info: 129 photos, filmography, index
Copyright Date: 2005 [1998]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2554-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Preface      1

1. The Early Years, 1910–1928      3
2. The Jolson Years, 1928–1939      43
3. Mr. and Mrs. John Lowe and Family, 1941–1969      121
4. No, No, Nanette, 1971–1973      135
5. The Twilight Years, 1974–1993      143

Appendix A: Ruby Keeler’s Stage Shows      149
Appendix B: Ruby Keeler’s Films      153
Index      161

• “Wonderfully told”—Midwest Book Review
• “A genuine warmth emanates from every page, and Keeler’s fans will no doubt be pleased to have the rare stills”—Film Review
• “Fans will…love this book”—Classic Images
• “The hundreds of illustrations…are treasures”—Past Times
• “Definitive”—Montecito Journal.