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Born in rural Ohio in 1897, Beryl Halley was educated at a strict Freewill Baptist school. After briefly teaching in a one-room schoolhouse, she joined the navy in 1918 before her unlikely path led her to Broadway, then to the Ziegfeld Follies (1923-1925). She also appeared in Earl Carroll's Vanities and other revues, as well as in films, and had a widely publicized brush with the law (over alleged nudity) in 1926.
She retired from show business in 1930, married an insurance executive and had a family, later reappearing in the public eye as an officer in the Ziegfeld Girls' Club. Making her home in Houston in the 1950s, she worked as legal secretary for a large law firm. Her death at age 90 was unpublicized. Her story is told here for the first time.
List of contents
Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: A Representative Ziegfeld Girl
¿1.¿Bladen to Rio Grande, 1897-1913
¿2.¿Rio Grande to Norfolk, Virginia, 1913-1920
¿3.¿Norfolk to Broadway, 1920-1924
¿4.¿Ziegfeld Girl, 1924-1925
¿5.¿Palm Beach Nights, The Bunk ... and More, 1926-1927
¿6.¿The Bladen Beauty's "Big Apple," or Beryl Halley's New York City
¿7.¿The World She Left Behind, or Gallia County in Prosperity and Depression
¿8.¿Life After the Follies, 1927-1929
¿9.¿Surviving the Depression, 1929-1933
10.¿Marriage and the Ziegfeld Girls Club, 1933-1941
11.¿New York to Texas, 1941-1953
12.¿Texas, 1953-1988
Appendix: Beryl's Buddies
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Jacob L. Bapst is a retired administrator and instructor from the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College, located in Rio Grande, Ohio. He currently serves as the school's archivist.
