From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Frances Charlotte Greenwood 25 June 1890 28 December 1977 was an American actress and dancer Born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania Greenwood started in vaudeville and eventually starred on Broadway movies and radio Standing around six feet tall she was best known for her long legs and high kicks She earned the unique praise of being in her words the only woman in the world who could kick a giraffe in the eye In 1913 Oliver Morosco cast her as Queen Ann Soforth of Oogaboo late in the run of L Frank Baum and Louis F Gottschalks The TikTok Man of Oz better known in its novelization as TikTok of Oz then commissioned a successful star vehicle titled So Long Letty which is the role that made her a star She starred with such luminaries as Charles Ruggles Betty Grable Jimmy Durante Eddie Cantor Buster Keaton and Carmen Miranda Most of Greenwoods best work was done on the stage and was lauded by such critics as James Agate Alexander Woollcott and Claudia Cassidy One of her most successful roles was that of Juno in Cole Porters Out of This World in which she introduced the Porter classic I Sleep Easier Now Although the role was written with her in mind film commitments prevented her from playing Aunt Eller in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway hit Oklahoma 1943 She got her chance in the 1955 film version just prior to retiring in 1956 Charlotte Greenwood died in Los Angeles California of undisclosed causes aged 87 She was married twice first unsuccessfully to actor Cyril Ring brother of actress Blanche Ring and secondly and happily to composer Martin Broones Description above from the Wikipedia article Charlotte Greenwood licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Login to comment!
