The Dolly Sisters
The Dolly Sisters, twins Rosika (Rose) and Jansci (Jenny) Deutsch, were born October 25, 1892 in Hungary, and emigrated to the United States in 1905.
They perfected a single-sex "tandem" dance act - practicing in front of mirrors - under the name of 'The Dolly Sisters' they began earning money in beer halls as early as 1907.
Barred for being under age by the New York City stage, they toured the Orpheum circuit until 1909 when they debuted on the Keith vaudeville circuit till 1911 when they signed with the Ziegfeld Follies for two seasons.
In addition to making about a half dozen films from 1913 to 1920, they toured the theatres and dance halls of Europe. Sometimes they would appear with separate partners as "rival" acts to boost ticket sales.
Their gambling "career" was nearly as successful. They won $850,000 in one season at Deauville and one evening in Cannes, Jenny won 4 million francs, which she converted to a collection of jewelry; she then went on to win another 11 million.
The Dolly Sisters onstage
Their private life was as melodramatic as their public life was stellar. Circa 1918, they became lovers of Harry Gordon Selfridge.
One of their Ziegfeld friends, Olive Thomas, who had invited Rosie to tour the nightclubs of Paris with her in September 1920, would be found dying of accidental mercury bichloride poisoning, after drunkenly drinking from her husband's prescribed medication. Rosie, who had declined the outing, would instead see Olive in hospital just before her death.
Such would be merely a foretaste of the tragedy to come as in 1933, Jenny was involved in a serious car crash near Bordeaux with her former lover Max Constant. It took six weeks and fifteen painful surgeries and the sale of most her jewelry to restore her to some semblance of her former beauty but it left her 'a broken shell' as she would say to friends.
She lingered until May 1, 1941 when she committed suicide, hanging herself in the shower of her apartment in the Shelton Hotel.
As is often the case with twins, Rosie would prove to represent the opposite of the manic highs and lows of Jenny's personality, living long enough to see a biopic made in 1945 of their lives called, inevitably The Dolly Sisters - starring June Haver and Betty Grable - but in 1962 she attempted to follow her sister in suicide. It was a failed bid and she would live on until January 1, 1970, succumbing to heart failure.
Table of Contents
Further Reading
The Delectable Dollies: The Dolly Sisters, Icons of the Jazz Age
Amazon Price: (as of 12/29/2009)
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Icons of the Jazz Age, the delectable dancing Dollies were stars of cafe society on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1920s. Gary Chapman reveals the untold 'rags to riches' story of identical twins Jenny and Rosie, set against the glittering backdrop of pre-war high society in America and Europe. Jenny and Rosie Dolly Deutsch were born in Hungary in 1892 and moved to America at the age of twelve, where they began making their living as entertainers in big shows. They were close friends of the elite of Broadway and Hollywood - including Mary Pickford and Irving Berlin - and became the essential prerequisite of any celebrity social gathering. Their talent, their celebrity and their lavish loves and lifestyle enchanted generations and they became models for the 'New Woman' of the liberated 1920s. But lurking behind their glamorous story of fame, fortune, mistaken identity, millionaires, love and sisterly devotion is another tale of rivalry, duplicity and tragedy. "The Delectable Dollies is Some like it Hot" mixed with essence of Hello! - a dizzying cocktail of delight.
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DVDs
SPOTLIGHT!
The Dolly Sisters
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Links
- Dancer History Archives by StreetSwing.com - The Dolly Sisters - Main Page
- The Twins arrived in Brooklyn, NY when they were just five years of age, Rozika (Rosy) and Jenny (Yansci) Dolly of the famous Dolly Sisters were internationally known as a single sex dance team, or Tandem act
- The Lansdowne Club - About The Club
- Was Dolly Sister's London home in 1920s.
- Dolly Sisters: Information from Answers.com
- Dolly Sisters Dolly Sisters , singing%u2010dancing team. Jennie Dolly [née Janszieka Deutsch] (1892-1941) and Rosie Dolly [née Roszika Deutsch] (1892-
- Dolly Sisters
- Biography of Dolly Sisters
- The Gellert Sisters of New Orleans
- ALSO of INTEREST!
The Gellert Sisters of New Orleans
Oh, yes, those Hungarians! We find them everywhere. Like those Hungarian sibling pairs on the American theater scene in the early 1900's.
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