Ann Pennington (actress)
| Ann Pennington | |
|---|---|
|
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| Born |
December 23, 1893 Wilmington, Delaware |
| Died | November 4, 1971 (aged 77) New York City, New York |
| Other names | "Penny", "Tiny" "Pipsy" "Duchess" |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Height | 4'10" |
Ann Pennington (December 23, 1893 – November 4, 1971) was an actress, dancer, and singer who starred on Broadway in the 1910s and 1920s, notably in the Ziegfeld Follies and George White's Scandals.
She became famous for what was, at the time, called a "Shake and Quiver Dancer", and was noted for her variation of the "Black Bottom". She was also noted as an accomplished tap dancer. Ray Henderson wrote the extant version of "Black Bottom" for Ann – she had already been performing the popular version of the dance for some time. Some years prior to this, she had also topped the bill on Broadway in her performance of the musically similar "Charleston".
Pennington also achieved fame as a star of both silent and sound motion pictures.
Pennington was born in Wilmington, Delaware on December 23, 1893, and reputedly moved with her family to Camden, New Jersey around 1900. Her father worked for the Victor music company, they were Quakers, and she had at least one sibling, Nellie. She learned to dance with the Professor Wroe dance school, and her first performances in New York were as part of "Wroe's Buds". She wanted to be a classical actress, but her diminutive stature and talent as a dancer conspired against this ambition.
She began her career on Broadway as a member of the chorus in The Red Widow (1911) starring Raymond Hitchcock. Her debut in the Ziegfeld Follies was in 1913, where she quickly established herself as one Ziegfeld's top attractions.
With dimpled knees and long dark red hair, the petite, pretty, charming, and often scantly-clad Pennington stood a mere 4' 10" tall and wore only a size 1½ shoe. Because of her diminutive stature, she was referred to as "Penny" by her friends and colleagues. Her nickname for herself was "Tiny".
During her years in the Ziegfeld Follies she appeared alongside the likes of Bert Williams, Eddie Cantor, Will Rogers, Fanny Brice (who became her closest friend), Marilyn Miller, and W. C. Fields. She switched back and forth between George White's Scandals and the Follies more than once, earning a salary of $1000 per week well before the 1920s, and continued to moonlight in the early New York film industry. She also frequented Harlem in its jazz heyday.
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