Barbette (performer)
| Barbette | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Vander Clyde Broadway December 19, 1898 Round Rock, Texas |
| Died | August 5, 1973 (aged 74) Round Rock, Texas |
| Occupation | Trapeze artist, Female impersonator |
Barbette (December 19, 1898 – August 5, 1973) was an American female impersonator, high-wire performer, and trapeze artist born in Texas on December 19, 1899. Barbette attained great popularity throughout the United States but his greatest fame came in Europe and especially Paris, in the 1920s and 1930s.
Barbette began performing as an aerialist at around the age of 14 as one-half of a circus act called The Alfaretta Sisters. After a few years of circus work, Barbette went solo and adopted his exotic-sounding pseudonym. He performed in full drag, revealing himself as male only at the end of his act.
Following a career-ending illness or injury, Barbette returned to Texas but continued to work as a consultant for motion pictures as well as training and choreographing aerial acts for a number of circuses. After years of dealing with chronic pain, Barbette committed suicide on August 5, 1973. Both in life and following his death, Barbette served as an inspiration to a number of artists including Jean Cocteau and Man Ray.
Barbette (birth name cited as Vander Clyde and Vander Clyde Broadway) was born on December 19, 1899, (although it is sometimes cited as 1904) in Texas. Most sources indicate he was born in Round Rock, although Barbette stated that his birthplace was Trickham. His Draft Registration Card, dated 7 September 1918, states that his birthday was 19 December 1898.
Some confusion surrounds the name of Barbette's father. On a 1923 passport application, Barbette lists his father's name as "Henry Broadway" and notes him as deceased. However, Barbette's death certificate gives his father's first name as "Jeff." The death certificate lists his mother's name as "Hattie Wilson;" Barbette listed her name as "Mrs. E. S. Loving" on his passport application, as well as his 1918 Draft Registration form.
In the United States Census of 1900, Barbette (then given the birth date of 19 December 1897) and his mother, Hattie Broadway (née Martin, 1879-1949), were living in Llano, Texas, in the household of his maternal great-grandparents, Florence E. and William Paschall, a farmer. Hattie, then aged 21, was listed as a widow on the census, while her son's birthdate is given as December 1897. Also living in the household was Hattie Broadway's younger brother, Malcolm Wilson. Hattie Broadway married, as her second husband, in 1906, Samuel E. Loving (1868-1953), who worked in a broom factory, and had five more children, sons Eugene Loving (1908-1971) and Sam Paschall Loving (1917-1996), and daughters Hugo Loving (1910-1912), Bonsilene Loving (born 1914), and Mary Martin Loving (1915-1997); after his mother's second marriage, Barbette was known as "Vander Loving".
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