Mae Barnes
| Mae Barnes | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Edith Mae Stith |
| Born |
January 23, 1907 (uncertain) New York City, United States |
| Died | December 13, 1996 (aged 89) New York City, United States |
| Genres | Jazz, blues, show tunes |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, dancer, entertainer |
| Years active | 1919–1980s |
Mae Barnes (born Edith Mae Stith, possibly January 23, 1907 – December 13, 1996) was an African-American jazz singer, dancer and comic entertainer. She was responsible for introducing the Charleston dance to Broadway in the 1924 revue Runnin' Wild. After her career as a dancer ended, she became a successful nightclub singer and recording artist.
She was born in New York City. There is some uncertainty over her year of birth. Most sources give 1907, but blues researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc give 1892, based on 1900 and 1910 US census records, though the 1892 date would suggest that she died at the age of 104.
Around 1919, she left school, purportedly to move to Cleveland, Ohio, but instead started working as a chorus girl. Developing expertise as a singer and tap dancer, she worked in vaudeville and toured the south in such shows as Bon Bon Buddy Jr. and Dinah. In 1924, she made her Broadway debut in Runnin' Wild, in which she introduced the Charleston dance, and became known as "the bronze Ann Pennington".
On her second tour, in Shuffle Along (1927), the entertainer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson called her "the greatest living female tap dancer". She also performed with Charlie Ruggles in the Broadway show Rainbow, and danced an "insanely comic" version of the Black Bottom. She continued to perform as a dancer and entertainer in Broadway shows, including the Ziegfeld Follies and Hot Rhythm, and toured on the Keith vaudeville circuit through most of the 1930s.
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