Nan Halperin
| Nan Halperin | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 1898 Odessa, Russia |
| Died | 30 May 1963 Long Island, New York, USA |
| Nationality | Russian, American |
| Occupation | Comedian |
| Known for | Little Jessie James |
Nan Halperin (1898 – 30 May 1963) was a Russian immigrant to the USA who became a well-known singing comedian. She played in vaudeville at an early age, and later starred in musical comedies on Broadway such as Little Jessie James (1923).
Nan Halperin was born in Odessa, Russia, in 1898, and moved with her family to the USA in 1900. They settled in Minneapolis. Her parents were Samuel Halperin, a confectioner, and Rebeka Rose Halperin. She had two brothers and two sisters. Her sister Sophie sometimes came with Nan on her tours. Although her family was Jewish, they sent her to a Catholic school for her education, the Holy Angels Academy. There she learned to sing and play the piano. As a child she appeared in local stage productions from the age of six, including starring in Alice in Wonderland.
Halperin appeared in vaudeville at the age of fifteen, impersonating a child. She performed in stock companies throughout the western United States and Mexico. Nan Halperin married the songwriter and vaudeville producer William Barr Friedlander, who composed all the songs she used in her act. At one time she was the soubrette in Freidlander's musical comedy company playing Forty-five Minutes from Broadway while Jean Weil (mother of the future film director Henry Hathaway) was the prime donna. They were based in San Francisco and touring the Pacific coast. Companies often went broke while on tour, and most of the players had a diamond ring they could pawn if needed so they could get back to San Francisco. They would redeem it when they got another job.
Halperin became a singing comedian who satirized the manners of the typical American woman. She was one of the first women to cut her hair into a bob. Only 5.2 feet (1.6 m) high, she wore high heels to look taller on stage. Halperin led a group of women who presented the skit Nan Halperin and Her Suffragettes. This was a very successful tab show produced by her husband. Nan Halperin's first Broadway appearance was with Emma Carus in A Broadway Honeymoon. In February 1915 she played as a headliner at the Palace Theatre on Broadway.
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