LEST WE FORGET NORA BAYES
(October 3, 1880 - March 19, 1928)

"She was the personification of the ideal vaudeville artist...Her comedy was universal."
       E. F. Albee, president of the Keith-Albee-Opheum
Circuit  (New York Times, March 20, 1928)

Born Dora Goldberg in Joliet, Illinois, little is known of her early life until 1899-1900 when she was married to an undertaker (marriage ended in 1908). Her early show biz career is difficult to trace because she used a variety of first and last names.
       In 1902 she was a regular on the vaudeville circuit and performing at Percy Williams's Orpheum Theatre in
Brooklyn where her rendition of Harry von Tilzer's ballad, Down Where the Wurzberger Flows, became a popular hit.  She starred in the first Follies of 1907 and was a regular in the Ziegfeld Follies for several years.
She tried out stage names including Nora and Dora and it was a Jewish stage manager who informed her that Dora Goldberg was not a name with marquis value. He suggested going through the Hebrew alphabet. "Aleph, Bays..." when she stopped him right there and said "That's it!" (Bill Edwards)
Nora Bayes was born!

Nora's involvement with the Ziegfeld Follies made her one of the highest paid women in the world. She met her second husband,
Jack Norworth and they co-composed some of the songs for the Follies with the most popular being Shine on, Harvest Moon.
                              Before the husband and wife dancing team of
Irene and Vernon Castle became the darlings of New York Society, the Norworths were admired for their lifestyle, wardrobe, and even hairstyles. Women wanted to dress, wear hats and copy her coiffure.  (Bill Edwards)
Her trademark was an ostrich fan and she delighted in extravagant and outlandish costumes in her stage and public appearances.
   In 1910 she and Jack appeared under the management of Lew Fields in  The Jolly Bachelors (picture at left) in which she sang
Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?  It ran for 165 performances. The copy for Chase's Theater in Washington D.C. for a late summer performance stated: "Miss Bayes and Mr. Norworth are still flushed with the success they won as the stars of Lew Fields's Jolly Bachelors and they are regarded as the most popular comedy alliance in latter day vaudeville.."
                                                  (Bill Edwards)
HISTORICAL TIDBITS
     In 1911 she and Jack appeared in Little Miss Fix-it.  They opened in 1912 at Weber and Fields's new Music Hall in a double bill,  Roly-Poly and Without the Law in which they introduced the song When It's Apple Blossom Time in Normandy.
   She was billed as "The Greatest Single Woman Singing Comedienne in the World" when she appeared at the Palace theatre (NYC) in 1914.
   George M. Cohan chose her to sing the first American rendition of "Over There," which she introduced in her own production called Two Hours of Song.  
   When she opened at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York in 1918 in Ladies First, George Gershwin accompanied her on the piano while she introduced the first song he wrote in collaboration with his brother Ira--The Real American Folk Song.

               Bayes's sense of humor was an asset to her stage performances and also came out in personal interviews. She claimed that World War 1 started because England and Germany couldn't agree about her singing. She was outspoken, independent in her opinions and a women's rights advocate.

             She was known to be temperamental and demanding, but she was drawing crowds, so as her own agent and often producer, her tantrums were usually tolerated.  She could charm with her singular wit.
Here is a sample from an article she wrote in 1917. (B. Edwards)
   "Nora Bayes is having the time of her life as a manager for herself. A few days ago, Florenz Ziegfeld sent her an invitation to appear on his Sunday night concert bill at the Century Theater in New York.  He told her he needed one more big act and that she might name her own terms. here is her reply:  .............I am sure she would not try to hold you up for a stiff price for singing, as she expects to have $1,500 in her own house and heaven knows that's enough money for any decent woman to earn in one night."    Your loving son, Nora Bayes, manager.
She frequently signed such letters "Your loving son", which became an industry joke and a trademark.

Her strong-willed personality caused managers and other show business personnel to claim she was difficult to work with. Bayes's marital and romantic life was much publicized and commented upon by the public.  Scandal sold newspapers. She married five times. Her fifth husband was Benjamin Friedland, a wealthy businessman. She adopted three children and was a great supporter of children's charities.   According to one account, she performed two charity benefits the day of the abdominal surgery that eventually led to her death. In her last years she became a
Christian Scientist.  She died at age 47 and was financially insolvent.

For her contributions to American Theater and the American songbook, Nora Bayes was added to the National Recording Registry on April 11, 2006.

The official citation reads:  Over There, Nora Bayes (1917) Inextricably associated in popular imagination with World War 1, Nora Bayes's recording introduced George M. Cohan's song and became an international hit.  Cohan had requested that Bayes be the first singer to release his composition. A former member of the Ziegfeld Follies, an extremely popular vaudevillian and a Broadway star, she recorded a number of other songs to boost morale during the war and performed extensively for the soldiers."
(Bill Edwards)

YouTube has Jack and Nora singing their rendition of
Shine on, Harvest Moon in  1908.


References.  Notable Women in American Theatre, 1989.  Pamela Hewitt
Bill Edwards.  http://ragpiano.com/oerform/nbayes.shtml
Wikipedia




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