1 Mar: Eva Tanguay: Cyclonic Comedienne
Eva Tanguay, vaudeville megastar, was arrested in Louisville, Kentucky on 1st March, 1910 after stabbing a stagehand three times with a hat pin. At the police station, she reportedly produced a roll of bills and cried, “take it all. And let me go, for it’s now my dinner time.”
It was neither the first violent incident of her career, nor the first time she had piqued the curiosity of the press – indeed, Tanguay had made a career of combining her edgy charisma, style and sexuality with suggestive lyrics and wild gossip guaranteed to keep her in the public eye.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how she co-opted ‘I Don’t Care’, a song not even written for her, into her personal anthem; reveal what ‘hotdogging’ is; and revisit her tragic letter to Henry Ford…
Further Reading: