Ruby Keeler

The very talented Ruby Keeler in a 1936 portrait sitting by photographer Elmer Fryer. She was born Ethel Hilda Keeler in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, on August 25, 1909. Around 1923, when she was around 14 years old, she was hired by Nils Granlund, the publicity manager for Loews Theatres. She was noticed by Broadway producer Charles B. Dillingham, who gave her a role in “Bye, Bye, Bonnie”, which ran for six months. She then appeared in “Lucky” and as Mamie in “The Sidewalks of New York”. In 1928 she appeared in Florenz Ziegfeld's “Whoopee!”, the same year she married Al Jolson. The two met in Los Angeles, whilst assisting in the marketing campaign for “The Jazz Singer” (1927). Jolson was smitten and immediately proposed. The couple married September 21, 1928, in Port Chester, New York, in a private ceremony. The two sailed the following morning for a brief honeymoon before she began her tour with “Whoopee!”. She was 19 years old, and he was around 42. In 1933, producer Darryl F. Zanuck cast Keeler in the Warner Bros. musical “42nd Street” opposite Dick Powell and Bebe Daniels. The film was a huge success due to Busby Berkeley's lavish, innovative choreography. Following this, Jack L. Warner gave Keeler a long-term contract and cast her in “Gold Diggers of 1933”, “Footlight Parade” (1933), “Dames” (1934), and “Colleen” (1936). Keeler and Jolson starred together in “Go into Your Dance” (1935), which was their only film together. Jolson and Keeler appeared on Broadway one last time together for the unsuccessful show “Hold on to Your Hats”. After her divorce from Jolson in 1940 she retired for almost 30 years, until she appeared in "No No Nanette" on Broadway in 1971 under the direction of Busby Berkeley. Keeler starred in the musical for two seasons, followed by two additional years touring in the show. After suffering a brain aneurysm in 1974, she became spokeswoman for the National Stroke Association. Keeler passed of kidney cancer on February 28, 1993 (aged 83).

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