Entering Show Business

Chapter 2 chronicles Bolger’s entrance into New York show business. The 1920s were a transitional decade for American entertainers and entertainment, as film grew in popularity and as show business became increasingly complicated to navigate. The business structure of vaudeville in the 1920s and the demands it placed upon performers are discussed in depth. This chapter details Bolger’s work for vaudeville impresario Gus Edwards and Bolger’s debut, as part of Edwards’s act, at the Palace Theatre—the pinnacle of vaudeville theaters. Bolger’s early film work for Red Seal Pictures, his work in the “movie palaces” conceived by Roxy Rothafel, and his Broadway debut are discussed. This chapter also includes information on Bolger’s courtship of his would-be wife, Gwendolyn Rickard.