Dorothy Knapp
Portrait of white woman in oval frame
Dorothy Knapp, from a 1924 publication.
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Dancer, actress, model
SpouseJack Edmond (m.1933–div.1934)

Dorothy Knapp (born about 1900) was an American dancer, actress, model and Ziegfeld girl.

Early life

Dorothy Knapp was born in Chicago,[1] or Dallas (sources vary). She lived in New York City after 1915, and was dancing professionally by 1916, in the company of Norma Gould.[2][3][4]

Career

Knapp began modeling and entering beauty contests as a teenager, and was publicized as "American Venus" in 1922.[1][5] She won a precursor contest to what became the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City.[6] In a 1922 newsreel she was described as "the perfect woman".[7] Her measurements were published in detail,[8] and she was often photographed in a swimsuit doing exercises.[9] "Keeping fit is a pleasure by radio," one such photograph of Knapp was captioned.[10]

Dorothy Knapp in a swimsuit, from a 1923 publication.

From beauty pageants and glamorous photographs, she was cast in variety shows, including Earl Carroll's Vanities in 1923, 1926, and 1928, and the Ziegfeld Follies of 1924 and 1925. Louise Brooks, who remembered Knapp as one of Ziegfeld's "prize beauties" and shared a dressing room with her, noted that "people like Walter Wanger and Gilbert Miller would meet there, ostensibly to hear my reviews of books that Herman Mankiewicz gave me to read. What they actually came for was to watch Dorothy doing a striptease in front of a full-length mirror."[11] In 1929 she starred on Broadway in Fioretta; the show's failure was blamed on Knapp's lack of musical talent,[12] and she was hospitalized after she was fired from the production,[13][14] and lawsuits followed.[15][16] She appeared twice more on Broadway, in Free For All (1931) and Broadway Interlude (1936), but both shows closed quickly.

On screen, she was seen in the films None But the Brave (1928), The Border Patrol (1930), Whoopee! (1930), and Under the Cock-Eyed Moon (1930). She appeared as a host and performer on several radio dramas on the NBC radio network, in the spring of 1931.[17] Her radio program "Backstage with Dorothy Knapp" was about her experiences in show business.[18] Simultaneous to her radio work in 1931, NBC was also preparing her for becoming a host on their new television broadcasts; the press frequently referred to her as NBC's "Television Girl," and she first appeared on some experimental television transmissions in June 1931.[19]

Personal life

Knapp was involved with Earl Carroll,[20] and was briefly engaged to actor Chick Chandler, cousin of illustrator Howard Chandler Christy.[21] In 1933 she married a Canadian radio announcer, Jack Edmond;[22] they divorced in 1934. She made public comments about withdrawing to a convent,[23] possibly in Mexico,[24] but had not done so before 1936, when she was reported living in Tudor City and making sculptures.[25] In 1957, Walter Winchell mentioned that Knapp was working at the jewelry counter of a department store, and living with Anna May Wong.[26]

References

  1. 1 2 Teed, Dexter (1932-04-27). "America's Venus Laments, It's Hard Luck to be Beautiful". Public Opinion. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "Girl Will Give Indian Dances; Child Flower Show Feature". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1916-04-19. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-04-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "40 Pretty Dancers Will Aid Pageant". Los Angeles Herald. 1 June 1916. p. 13. Retrieved April 18, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  4. ↑ "Druidess Dance as Modern Ballet". Los Angeles Herald. 10 June 1919. p. 14. Retrieved April 18, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  5. ↑ Handzo, Stephen (2020-01-17). Hollywood and the Female Body: A History of Idolization and Objectification. McFarland. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-4766-3777-8.
  6. ↑ Gautier, Paul S. (March 1923). "Experience of a Famous Beauty: Dorothy Knapp". The Wireless Age. 10: 26.
  7. ↑ "Topical Budget 591-2: Is Miss Dorothy Knapp the Perfect Woman? (1922)". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  8. ↑ Pickard, Margery (1924-08-12). "Ziegfeld Says She has Finest Figure in U. S." The San Bernardino County Sun. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-04-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "How the Newest Venus Keeps Venus-Like". The St. Louis Star and Times. 1923-01-14. p. 49. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Heard on Air and Seen in Photographs" The Wireless Age 10(March 1923): 19.
  11. ↑ Tynan, Kenneth (June 3, 1979). "Louise Brooks Tells All". The New Yorker. pp. 45–78. The girl in the black helmet
  12. ↑ Bapst, Jacob L.; Tribe, Ivan M. (2019-07-26). Beryl Halley: The Life and Follies of a Ziegfeld Beauty, 1897-1988. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-7643-2.
  13. ↑ "DOROTHY KNAPP IN HOSPITAL; Actress Appeared in Various Editions of Earl Carroll's Revues". The New York Times. 1929-08-10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  14. ↑ "Dorothy Knapp is Fired by Earl Carroll's Angel". Reading Times. 1929-04-22. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Musical Comedy with a Leading Lady Who Couldn't Sing". The San Francisco Examiner. 1930-05-11. p. 99. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Miss Dorothy Knapp Sues for $500,000 Over Loss of Role". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 1932-02-02. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Dorothy Knapp Leads Backstage Dramas," Atlanta Constitution, May 31, 1931, p. 24.
  18. ↑ "Radio Girl Talks of Stage," Knoxville Journal, June 14, 1931, p. 19.
  19. ↑ "Succeed in First Test," Memphis Commercial Appeal, June 14, 1931, Section 4, p. 3.
  20. ↑ Murray, Ken (1976-01-01). The Body Merchant: The Story of Earl Carroll. W. Ritchie Press. pp. 126, 152. ISBN 978-0-378-05685-4.
  21. ↑ "Disadvantages of Being So Very Beautiful". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1925-03-29. p. 99. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ "Dorothy Knapp, Ex-'Venus', is Radio Announcer's Bride". Daily News. 1933-01-13. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ "3 Stage Beauties Who Really Took the Veil and 5000 Who Just Talked". The Times Dispatch. 1932-07-03. p. 35. Retrieved 2020-04-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Film Beauty Plans to Enter Convent". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1931-04-04. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-04-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ McIntyre, O. O. (1936-04-23). "New York Day by Day". The Times-Tribune. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-04-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ Winchell, Walter (1957-12-05). "Broadway and Elsewhere". Logansport Pharos-Tribune. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-04-18 – via Newspapers.com.
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