Gene Malin
Encyclopedia
Gene Malin was a Finnish-born American
actor
, emcee, and drag
performer during the Jazz Age
. He was the first openly gay performer in Prohibition
-era Speakeasy
culture.
s Jean Malin and Imogene Wilson, reportedly was born Victor Eugene James Malinovsky in Brooklyn, New York, on June 30, 1908. He had two sisters and two brothers, one of whom worked for a sugar refinery
, and one who became a police officer.
As a child, Malin attended P.S. 50 in Brooklyn and then went on to Eastern District High School. As a teenager, he was already winning prizes for his costumes at the elaborate Manhattan drag balls of the 1920s. By his late teens Malin had worked as a chorus boy in several Broadway shows ("Princess Flavor”, "Miami”, "Sisters of the Chorus"). Around the same period, Malin worked at several Greenwich Village clubs as a drag performer, most notably the Rubaiyat.
.
to write, "Jean Malin belted a heckler last night at one of the local clubs. All that twitters isn't pansy.) One theatrical publication, Broadway Brevities, declared "the pansies hailed La Malin as their queen", and Vanity Fair magazine published a caricature of the celebrated Malin in 1931. Among his fans was actress Ginger Rogers
, and he was the frequent escort of actress Polly Moran
.
Malin reportedly was the highest-paid nightclub entertainer of 1930, "a six-foot-tall, 200-pound bruiser who also had an attitude and a lisp". He also appeared in Broadway productions such as "Sisters of the Chorus" (1930) and "The Crooner" (1932).
After headlining numerous New York clubs such as Paul and Joe's, Malin took his act to Boston and ultimately, in the fall of 1932, to the West Coast, where he was employed at popular nightclubs such as the Ship Café in Venice. He also performed a club bearing his own name. While in Hollywood, he appeared in two films, "Arizona to Broadway" and the Joan Crawford vehicle "Dancing Lady”; in the former movie, he portrayed Ray Best, a female impersonator who dressed in the manner of Mae West and sang "Frankie and Johnny". Malin was cast in a third movie, "Double Harness" (1933), but his performance was discarded and he was replaced by less effeminate actor; the president of R.K.O., B. B. Kahane, disgusted by Malin's flamboyance, noted, "I do not think we ought to have this man on the lot on any picture—shorts or features."
Malin also recorded at least two songs, "I'd Rather be Spanish than Mannish" and "That's What's the Matter With Me".http://blakstone.com/Dragstravaganza%20Site/wavs/malinsp1.mp3
His funeral was held at St. Mary's Church in Brooklyn, New York.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, emcee, and drag
Drag (clothing)
Drag is used for any clothing carrying symbolic significance but usually referring to the clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of another gender. The origin of the term "drag" is unknown, but it may have originated in Polari, a gay street argot in England in the early...
performer during the Jazz Age
Jazz Age
The Jazz Age was a movement that took place during the 1920s or the Roaring Twenties from which jazz music and dance emerged. The movement came about with the introduction of mainstream radio and the end of the war. This era ended in the 1930s with the beginning of The Great Depression but has...
. He was the first openly gay performer in Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
-era Speakeasy
Speakeasy
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. Such establishments came into prominence in the United States during the period known as Prohibition...
culture.
Early life
Gene Malin, also known by stage nameStage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
s Jean Malin and Imogene Wilson, reportedly was born Victor Eugene James Malinovsky in Brooklyn, New York, on June 30, 1908. He had two sisters and two brothers, one of whom worked for a sugar refinery
Sugar refinery
A sugar refinery is a factory which refines raw sugar.Many cane sugar mills produce raw sugar, i.e. sugar with more colour and therefore more impurities than the white sugar which is normally consumed in households and used as an ingredient in soft drinks, cookies and so forth...
, and one who became a police officer.
As a child, Malin attended P.S. 50 in Brooklyn and then went on to Eastern District High School. As a teenager, he was already winning prizes for his costumes at the elaborate Manhattan drag balls of the 1920s. By his late teens Malin had worked as a chorus boy in several Broadway shows ("Princess Flavor”, "Miami”, "Sisters of the Chorus"). Around the same period, Malin worked at several Greenwich Village clubs as a drag performer, most notably the Rubaiyat.
Marriage
In January 1931, in New York City, Malin married Lucille Heiman/Helman (1901 - 1975, aka Martha Farrell, aka Jeannette Forbes, aka Fay Heiman/Helman). The marriage took place shortly after a raid that closed Malin's employer, Club Abbey; he and the bride had known each other from his days performing in drag at the Rubaiyat. Malin filed for divorce in Mexico in November 1932, though at the time of his death, the couple were still legally married. Between 1936 and 1944, Malin's widow served stints in prison for operating "exclusive call houses" (brothels) and violating the Mann ActMann Act
The White-Slave Traffic Act, better known as the Mann Act, is a United States law, passed June 25, 1910 . It is named after Congressman James Robert Mann, and in its original form prohibited white slavery and the interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes”...
.
Career and the Pansy Craze
In the spring of 1930 Malin became the headline act at Louis Schwartz's elegant Club Abbey at 46th Street and 8th Avenue in New York City. Although Malin was at times assisted by Helen Morgan Jr. (Francis Dunn) and Lestra LaMonte (the paper-gown-wearing Lester LaMonte), popular drag artists of the day, he did not appear in female attire (other sources, however, state that he impersonated Gloria Swanson and Theda Bara). The crux of Malin's act was not to impersonate women, but to appear as a flamboyant, effeminate, openly gay male wearing a tuxedo; Hearst newspapers' Broadway columnist Louis Sobol described Malin as "a baby-faced lad who lisped and pressed his fingers into his thighs" during performances while another observer called him "a brilliant entertainer, a very funny guy, but risqué". Malin moved on stage and amongst the audience members as an elegant, witty, wisecracking emcee, affecting a broad exaggerated swishing image associated with the "Pansy acts" that followed. In doing so, Malin and other such performers as Karyl Norman and Ray Bourbon ignited a "Pansy Craze" in New York’s speakeasies and later in other cities as well. (He once punched a disruptive patron during a performance, prompting Ed SullivanEd Sullivan
Edward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...
to write, "Jean Malin belted a heckler last night at one of the local clubs. All that twitters isn't pansy.) One theatrical publication, Broadway Brevities, declared "the pansies hailed La Malin as their queen", and Vanity Fair magazine published a caricature of the celebrated Malin in 1931. Among his fans was actress Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
, and he was the frequent escort of actress Polly Moran
Polly Moran
Polly Moran was an American actress and comedian.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Moran started out in vaudeville, and widely toured North America, as well as various other locations that included Europe and South Africa...
.
Malin reportedly was the highest-paid nightclub entertainer of 1930, "a six-foot-tall, 200-pound bruiser who also had an attitude and a lisp". He also appeared in Broadway productions such as "Sisters of the Chorus" (1930) and "The Crooner" (1932).
After headlining numerous New York clubs such as Paul and Joe's, Malin took his act to Boston and ultimately, in the fall of 1932, to the West Coast, where he was employed at popular nightclubs such as the Ship Café in Venice. He also performed a club bearing his own name. While in Hollywood, he appeared in two films, "Arizona to Broadway" and the Joan Crawford vehicle "Dancing Lady”; in the former movie, he portrayed Ray Best, a female impersonator who dressed in the manner of Mae West and sang "Frankie and Johnny". Malin was cast in a third movie, "Double Harness" (1933), but his performance was discarded and he was replaced by less effeminate actor; the president of R.K.O., B. B. Kahane, disgusted by Malin's flamboyance, noted, "I do not think we ought to have this man on the lot on any picture—shorts or features."
Malin also recorded at least two songs, "I'd Rather be Spanish than Mannish" and "That's What's the Matter With Me".http://blakstone.com/Dragstravaganza%20Site/wavs/malinsp1.mp3
Death
In the early hours of August 10, 1933, Jean Malin, age 25, was killed in a freak automobile accident. He had just performed a "farewell performance" at the Ship Café in Venice, California. He piled into his sedan with Jimmy Forlenza (gossip columns referred to him as Malin's "close friend") and comedic actress Patsy Kelly. It seems that Malin confused the gears and the car lurched in reverse and went off a pier into the water. Pinned under the steering wheel, Malin was instantly killed; the other two passengers were seriously injured but survived.His funeral was held at St. Mary's Church in Brooklyn, New York.
See also
- Victor Victoria
- George ChaunceyGeorge ChaunceyGeorge Chauncey is a professor of history at Yale University. He is best known as the author of Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940 .-Life and works:...
, Gay New York (1994).