Vernon and Irene Castle
Encyclopedia
Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dance
rs of the early 20th century. They are credited with invigorating the popularity
of modern dancing. Vernon Castle (2 May 1887 - 15 February 1918) was born William Vernon Blyth in Norwich
, Norfolk
, England
. Irene Castle (17 April 1893 - 25 January 1969) was born Irene Foote, the daughter of a prominent physician in New Rochelle, New York
.
Vernon, the son of a publican, was raised in Norwich, England initially training to become a civil engineer. He moved to New York in 1906 with his sister Coralie Blyth and her husband Lawrence Grossmith
both established actors. There he was given a small part by Lew Fields
, which led to further work and he became established as a comic actor and conjuror.
Irene studied dancing and performed in several amateur theatricals before meeting Vernon Castle at the New Rochelle Rowing Club in 1910. With his help, she was hired for her first professional job, a small dancing part in "The Summer Widowers". The next year, over her father’s objections, the two were married. The English-born Vernon had already established himself as a dancer in comedic roles. His specialty was playing a gentleman drunk, who elegantly fell about the stage while trying to hide his condition.
After their marriage, Irene joined Vernon in The Hen-Pecks (1911), a production in which he was a featured player. The two then traveled together to Paris to perform in a dance revue. The show closed quickly, but the couple was then hired as a dance act by the Café de Paris. Performing the latest American dances, the Castles were soon the rage of Parisian society. Their success was widely reported in the United States, preparing their way for a triumphant return to New York in 1912.The Castles' initial fame began in Paris
, where they introduced American
ragtime
dances, such as the Turkey Trot and the Grizzly Bear
.
When the Castles returned to the U.S.
, their success was repeated on a far wider scale. Making their New York debut in 1912 at a branch of the Cafe de Paris, operated by Louis Martin, who had given them their start in Paris, the duo were soon in demand on stage, in vaudeville
and in motion pictures.
In 1914, the couple opened a dancing school in New York called "Castle House", a nightclub called "Castles By the Sea" on the Boardwalk in Long Beach, New York
, and a restaurant, "Sans Souci." At Castle House, they taught New York society the latest dance steps by day, and greeted guests and performed at their club and cafe by night. They also were in demand for private lessons and appearances at fashionable parties. Despite their fame, they often found themselves treated as hired menials; if a rich client was too demanding, Vernon would quote a fee of a thousand dollars an hour for lessons and often get it.
with them in mind. Emerging as America’s premier dance team, the Castles were trendsetters in a number of arenas. Their infectious enthusiasm for dance encouraged admirers to try new forms of social dance. Considered paragons of respectability and class, the Castles specifically helped remove the stigma of vulgarity from close dancing. The Castles’ performances, often set to ragtime and jazz rhythms, also popularized African-American music among well-heeled whites. Irene’s fashion sense, too, started national trends. Her elegant, yet simple, flowing gowns were often featured in fashion magazines. She is also credited with introducing American women to the bob—the short hairstyle favored by flappers in the 1920s.
The Castles appeared in a newsreel called Social and Theatrical Dancing in 1914 and wrote a bestselling instructional book, Modern Dancing, later the same year. The pair also starred in a feature film called The Whirl of Life (1915), which was well-received by critics and public alike. As the couple's celebrity increased in the mid-1910s, Irene Castle became a major fashion trendsetter, initiating the vogue for bobbed hair and shorter skirts. Her chic wardrobe was supplied almost exclusively by the couturiere "Lucile", (Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon
) but Irene also designed some of her clothes herself.
The whisper-thin, elegant Castles were trendsetters in many ways: they traveled with a black orchestra, had an openly lesbian
manager, and were animal-rights advocates decades before it became a public issue. Irene was also a fashion innovator, bobbing
her hair ten years before the flapper
look of the 1920s became popular.
The Castles endorsed Victor Records and Victrolas, issuing records by the Castle House Orchestra, led by James Reese Europe
–– a pioneering figure in Black music
. They also lent their names to advertising for other merchandising products, from cigars and cosmetics to shoes and hats.
The Castles' greatest success was on Broadway
, in Irving Berlin
's debut musical Watch Your Step
(1914). In this extravaganza, the couple refined and popularized the Foxtrot
, which vaudeville comedian
Harry Fox
is believed to have invented. After its New York run, Watch Your Step toured through 1916.
during World War I
. Flying over the Western Front
he shot down two aircraft and was awarded the Croix de Guerre
in 1917. He was posted to Canada to train new pilots, and then promoted to Captain and posted to the US to train American pilots
.
While flying at Benbrook Field, near Fort Worth, Texas
, he took emergency action shortly after take off to avoid another aircraft. His plane stalled, and he was unable to recover control in time before the plane hit the ground. Vernon was the only casualty. He died soon after the crash, on . Irene paid tribute to Vernon in her memoir My Husband, 1919. There is a street in Benbrook named in his honor. Also placed on the street is a monument dedicated to him. Vernon was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. The grieving memorial figure on his grave was designed by Irene Castle's friend, the American sculptor Sally James Farnham (1869–1943).
On May 3, 1919, Irene remarried. Her second husband was a scion of Ithaca, New York's Tremain family, Robert E. Tremain. They resided in Ithaca's newly-cut Cayuga Heights subdivision, north of Cornell University
. Irene starred solo in about a dozen silent film
s between 1917 and 1924 and appeared in several stage productions before retiring from show business. She married three more times –– to Robert Treman, Frederic McLaughlin
, and George Enzinger.
During her marriage to "Major" Frederic McLaughlin (who was the owner of the Chicago Blackhawks
) she is credited with designing the original sweater for the Blackhawks Hockey Club. She had two children with McLaughlin, Barbara McLaughlin Kreutz (b. 1925) and William McLaughlin (b. 1929).
Around 1930, "the best-dressed woman in America" presented a radio dramatisation of her European travels with her husband, bulldog Zowie and Walter ("father's coloured servant") around the capitals of Europe in "The Life of Irene Castle". Only one episode is known to still exist.
In 1939, her life with Vernon was turned into a movie, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
, produced by RKO and starring Fred Astaire
and Ginger Rogers
. Irene served as a technical advisor
on the film, but clashed with Rogers, who refused to short bob or darken her hair. A skirmish erupted when Rogers had the wardrobe department replace gray shoe ribbons with silver shoe ribbons for "The Missouri Waltz" number. Rogers felt the gray ribbons looked washed out, and that the silver ribbons would make her feet stand out. Irene also objected to white actor Walter Brennan playing their servant: "Walter was BLACK".
For the rest of her life, Irene was a staunch animal-rights activist, ultimately founding the Illinois animal shelter "Orphans of the Storm", which is still active.
In 1958, Irene appeared as a guest challenger on the TV panel show "To Tell The Truth".
Irene died .
Vernon and Irene Castle are interred together in the Woodlawn Cemetery
in The Bronx, New York. There is a large monument to Vernon Castle near the site of his crash in Benbrook, Texas
.
Ballroom dance
Ballroom dance refers to a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world. Because of its performance and entertainment aspects, ballroom dance is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television....
rs of the early 20th century. They are credited with invigorating the popularity
Popularity
Popularity is the quality of being well-liked or common, or having a high social status. Popularity figures are an important part of many people's personal value systems and form a vital component of success in people-oriented fields such as management, politics, and entertainment, among...
of modern dancing. Vernon Castle (2 May 1887 - 15 February 1918) was born William Vernon Blyth in Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Irene Castle (17 April 1893 - 25 January 1969) was born Irene Foote, the daughter of a prominent physician in New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
.
Rise to fame
Lawrence Grossmith
Lawrence Grossmith was a British actor, the son of Gilbert and Sullivan performer George Grossmith and the brother of actor George Grossmith, Jr.-Life and career:...
both established actors. There he was given a small part by Lew Fields
Lew Fields
Lew Fields , born as Moses Schoenfeld, was an American actor, comedian, vaudeville star, theatre manager and producer....
, which led to further work and he became established as a comic actor and conjuror.
Irene studied dancing and performed in several amateur theatricals before meeting Vernon Castle at the New Rochelle Rowing Club in 1910. With his help, she was hired for her first professional job, a small dancing part in "The Summer Widowers". The next year, over her father’s objections, the two were married. The English-born Vernon had already established himself as a dancer in comedic roles. His specialty was playing a gentleman drunk, who elegantly fell about the stage while trying to hide his condition.
After their marriage, Irene joined Vernon in The Hen-Pecks (1911), a production in which he was a featured player. The two then traveled together to Paris to perform in a dance revue. The show closed quickly, but the couple was then hired as a dance act by the Café de Paris. Performing the latest American dances, the Castles were soon the rage of Parisian society. Their success was widely reported in the United States, preparing their way for a triumphant return to New York in 1912.The Castles' initial fame began in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where they introduced American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
dances, such as the Turkey Trot and the Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear (dance)
The Grizzly Bear is an early 20th century dance style. It started in San Francisco, along with the Bunny Hug and Texas Tommy and was also done on the Staten Island ferry boats in the 1900's. It has been said that dancers John Jarrott and Louise Gruenning introduced this dance as well as the Turkey...
.
When the Castles returned to the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, their success was repeated on a far wider scale. Making their New York debut in 1912 at a branch of the Cafe de Paris, operated by Louis Martin, who had given them their start in Paris, the duo were soon in demand on stage, in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
and in motion pictures.
In 1914, the couple opened a dancing school in New York called "Castle House", a nightclub called "Castles By the Sea" on the Boardwalk in Long Beach, New York
Long Beach, New York
Long Beach is a city in Nassau County, New York. Just south of Long Island, it is located on Long Beach Barrier Island, which is the westernmost of the outer barrier islands off Long Island's South Shore. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 33,275...
, and a restaurant, "Sans Souci." At Castle House, they taught New York society the latest dance steps by day, and greeted guests and performed at their club and cafe by night. They also were in demand for private lessons and appearances at fashionable parties. Despite their fame, they often found themselves treated as hired menials; if a rich client was too demanding, Vernon would quote a fee of a thousand dollars an hour for lessons and often get it.
Film and fashion
In addition to cabaret, the Castles also became staples of Broadway. Among their shows were The Sunshine Girl (1913) and Watch Your Step (1914), which boasted a score written by Irving BerlinIrving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
with them in mind. Emerging as America’s premier dance team, the Castles were trendsetters in a number of arenas. Their infectious enthusiasm for dance encouraged admirers to try new forms of social dance. Considered paragons of respectability and class, the Castles specifically helped remove the stigma of vulgarity from close dancing. The Castles’ performances, often set to ragtime and jazz rhythms, also popularized African-American music among well-heeled whites. Irene’s fashion sense, too, started national trends. Her elegant, yet simple, flowing gowns were often featured in fashion magazines. She is also credited with introducing American women to the bob—the short hairstyle favored by flappers in the 1920s.
The Castles appeared in a newsreel called Social and Theatrical Dancing in 1914 and wrote a bestselling instructional book, Modern Dancing, later the same year. The pair also starred in a feature film called The Whirl of Life (1915), which was well-received by critics and public alike. As the couple's celebrity increased in the mid-1910s, Irene Castle became a major fashion trendsetter, initiating the vogue for bobbed hair and shorter skirts. Her chic wardrobe was supplied almost exclusively by the couturiere "Lucile", (Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon
Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon
Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff Gordon was a leading fashion designer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, best known as "Lucile", her professional name. The first British designer to achieve international renown, Lucile was a widely-acknowledged innovator in couture styles as well as in fashion...
) but Irene also designed some of her clothes herself.
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
manager, and were animal-rights advocates decades before it became a public issue. Irene was also a fashion innovator, bobbing
Bob cut
A "bob cut" is a short haircut for women in which the hair is typically cut straight around the head at about jaw-level, often with a fringe at the front.-The beginning:...
her hair ten years before the flapper
Flapper
Flapper in the 1920s was a term applied to a "new breed" of young Western women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior...
look of the 1920s became popular.
The Castles endorsed Victor Records and Victrolas, issuing records by the Castle House Orchestra, led by James Reese Europe
James Reese Europe
James Reese Europe was an American ragtime and early jazz bandleader, arranger, and composer. He was the leading figure on the African American music scene of New York City in the 1910s.-Biography:...
–– a pioneering figure in Black music
African American music
African-American music is an umbrella term given to a range of musics and musical genres emerging from or influenced by the culture of African Americans, who have long constituted a large and significant ethnic minority of the population of the United States...
. They also lent their names to advertising for other merchandising products, from cigars and cosmetics to shoes and hats.
The Castles' greatest success was on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, in Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
's debut musical Watch Your Step
Watch Your Step (musical)
Watch Your Step is a musical with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and a book by Harry B. Smith. It was Irving Berlin's debut musical. "Play a Simple Melody" and "They Always Follow Me Around" as well as "When I Discovered You" and "The Syncopated Walk" were introduced by this...
(1914). In this extravaganza, the couple refined and popularized the Foxtrot
Foxtrot (Dance)
The foxtrot is a smooth progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band music, and the feeling is one of elegance and sophistication...
, which vaudeville comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
Harry Fox
Harry Fox
Harry Fox , born Arthur Carringford, was a vaudeville dancer and comedian, most famous for giving his name to the Fox Trot dance in New York. His steps were recorded by dance instructor F. L. Clendenen in his 1914 book Dance Mad as "The Fox Trot, as danced by Mr. Fox"...
is believed to have invented. After its New York run, Watch Your Step toured through 1916.
World War I: Vernon's death
Vernon returned to the UK to become a pilot in the Royal Flying CorpsRoyal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Flying over the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
he shot down two aircraft and was awarded the Croix de Guerre
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
in 1917. He was posted to Canada to train new pilots, and then promoted to Captain and posted to the US to train American pilots
Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps
The Aviation Section, Signal Corps, was the military aviation service of the United States Army from 1914 to 1918, and a direct ancestor of the United States Air Force. It replaced and absorbed the Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps, and was succeeded briefly by the Division of Military...
.
While flying at Benbrook Field, near Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, he took emergency action shortly after take off to avoid another aircraft. His plane stalled, and he was unable to recover control in time before the plane hit the ground. Vernon was the only casualty. He died soon after the crash, on . Irene paid tribute to Vernon in her memoir My Husband, 1919. There is a street in Benbrook named in his honor. Also placed on the street is a monument dedicated to him. Vernon was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. The grieving memorial figure on his grave was designed by Irene Castle's friend, the American sculptor Sally James Farnham (1869–1943).
Life without Vernon
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. Irene starred solo in about a dozen silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
s between 1917 and 1924 and appeared in several stage productions before retiring from show business. She married three more times –– to Robert Treman, Frederic McLaughlin
Frederic McLaughlin
Frederic McLaughlin was the first owner of the Chicago Black Hawks.Born in Chicago, Illinois, McLaughlin inherited a successful coffee business from his father, who died in 1905. McLaughlin was a graduate of Harvard University and served in the United States Army during World War I...
, and George Enzinger.
During her marriage to "Major" Frederic McLaughlin (who was the owner of the Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
) she is credited with designing the original sweater for the Blackhawks Hockey Club. She had two children with McLaughlin, Barbara McLaughlin Kreutz (b. 1925) and William McLaughlin (b. 1929).
Around 1930, "the best-dressed woman in America" presented a radio dramatisation of her European travels with her husband, bulldog Zowie and Walter ("father's coloured servant") around the capitals of Europe in "The Life of Irene Castle". Only one episode is known to still exist.
In 1939, her life with Vernon was turned into a movie, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle is an American biographical musical comedy, released in 1939 and directed by H.C. Potter. The film stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edna May Oliver, and Walter Brennan....
, produced by RKO and starring Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
and 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....
. Irene served as a technical advisor
Technical advisor
A technical advisor is an individual who is expert in a particular field of knowledge, hired to provide detailed information and advice to people working in that field...
on the film, but clashed with Rogers, who refused to short bob or darken her hair. A skirmish erupted when Rogers had the wardrobe department replace gray shoe ribbons with silver shoe ribbons for "The Missouri Waltz" number. Rogers felt the gray ribbons looked washed out, and that the silver ribbons would make her feet stand out. Irene also objected to white actor Walter Brennan playing their servant: "Walter was BLACK".
For the rest of her life, Irene was a staunch animal-rights activist, ultimately founding the Illinois animal shelter "Orphans of the Storm", which is still active.
In 1958, Irene appeared as a guest challenger on the TV panel show "To Tell The Truth".
Irene died .
Vernon and Irene Castle are interred together in the Woodlawn Cemetery
Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx
Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City and is a designated National Historic Landmark.A rural cemetery located in the Bronx, it opened in 1863, in what was then southern Westchester County, in an area that was annexed to New York City in 1874.The cemetery covers more...
in The Bronx, New York. There is a large monument to Vernon Castle near the site of his crash in Benbrook, Texas
Benbrook, Texas
Benbrook is a city located in the southwestern corner of Tarrant County, Texas, in Texas's 12th congressional district, and a suburb of Fort Worth...
.
Fashion gallery
Associated dances
- Bunny hugBunny hugThe Bunny hug was a dancing style performed by young people, in the early 20th century. It is thought to have originated in San Francisco, California in the Barbary Coast dance halls along with the Texas Tommy, Turkey Trot and Grizzly Bear....
- Castle WalkCastle Walkthumb|Castle walkCastle Walk is a dance originated and made famous by Vernon and Irene Castle. The Castle Walk became popular through its introduction into the Tango.In this dance, the man continually goes forward and the lady backward...
- Foxtrot
- Grizzly BearGrizzly Bear (dance)The Grizzly Bear is an early 20th century dance style. It started in San Francisco, along with the Bunny Hug and Texas Tommy and was also done on the Staten Island ferry boats in the 1900's. It has been said that dancers John Jarrott and Louise Gruenning introduced this dance as well as the Turkey...
- Hesitation Waltz
- MaxixeMaxixe (dance)The maxixe , occasionally known as the Brazilian tango, is a dance, with its accompanying music , that originated in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in 1868, at about the same time as the tango was developing in neighbouring Argentina and Uruguay...
- TangoTango (dance)Tango dance originated in the area of the Rio de la Plata , and spread to the rest of the world soon after....
- Turkey Trot
External links
- Irene Castle at the TCM Movie Database
- Radio Nostalgia Network - "Radio Journeys", Episode 17, including "The Life of Irene Castle"
- United States Library of Congress; American Memory. Dance Instruction Manuals: Modern Dancing By Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Castle
- Orphans of the Storm animal shelter founded by Irene Castle