Supporting Roles
Ladies - A thru L

Neile Adams is a native of Manila and was educated in Hong Kong and the United States. A veteran of the Broadway Company of "Kismet," she was chosen for the role by Jack Cole who saw her dancing at the Coconut Grove in Hollywood. She has danced at many of the leading night clubs around the country and on television she has appeared on Omnibus, Paul Winchell, Lux, and Man Against Crime shows.

Adams met and married American film and television actor Steve McQueen in 1956. The couple had two children together. The marriage ended in divorce in 1972. In 1958, producer George Abbott offered Adams a role in the Broadway production of "Damn Yankees." She was unable to accept because the Versailles Club would not release her from her contract as a dancer. Adams opened the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas in 1958 with Dick Shawn and Vivian Blaine.

A Georgia peach, tiny Miss Anderson attended Wesleyan College and made her debut in "Leave It To Jane" in New York, afterwards playing in "Little Mary Sunshine." Stock has found her in "West Side Story" and "The Student Prince," in addition to her many "bits" this summer, and she has been active in children's theatre in such tours as "Tom Edison and the Wonderful Why" and "Young Abe Lincoln."

Ms. Beardsley is a graduate of the University of Iowa and has appeared in such varied summer stock productions as "Meet Me in St. Louis," "Music Man," and "Tobacco Road." She appeared off Broadway in "A Man's A Man," "Camino Real," "Leave It To Jane," and "In Good King Charles' Golden Days."

Miss Beardsley has worked on a number of the prestige network television shows, including "Naked City," "Car 54," "U. S. Steel Hour," and "The Sid Casear Show." Alice's Braodway credits include the play "The Wall" (1960) and Off Broadway in "The Kid" (1972). Her film credits include: Zelig (1983), Keeping On (1983), Too Far To Go (1979), and Promises In The Dark (1979).

Lori performed on Broadway in "The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd" in 1965 and then in "It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman" in 1966. She then retired and lived happily married in upper New York State.

Muriel Birkhead applied for her first professional role, as a member of the chorus, and was hired immediately as understudy to the Anne Jeffreys, in "My Romance." She also appeared in "My Darlin' Aida," and in the City Center Light Opera Company's 1959 production of "The Most Happy Fella" and had the leading role in Off-Broadway's "Triad." A winner on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, Miss Birkhead has appeared in concerts throughout the country and has sung in top nightclubs including the St. Moritz and Pierre Hotels in Manhattan. She is a native of the District of Columbia.

Miss Cardinoza began her theatrical career as one of the royal children in 'The King and I" with Yul Brynner and the late Gertrude Lawrence, playing the full Broadway run, and later touring the U. S. and Canada as one of the royal dancers.

She played a Japanese serving girl in "A Majority of One," on Broadway, and in summer theatre she has played at the Papermill Playhouse, the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, and the Mineola Playhouse, as well as here at the Music Circus. Yvette, who is of Polish and Filipino descent, has played the parts of Siamese, Tonkinese, and Japanese, but has yet to play the part of a Filipino.

Carney was born on September 15, 1911, in Hartford, Connecticut. After graduating from Hartford's Bulkeley High School she moved to New York City to begin an acting career.

Early in Carney's career she worked in theatrical stock companies, and performed as part of the ensemble in her first Broadway show, "Fantasia," in 1933. Her other Broadway stage credits are: Birdie Monyhan in "Donnybrook!" (1961); Madge (understudy) and Lizzy Sweeney (understudy) in "Philadelphia, Here I Come!" (1966); Mrs. Winemiller in "The Eccentricities of a Nightingale" (1976); Angel in "Vieux Carre" (1977); Mrs. Snowden in "Angel" (1978); and Mrs. Polianoffsky in "My Old Friends" (1979).

Carney also found work in early television, when most TV shows were broadcast from New York City. On May 24, 1946 she played the Divorcee in Angels Don't Marry, which was broadcast live on the DuMont Television Network. From 1949 to 1956 Carney had roles in at least four episodes of Kraft Television Theatre, including Payment Deferred (1949) and Time Lock (1956).

From 1950 to 1954 Carney played Mabel King on the DuMont Television Network series Rocky King Detective. As an economy measure Carney was heard, but not seen, as the wife of Detective Rocky King. DuMont always suffered from limited funds, and in an early episode Carney was asked to play both the detective's wife and a woman connected to the crime being investigated. Since the thirty-minute series was broadcast live there wasn't time for Carney to change her clothing and make-up, so she spoke her Mable lines offscreen. The audience enjoyed the novelty of a character that was never seen, and so Carney continued to speak her lines out of camera range.

Carney also had roles on The Phil Silvers Show and Route 66. She played Mrs. Weyerhaus in the 1970 film The Owl and the Pussycat.

Source: wikipedia.org/

Miss Charnay was first featured on Broadway with Claudette Colbert in "Julia, Jake, and Uncle Joe," and in "A Family Affair," in which she also understudied Eileen Heckart, and she made her debut in "Tonight in Samarkand." Off-Broadway she has been seen in several of the Circle in the Square Productions, and she has graced summer stock in Woodstock, Litchfield, Lakewood, and Fitchburg.

As a singer-actress, Miss Charnay has appeared in a number of musical revues, including Jerry Herman's "Mixed Company," and a number of Boston revues. She has also entertained from nightclub floors and at resorts, principally at Upstairs at the Duplex, Showplace, Pin-Up, Montauk Manor, Camp Tamiment and Barrow Lodge. Miss Charnay is a familiar figure to watchers of The Defenders, PM, Suspense, and The Goldbergs. She attended the U. of Wisconsin, Columbia, the American Academy and the Theatre Wing.

Cathy Conklin appeared on Broadway as the flower girl in "My Fair Lady" in 1956 in the dance troupe in "All American" which starred Ray Bolger in 1962. Fellow actor in this 1963 production of "Carousel," Reid Shelton, was also in the original "My Fair Lady" with Ms. Conklin.

Woven into the cloth of Miss Cushman's career on Broadway, is the distinction of having appeared in four Pulitzer Prize plays: "Death of a Salesman," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "Look Homeward, Angel," and "J.B." She is a collateral descendant of America's first famous native actress, Charlotte Cushman, and studied Drama with the celebrated Annie Russell at Rollins College where she received her B. A. Degree.

Miss Cushman's first Braodway appearance occured twenty-five years ago in "White Man," after which she played in "Storm over Patsy," and "Gloriana." She appeared on Broadway for a two year run in Brock Pemberton's "Janie," and later toured the Pacific with "Junior Miss." After a series of stock engagements, Miss Cushman went on an extended national trek with "Death of a Salesman." Later on came "Cat on a Hot Tin Rook," and a tour with the Ruth Hussey package of "The Desk Set." This was followed by a national your with Walter Pidgeon in "The Happiest Millionaire," and the day she returned from that she joined the "Look Homeward, Angel" company on Broadway, later going into "The Man in the Dog Suit." This was followed by "J.B.," and then a national tour in a new play starring Nancy Kelly, In 1959 she toured the summer circuit playing Sara Roosevelt in "Sunrise at Campobello." She took a leave of absence from Edward Albee's off-Broadway success "The American Dream in order to appear in the Music Circus' 1960 production of "Sunrise at Campobello.".

Source: Music Circus Website Archives

Brown-eyed Shirley Dalzell is a graduate of the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York and holds a bachelor's degree in Music from Cornell College in Iowa, her home state. A Music Circus favorite, she has played in a number of shows here including "Music Man," "Gypsy," "Three Penny Opera," "Fiorello," "Pal Joey," "Desert Song," "Destry Rides Again," and "Bye Bye Birdie."

She made her professional debut with the New London Players in New Hampshire. She appeared at the Papermill Playhouse, and the Gladiator Arena Theatre. Other stock credits include Adelaide in "Guys and Dolls," Sally Adams in "Call Me Madam," Agnes Gooch in "Auntie Mame," Babe in "The Pajama Game," and Gittel in "Two for the Seesaw."

Off-Broadway audiences have caught Miss Dalzell in "Sweet Mianie," and "An Evening With Chekhov." At Phase 2, in New York, she also was featured in "Pass the Nuts."

Miss Deering made her debut with the Shuberts in "White Lilacs," "New Moon," "Three Little Girls," and any number of others. More recently she has been seen in "Red Head," "Tom Sawyer," and "Destry Rides Again," among others.

A music graduate from Texas Christian University, Miss Deering has appeared on all major programs on television, including Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, Jack Paar, Red Skelton, Columbia Workshop, Dupont, the Old Vic Hamlet, Art Carney specials, U. S. Steel and Car 54.

Other Broadway credits in her dossier are "Great Day," "Red Robe," "Naked Genius," "Salvation," "On A String," and "Auntie Mame." She has appeared in such stock hits as "Show Boat" and "Call Me Madam," and she acted extensively on radio commercials and films have also kept Miss Deering busy.

Norma Doggett (August 3, 1925, Chicago, IL - May 4, 2020, Forest Hills, Queens, NYC) was an American dancer and actress who began her career as a dancer, performing in the Chez Paree Club's ensemble in Chicago. She later worked at the Blackhawk Club. Doggett's Broadway credits included "Bells Are Ringing" (1956), "Fanny" (1954), "Wish You Were Here" (1952), "Miss Liberty" (1949), "All for Love" (1949), and "Magdalena" (1948-1948). Her films included Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).

Source: wikipedia.org/

Miss Frank "lit up" the Music Circus in the 1962 Music Circus production of "Gypsy" as the battery-charged stripper "Electra" in "Gypsy," and danced in the 1963 season as Maggie in "Brigadoon." A favorite with Broadway choreographers, she has danced featured roles in "Li'l Abner," "Once Upon A Mattress," "Tenderloin," "Sail Away," and "No Strings."

Dottie has appeared on almost every major television show, including The Gershwin Years, and has just completed her first movie, "The Cardinal." She toured last winter in a "package" of "Can-Can" which played her home town of St. Louis, as well as the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles. She has played Claudine in productions of "Can-Can," and the title role in "Gypsy."

She also appeared on Broadway in "Irene" (1973 - 1974), "Different Times" (1972), "Beggar on Horseback" (1970), "Coco" (1969 - 1970), Leonard Sillman's "New Faces of 1968" (1968)

Julie Gibson (born Gladys Camille Soray; September 6, 1913 - October 2, 2019) was an American singer; radio, television, and film actress; and vocal artist and coach, who had a career in movies during the 1940s. Gibson, who retired from the industry in 1984, was known for her work opposite The Three Stooges. She also collaborated with Orson Welles, John Huston, Ida Lupino and The Bowery Boys.

In the 1950s, Gibson's career was relegated mostly to mid-sized to smaller supporting roles in films and on television. In the 1960s, she served as a Dialogue Supervisor on two dozen episodes of the television sitcom Family Affair. She also worked as an accent coach to help actors in films to speak appropriately for their characters' backgrounds. Gibson also dubbed vocals for Betty Hutton and Diana Lynn in some films. She also went to Europe and supplied English voices for foreign stars in Italian and French films.

Source: wikipedia.org/

Before coming to the Music Circus, Miss Haydn appeared with the Royal Ballet and at the Cafe Theater in Boston in a revue, "Bits & Pieces." Born Marlene Weinstock in Philadelphia in 1943, she made her way, after a two year stint at the Music Circus, to Greenwich Village and became a hostess at the famous club, The Bitter End. Here she found herself more interested in the cabaret scene and less-so in acting. She met the comedian Lenny Bruce in 1965, when she was 22 and he was 40 years old. They developed an instant connection and were engaged up until his death in August of 1966. This is when she changed her stage name to Lotus Weinstock. Bruce and Weinstock moved to Los Angeles where she made the rounds in the comedy clubs, beginning a new career as a stand up comedian.

Lotus wasn't simply a stand-up comedian, she also wrote a book, a play, and was a musician. Her book, The Lotus Position, is filled with some of her famous anecdotes like, "I married Mr. Right. Mr. Always Right." She died in California on August 31, 1997, at the age of 54.

Source: Music Circus Website Archives
Source: wikipedia.org/

Miss Hayes began her professional career at the Bucks County Playhouse in "Miss Mabel" while she was a freshman at Syracuse University. She has studied with Robert Lewis, Jose Quintero and Stella Adier, and is a member of Tamara Darkayhanova's actors group. Broadway first glimpsed her as a triple understudy for Kay Medford, Doretta Morrow and Dorothy Greener in "Poker Game," and her Broadway and off-Broadway credits are many.

She was also seen at the Mayfair Theatre in "Hey You, Light Man," and while rehearsing for "In The Counting House" on Broadway in 1962, she commuted by plane every day between Boston and New York to appear nightly in her first musical, "Threepenny Opera." Other Broadway roles have been in such plays as "Daughter of Silence," "Happy As Larry," "Way of the World," "Invitation To a March," "U.S.A.," and "A Clearing in the Woods." Televiewers have caught Miss Hayes on two "Naked City" programs, and she has appeared on the afternoon serial "Edge of Night." Both she and her husband were reared in Philadelphia and were married there.

Winning a contest at a theater took Hodges from her home in Des Moines, IA to Chicago, where her national career began. From there, she traversed the United States, singing on the radio, in night clubs, and with orchestras. She performed at the Empire Room and the Hotel Sherman, both in Chicago. One of her early jobs was being the lead singer with Carol Loftner and his orchestra. She also sang with Ted Fio Rito, Ben Bernie, Jimmy Grier, Ozzie Nelson, and Abe Lyman and their orchestras, among others.

Hodges' Broadway credits include "Nellie Bly" (1945), "The Odds on Mrs. Oakley" (1944), "Dream with Music" (1943), and "I'd Rather Be Right" (1937). In 1972, she replaced Ruby Keeler in the revival of "No, No, Nanette" on Broadway. Perhaps the most memorable of Hodges' Broadway performances was singing "Have You Met Miss Jones?" in "I'd Rather Be Right.' She later said, "I became the toast of Broadway and sang the most recognizable song in America at that time&mdash: everyone adored Miss Jones."

Her screen debut came in a short, "A Night at the Biltmore Bowl" for RKO Pictures, and her first film, after signing with RKO for five years, was "Old Man Rhythm" (1935). She also made soundies (musical short films) in addition to regular films.

During World War II, Hodges sang with Harry James and his orchestra as they entertained military personnel on USO tours in Europe.

On old-time radio, Hodges was the female singer on The Joe Penner Show on CBS beginning in October 1936. She left that program to make her stage debut in "I'd Rather Be Right" in November 1937. In 1944, she filled in for Arlene Francis as host of the radio version of Blind Date when it was broadcast from Detroit. She also sang and was co-host, with Durward Kirby, on Honeymoon in New York on NBC in 1946.

On January 19, 2003, Hodges died at age 88 in Palm Desert, California, of complications following a stroke. She was buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Des Moines.

Source: wikipedia.org/

Miss Hudson, a favorite of Music Circus audiences, scored here in 1962 and 1964 in "The Music Man," and previously in such hits as "Tenderloin" and "Fanny." Her Broadway exposure was in "New Faces of 1962." She first came to N. Y. as a Texas co-winner with Van Cliburn in a national talent contest with exposure at Carnegie Hall.

She made her professional debut touring in "The Student Prince," as the Grand Duchess, and the New York productions in her dossier are "Triad," "The Golden Apple," "The Tattooed Countess," and "Young Abe Lincoln." Miss Hudson spent the winter of 1962 in Europe in a U. S. production of "The Boys From Syracuse." If her face seems familiar to you, it's not surprising. She made a series of tablet detergent commercials for television with comedian Wally Cox.

Travis' Broadway credits include: "Broadway Follies" (1981), "The Grand Tour" (1979), revival of "Very Good Eddie" (1975), "The Grass Harp" (1971), and "New Faces of 1962" (1962).

From Bangor, Maine, and from the very popular company of "Little Mary Sunshine" off-Broadway, Miss Jay came to the Music Circus after extensive training at the American Theatre Wing for acting, Caroll Hollitzer for voice, and Matt Maddox for dance. She has played leading and featured roles in both dramatic and musical stock and community theatre, in such durable vehicles as "Oklahoma!," "The King and I," "The Importance of Being Earnest," "Auntie Mame," "The Insect Comedy," and "Twelfth Night." She was under contract to Radar Record Co. in New York.

Miss Johnston appeared in the 1955 Off-Broadway production of "The Three Penny Opera" as Polly Peachum. On Broadway she appeared in "Juno," "Tenderloin," and "Do Re Mi." In film she appeared in It Happened to Jane. And she was seen in leading roles on TV, including Kraft Theatre and Studio One.

Miss Krebs has sung the role of Nettie in "Carousel" at the Civic Light Opera in Pittsburgh and the Starlight Musicals in Indianapolis. A member of the New York City Opera Company, with which she also toured, she has presented three German Lieder recitals in New York. Miss Krebs has appeared at the Maramoor Festival's outdoor Venetian Theatre singing in "Troilus and Cressida," "Dido and Aenaes," "The Chocolate Soldier," and "South Pacific."

In the summer of 1960, Richard Rodgers insisted that she create the role of Mother Abbess in the National Company of "The Sound of Music," and she has toured the country in this role, taking Mr. Hammerstein's admonition "Climb Every Mountain" quite literally. She has been soloist for many of the famous symphony orchestras and this 1963 Miss Krebs became head of the voice department at Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh.

Doe Lang has been seen on Broadway in such hits as "Inherit the Wind," My Darlin' Aida," and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." On TV she has been featured on "Producers' Showcase," "Omnibus," "Kraft Theatre," and "Studio One."

This performance was Ms. Latham's Music Circus debut. A recognized character actress, Miss Latham has appeared on Broadway in "Ring Around the Moon," "The Heiress," "Buy Me Blue Ribbons," and "Pygmalion." On television she was seen on Studio One, Philco, Kraft and Goodyear shows. She appeared on Broadway in 1942 in Terence Rattigan's "Flare Path" with Alec Guinness. From 1914 to 1970, Miss Latham appeared in over 13 Broadway plays, comedies, and musicals including "Red Head" with Gwen Verdon and Richard Kiley (1959-60) and "The Country Wife" with Pamela Brown and Julie Harris (1957-58).

A graduate from Northwestern University, Miss Lehman first trod the boards professionally while still in college, at the Kansas City Starlight Theatre in 1961. New York first saw her as a member of the chorus and understudy in "I Can Get It For You Wholesale," eventually going on for practically every female in the show. Miss Lehman's first role in a musical was as Patience Snow in "Carousel," in 1952 in her home town of Fort Wayne, and in the 1963 Music Circus production she is playing the role of Carrie Snow, Patience's mother. She appeared in a topical review, "Five Faces Out" at Boston's Statler Hilton Hotel, and has made a children's record "The Bluebird Home Playhouse."

Philadelphian Peggy LeRoy attended Jacksonville University in Florida and also studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. At age 10 she was paid for a Fanny Brice monologue, but it wasn't until 1962 in "The Golden Apple" at the York Playhouse that she was reviewed by the aisle sitters in New York.

Stock credits include leads in "Two for the Seesaw," "The Rose Tattoo," "The Miracle Worker," and "South Pacific," and she played in "Greenwich Village U.S.A.", at the Bon Soir, in "The Tattooed Countess" at the Barbizon Plaza, and in "Roaring 20's" off-Broadway. Television emphasis has been on commercials, and she has worked widely in radio. She owns the cooky pink sheep-dog who won attention in "The Good Soldier Schweik" off-Broadway.

Marta Linden (born Marta Leffler; October 24, 1903 - December 13, 1990) was best known for appeared in Mickey Rooney's film A Yank at Eton (1942). She was the daughter of Swedish parents. In the 1920s, she married businessman Albert Schmid, whose fortune disappeared in the Great Depression. After her husband lost his fortune, Linden found a job working at a candy counter. Eventually she decided that opportunity awaited in Hollywood, so the family moved there. Her acting at the Pasadena Community Playhouse developed into playing female leads. That exposure, in turn, led to interest from film executives. Linden's Broadway credits include "The Starcross Story" (1954), "The Curious Savage" (1950), "Cry of the Peacock" (1950), "The Men We Marry" (1948), and "Present Laughter" (1946).[2] She also acted in the touring version of Present Laughter. In 1954, Linden appeared in the soap opera Woman with a Past on CBS.

Source: wikipedia.org/

Luba Lisa's Broadway credits include: "I Had a Ball" (1964), "West Side Story" [Revival] (1964), "I Can Get It for You Wholesale" (1962), "Carnival!" (1961).

This is what Jack Lawrence of www.iclassics.com/ said writing about I Had a Ball: "Addie's at it Again" was a late addition put in right before we went into Broadway. When we cast Luba Lisa it was the first time she ever played a part in a show; she had always been in the chorus. And our producer, Joe Kipness, was afraid she was too young. But she was so good and so sexy in her naïve way—she was only 18 or 19 when we cast her. We were desperately looking for ideas to use her to the best of her abilities. Her singing of the counterpoint in "Addie's at it Again" was brilliant. You can hear just how wonderful she was on the cast album. She was going to be a big Broadway star. One of the saddest days of my life was when I heard she was killed in a plane crash along with Bruce Yarnell, another great talent, on November 30, 1973 near Los Angeles, CA.

Miss Lister, one of the regular dancers at the Music Circus, was soloist with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in Pour Swans, the Pas de Trois in "Raymonda" and the Scrub Girl in "Gaite Parisianne." A native of Pensacola Florida, Miss Lister studied at NYU and at Hunter College. She danced for four years with the Ballet Russe, and has also danced at Radio City Music Hall, where at one point she was stuck up in the air for a full hour when the aerial scenery malfunctioned. TV credits include the Ed Sullivan Show and the Bell Telephone Hour.

Eleanor Lutton has been a Music Circus favorite since the 1951 season. She made her debut with the Chicago Opera Company and had her own radio show over WGN in the same city.