SWEETHEART OF THE AEF
Autographed Note, Signed "Elsie Janis"
Price: $150.00
About the item
1p., pen and ink on note card w/ glassine envelope. 4.5 X 2.75 inches. SWEETHEART OF THE AEF. Fine.
Item #308895
Reading” “My favorite role was Cindy in The Lady and the Slipper. Sincerely Elsie Janis”
American singer, songwriter, actress and screenwriter, Elsie Janis, was born Elsie Bierbower in Marion County, Ohio, in 1889. Janis began performing on stage when she was 5 years old. Her impersonation of famous singers, which she honed along with a comedy routine, had her headlining on the vaudeville circuit by the time she was 11, performing under the name, “Little Elsie.” She made her New York stage debut when she was 16, becoming the youngest star on Broadway, and changed her stage name to Elsie Janis. She wrote her first song when she was 21 and was one of the few lyricists to compose with Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern. At the height of her popularity, Janis volunteered to entertain the troops in France, during World War I, earning her the sobriquet “Sweetheart of the AEF.” Janis’s final Broadway performance was in 1939, and her last film role was in 1940. She died at her Beverly Hills home on February 27, 1956.
