New Britain Herald Newspaper, April 27, 1928, Page 27

~ Howthe Kansas Beauty High-Hatted " Herself info the Nobility g 2 ; 1 " Edythe Baker's Little ‘ .« . List of “Don'ts for Girls” That Took Her from the “Tank Circuit’ to the Top Peak of Society A AR o N EARLIER DAYS. An Older Photograph of Edythe Baker, Showing Her as She Appeared When She Was Just Becoming Known on Broadway. own. She was one of the first pianists to play against time— to achieve that ‘heart-break’ rhythm so popular now. She learned to dance and to sing, to modulate her voice in speaking, ., walk across the room. “I told her to have a room at a good hotel no matter if she had to live on one meal a day to do it. She il J‘ il always adhered to this rule. i i “The rules on public appearances |\ ! " she also followed to the letter. She L never appeared in public except with people who were a credit to her. Rather than go out with ‘just anybody’ she would stay home and read. “The rule on night clubs was a diffi- cult one, for every girl in Edythe’s posi- A Caricature of Miss Baker at the Piane. tion receives many invitations to such places and every girl likes a good time. her to stay in the backgreund socially 1 told her to visit only the best and then for the first year. SAME GIRL, DIFFERENT . CLOTHES. y ] # % Edythe Baker to arrive late. “During her second seasen in London { gnlppt‘ :.DY“;: BARER. “By one or two o'clock in the morning I felt that the time was ripe for her i When test Photogr: most of the women at night-clubs are bid for royal favors. One night she was She Was City Pi rather bedraggled. If Edythe planned to at one of the most exclusive London night “Hoofing” G"' ;‘a‘.: ¥ accept a night-club invitation she went clubs and by request sat down at the 4 With "v‘:'." F ¥ °; g home first, slept for two hours, took a Dpiano and played a few numbers. At Raymond e "l' Wie SIS warm bath, dressed leisurely and ap- 8 nearby table were the Prince of Wales, Hitchcock, o ."I";:'""' peared late—cool, calm and beautiful. I the Duke of York and Lord Mountbatten Famous ; LR told her to stay only a short time, and Wwith a party. Comedian. . P 4 4 Prives °'E';"'h ; then leave as quietly as she had come. “The_ Prince sent Lord Mountbatten to b ’ < . Ly e A “This system worked marvelously. She bring Edythe to his table. Edythe, who Social Prog would. cnter night-clubs In the manner was still following orders, expiained d . Kings- suggested and all would turn to her gracefully and charmingly that was f:;i ::l::wup Mt;e s‘t“o‘ry wonderingly. By the time those present just an unknown professional and did not again. He explained: learned her identity she would go—leav- feel worthy of the honor. She declined. HAVE a good address—even if you had a mother and younger brother have to go without food. and someone in the family had i Only appear in public with persons 1o, Bake UL, A K v gives the sume ing befind an imprecsion of cool, soft But the Prigee would net secept ber o who “amount to something. : h i ve to beauty. 5 home alone rather than go out with dei-'ded 't}}lxe w"'_:hk":“: toedo :" ;;?1‘;5}:5 éz;zrlwg:z ]egl;t “Finally, T felt she had perfected her- sortie and that time brought back the ; just anybody. T s T one hundred other girls, self to the point where she could enter demure and blushing Edythe. - Learn how to walk, talk, dress. (‘?"‘ e (YE‘;"tx"}, 'I““‘,K‘"‘;l.’]‘de but she was the only society and I introduced her to Mrs. Everyone knows what happened after Study French. e e e Dt e “ever had the Vincent Astor. Mrs. Astor liked her and that. Edythe was always seen in the ,Never appegr in public before four sl hioas A Getermination to carry invited her to appear in musicales at her company of the Prince and his friends. o'clock in the'afternoon. Kortas ad Tornd s Uth pleving through the plan. But home, and later as a gucst. Through the Prince she met Gerald Attend only the best night-clubs. e it inis moviJn Pic{“m Edythe was different— “Sponsored by Mrs. Astor, Edythe won D’Erlanger, who fell in love with her. o Sleep two hours before you go, dress the P g pi Y ok her work and @ place for herself among the ‘400.” Then _ So the Cinderella romance of Edythe Sy leisurely and arrive late, feeling re- Ao two vears ot Biis work her life seriously. I told her it was time for her to take Baker ended in a glittering matrimonial freshed. The other women will be ATHCr o Vo OF e SO “She practiced on the stock of herself and revalue values. I triumph. And, if you're interested, Ger- bedraggled and tired; you, with your o K i Pl ik i piano for five or six think everyone who is trying to advance ald D'Erlanger, who is twenty-ene, and cool, soft beauty, will shine by con- ausas Lity, which. wap =l hours & day and per- himself should do that from time to time. his beautiful wife, who Ys twenty-seven, something of a “flash cow town.” That is, the rich Kansas and ;l)‘:;n: clttle:mn and the richer . { ahoma oil men were always 4 DYTHE BAKER learned these rules passing threugh in search t’:’f 3 by heart and they gave her her lav’iuh and lrivelgv en';eminment. heart's desire. They carried her n one of the cafes Edythe z hai N and her piano becam st from the job of pianist in a small-time g o i"“d. The reic)tnheu?tel:— Kansas movie theatre up the dizzy, dan- men and the richer oil men saw gerous social ladder. They made her the her and liked her, but she re- friend of Mrs. Vincent Astor and the fav- gigted any social advances. Per- orite dancing partner of the Prince of haps she felt even in those days Wales, And, just the other day, they that she was destined for the made her the wife of Gerald D' Erlanger, gsocial heights. fected a system of play- “Next Edythe went to London. She are spending their honeymoon en trast. Stay only a short time. ing that was entirely her was a success professionally, but I told Riviera. Be modest and retiring. oo the handsome, wealthy son of the famous Then Harry Fox, well known 1 British baron and banker. comedian of vaudeville, saw her Do these rules seem a wee bit snob- and offered her a job in his com- }, bish? If you think so don’t be too harsh pany. Shrewd, soft-eyed Edythe in your judgment of lovely, blonde, saw it was a step upward and she 2 bobbed-haired Edythe. It took more than accepted. Sy .ff:fffl?firf,‘,sy“" et mere snobbishness to win her eleven-year A year passed —Edythe was Gorald D'Erlanger, Sn in Londom Just battle for social recognition and glamor- moving toward New York and ager. Snapshatied in B ous marriage. It took brains and fame. The act in which she geraty, appeared opened at a theatre in the First Kingsley arranged for Edythe toy Here, then, is the fact story of a beau- Bronx. Walter Kingsley, noted not only play for Florenz Ziegfeld. A piano was tiful, blue-eyed social climber’s step-by- as a press-agentbut as a vaudeville scout, placed on the great bare stage of the step progress. It is an amazing commen- heard her play. New Amsterdam Theatre and the girl, tary, revealed for the first time by Walter “Afterward,” he said, “[ went back. went to it. After she finished Ziegfeld Kingsley, famous New York theatrical stage to meet her. I had never heard asked her to stand up. He was amazed ress-agent, the man who gave Edythe of her before, but I felt from the way at her powerful playing and said he just 3 o . 5uker the rules she never neglected for she rhyed that she had a splendid future. wanted to know where on earth all her SOCIAL AND AERIAL HEIGHTS. i a single moment. 1 told her that and said that if she would strength came from. g 3 5 R Edythe was born in Kansas City, Mis- place herself in my hands and follow my Thus Edythe Baker became a soloist The Gerald D’Erlangers Ready to Start by Airplane for Th oneymoon on t 'T couri. Her father died and when she was advice 1 could guarantee her fame and in the “Follies.” - Long Struggle for Secial Recognition Hed Ended in rismph. st fourteen her family was penniless. She fortune. She agreed.” At this point we will let the skilful o (Cepuright, 1028, Internations! Feature ervice, igo., Great Britaia Bights Reserved. - Lk R Mt 1115