 |
| Studio Piaz, Paris, circa 1930-34. |
I hate how people disappear from history. People who "did things", things that are no longer considered important or interesting, or those whose work is credited to someone else. Artists and writers whose paintings or sculptures, books or poems are out of style and ignored, forgotten. And performing artists, particularly. Those whose art was of the moment, was always and only meant for an audience. And then when the audience leaves... forever?
 |
| George Platt Lynes, 1933. |
I couldn't find really anything specific about the dancer and singer Henri Wessels. Not when he was born, not when he died. Described as an "eccentric dancer", a "class hoofer", he's most frequently mentioned as a performer at the Cotton Club, from as early as 1925 until at least 1936, usually to the accompaniment of Duke Ellington's orchestra. He performed solo, but mostly with various female partners, the best known of whom was Mildred Dixon. (Who would soon become Ellington's longtime companion.) A friend of the family, he was apparently the sole teacher of the Berry Brothers, the great rivals of the Nicholas Brothers. And in the early Thirties he performed in Paris with the legendary Mistinguett; after a reported stay of three years, it is said he returned to the states speaking French as fluently as English. In 1936, a review of a performance at the Cotton Club mentions him thus:
Henri Wessels is the Adonis of the show, offering some fair singing and sock acrobatic dance specialties. Handsome and well built, he does a sexy dance [...] the Jungle Jingle.
The last reference to him I could find came in 1943, when he was stationed at March Field, the Army Air Force base, in southern California. And that, merely reporting that he was there. The middle of WWII. And then what...?
*
(If anyone has any further information on Henri Wessels, I'd love to hear it.)
Dear Stephilius, he may be listed in the 1940 census.
ReplyDeleteThere is listed a Henri Wessels with an address in NYC with his aunt and cousin.
It also gives his birthdate as 1908.
-Rj in the IE
Thank you Rj! That birth date could easily be correct; he would have been about seventeen or eighteen when he's first mentioned at the Cotton Club. Young, but one often reads of really young singers and dancers performing as adults during that period.
Delete(By the way, what does "in the IE" stand for?)
Inland Empire = Riverside County, California
DeleteAh, yes - thanks for that! I lived in LA (LA proper) for about seven years but, somehow, never headed in an easterly direction. I still have friends who live "in the IE", though.
DeleteIt is a shame that there is so little information about the cabaret and vaudeville performers of the past.
ReplyDeleteMy maternal grandfather came to America from Spain in 1920 and among his first jobs was working for a maintenance crew at several vaudeville theaters in NYC and New Jersey. And later going to nightclubs.
He would often tell me about all the performers he had met at that time in the 1920s and 1930s.
The stories he could tell !
He often wondered whatever became of them after vaudeville died and the nightclub milieu of those times ended.
-Rj in the IE
I've been studying/reading about Henri Wessels's step-father lyricist Henry Creamer, who married Wessels mother Lillian O. Wessels in 1912. The couple had another son and name him Henry, as well. Creamer (the father) was a seasoned theater guy, who worked as usher, program seller, and eventually house manager. As a lyricist he co-wrote songs for stage and also produced some shows. His most famous song is probably "After You've Gone," which he co-wrote with pianist Turner Layton. Henry Creamer was also an eccentric dancer and may have had an influence on stepson Henri Wessels. And Wessels is said to have taught/coached the Berry Brothers (check out their impressive acrobatic moves on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Paba8mqjgI). They leap and jump from balconies and steps in their routines. And Wessels performed at the Cotton Club. In the 21st edition of the Cotton Club Parade, Henri Wessels is said to have sung "Let's Put On the Ritz," with Aida Ward in 1932. Creamer himself is an important figure in American theater and in African-American musical stage. He worked with others to unionize black performers (they weren't allowed membership to the white performers union) and to create more serious material for black performers. Check out Ben West's guest blog at the Library of Congress on Henry Creamer if you're interested. https://blogs.loc.gov/music/2020/02/the-curious-case-of-henry-creamer-or-a-mammy-a-mule-and-a-moon/
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this, Thena! So glad to know the connection between Wessels and Creamer.
Deletelovely! Looks like it's coming up for auction this month too! https://live.swanngalleries.com/lots/view/4-8QARX6/george-platt-lynes-1907-1955-henri-wessels
ReplyDeleteHe performed in the 1946 revival of Show Boat on Broadway as a dancer, choreographed by Helen Tamiris. Hus name appears as Henry Wessel, but several interviews with historical Joe Nash reveals he is the same Cotton Club and Follies Berger performer.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this!
Delete