100 Years Ago Today: The Tragicomic Death of Bert Savoy

100 years ago today, the drag world and the big time vaudeville circuit suffered a major loss when Bert Savoy left the earth in a premature but typically dramatic fashion. Savoy was decades ahead of his time, a flamboyant and unapologetic gay man who specialized in female impersonation. He also happened to be one of the most hilarious comedians in all of show business, as one half of an act he had with his partner Jay Brennan, which I wrote about here in my 2011 post.

Savoy died tragically young on June 26, 1923, else he may have been much better remembered today. His legendary last words are perhaps the richest that ever were spoken, and predictably blasphemous. While walking on a Long Island beach with friends during a violent lightning storm, he turned to the person next to him and said, “Mercy, ain’t Miss God cutting up something awful?” There was a blue flash, a crack – and that was the end of Bert Savoy. Who said the deity doesn’t have a sense of humor?

To find out more about the history of vaudeville and stars like Savoy and Brennan, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.