Elfie Fay: The Belle of Avenue A

Today is the birthday of Elfie Fay (1879-1927). She was the daughter of Hugh Fay of the Irish comedy act of Barry and Fay. When Hugh died, Elfie replaced him in the vaudeville act briefly forming a team with his old partner Lydia Barry.

She appeared in two Broadway productions, The Southerners (1904) and Mam’selle ‘Awkins (1900). Her penchant for ad libbing got her attention, and soon she was a popular vaudeville singing comedienne, considered one of the funniest women on the New York stage. Her big hit was “The Belle of Avenue A”.

In her last year, she made 3 silent comedy shorts, the first of which was directed by her her brother Hugh Fay fils, the last of which was directed by Norman Taurog and starred Lloyd Hamilton.  Elfie died of TB in 1927.

To find out more about the variety artspast and present, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold. 

And don’t miss my new book: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, just released by Bear Manor Media, also available from amazon.com etc etc etc