May Howard

This is one in a series of posts in honor of Women’s History Month

May Howard (ca. 1860-1925) was a star of early burlesque. After becoming popular with several of the major burlesque companies of her day, she headed her own, which competed with Billy “Beef Trust” Watson’s by sporting the largest lasses, 150-2oo lbs. In her later years, she performed in a number of Broadway farces and revues, including the Ziegfeld Follies. She was married briefly to the songwriter Paul Dresser.

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