Portland Public Library

Ray Bolger, more than a scarecrow, Holly Van Leuven

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

individual biography

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Ray Bolger

bibliography

1030447683

Holly Van Leuven

more than a scarecrow

"Best remembered for his role as the Scarecrow in the 1939 MGM musical The Wizard of Oz, Ray Bolger led a rich and extraordinary career in the decade before and more than four decades after the creation of the film. 'Ray Bolger: More Than a Scarecrow' is the first biography of this classic American entertainer, covering the luminous and forgotten career of the eccentric dancer outside of his burlap mask. The product of a fragmented, working-class Boston Irish family, Bolger learned tap and eccentric dance steps as solace for a difficult life before running away to repertory theater and vaudeville. From there, he would go on to become a Broadway star, a contract player at Hollywood's major studios, one of the first performers to tour the South Pacific for the USO, a Tony Award winner, an early sitcom star, and the opening headliner of the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas. Using unprecedented access to Bolger's papers and many never-before-published photographs, Ray Bolger: More Than a Scarecrow pieces together the lost story of an itinerant hoofer who survived and thrived during the major media changes of the twentieth century and established himself as a staple of American pop culture."--Book jacket

Introduction: The timeless wanderer -- "What will you be? It's up to you!" -- Entering show business -- Steppin' in society -- Depression days -- Broadway goes west -- Jupiter forbid -- Soldiers in greasepaint -- Where's Charley? -- The new triple threat man -- All American -- Epilogue: No sad songs