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Stage Name |
Birth Name |
| Harriet Hoctor |
Harriet Hoctor |
Hoctor did many dances as well as some Keith/Orpheum
Vaudeville Circuit, Minstrel shows and Burlesque shows at the
Palace Theater. She would soon become a featured dancer in the
1929 Ziegfeld Follies. She also appeared in her hometown with
the Walter A. Wood Company Minstrels. When she left to New York
to study dance more seriously her Aunt Annie Kearney would act
as her chaperone in her travels.
Hoctor had her Broadway debut in 1920 as a
chorus dancer in Jerome Kern's musical “Sally.” By
1923 she would be dancing in the Topsy and Eva show. Later, Hoctor
left the stage and danced in a few movies which portrayed her
famous double-jointed "Backbend" dance (see
pic) which brought her the title of "America's Most
Cleverest Ballerina." She danced in such films as "The
Great Ziegfeld," "Casa Manaña Review" and
“Shall We Dance,” with Fred
Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
Hoctor opened her own school in 1941 called the "Harriet
Hoctor's Boston Ballet School."
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| More
Photos |
| Hoctor
danced with a cheerfulness and energy but rarely smiled, this
would get her dubbed as "The Lady Who Never Smiles."
When asked about it, she didn't care if anyone wanted her to smile,
she was dancing for herself, not what anyone thought. Harriet
loved to dance and danced only for the feeling it gave her. Every
one loved Harriet as a person and dancer.
In 1974 she retired, sold her studio and moved to Lorton, Virginia
where she past away on June 11, 1977 |
Birth Place |
Birth Date |
Spouse |
Offspring |
| Hosick
Falls, NY |
9/25/1903
- 6/9/77 |
not
married |
n/a |
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Night Clubs |
Theaters |
Stage |
| Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe (40's) |
1927/30 - Ziegfeld
Theater |
1923/26 - Topsy
and Eva |
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1927/30 - Palace
Theater |
1927 - A la Carte |
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1931 - Roxy Theater |
1928 - Three Musketeers |
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1931/32 - N.Y.
Hippodrome |
1929 - Ziegfeld
Follies |
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1932 - Rockefeller Center |
1930 - Simple Simon |
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1932 - Dying Swan |
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Various Ziegfeld Revues |
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1932 - Earl Carroll Vanities |
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1933 - Hold Your Horses |
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1942 - Diamond Horseshoe |
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Varieties |
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1972 - Reigner |
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Films |
Television |
Publications |
| $1936
- The Great Ziegfeld |
n/a |
11/1927 - Dance
Magazine |
| 1937 - Billy Rose Casa Manaña |
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12/1927 - Dance
Magazine |
| 1937 - Hollywood |
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1936 - Ballet is Magic (book) |
| $1937
- Shall We Dance |
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| 1938 - Casa Manaña Review |
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| 1942 - Diamond Horseshoe |
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Ballrooms
