The Indianapolis times., 1936-05-25
-Toddy's Short Story


buskins or Terpsichore went into a
tap dance.
You 90 away for couple of
months and come back and see the
same performer go through the mo-
tions of the same performance. And
it's lousyl
You look at them with your mouth
open and you say to yourself:
How could anybody who was as
good as this one was turn out to be
as terrible as this one is?"
VTENITA DARCY brought up this
train of thought. Venita has
come and gone several times in the
last Is years. since the day she en-
tered the field of vaudeville via the
carnival route.
If memory does not betray, that
debut Of Venita's was attended by
hysteria and violence because her
first audience was reused to such
frenzied applause that the attention
of the law was attracted to her per-
formance and she was pinched for
needless exposure.
Naturally, Venita went straight
from jail to fame and fortune which
fluctuated through the years from
headlines and a grand a week In
vaudeville to e-and-cake money
In the honky tonks.
For, when her voice changed, it
was found to be alto and with
sad quality in 1t that made the
heart throb. She became a '"blues"
singer who put over her songs with
a devastating swing of her hips. It
wasn't so much hips as it was art.
When vaudeville waned and died
before the onslaughts of the NOV
ing picture and the radio, Venita
looked lnflnchingly at hard times
that threatened never to become
any softer.
II OOKING at Venita when things
h were at their blackest, any
susceptible man would feel deep
sympathy and compassion while he
wondered why woman of SO much
beauty should be called upon to en-
dure such financial distress. She
was statuesque and-as has been
said before-voluptuous. Even in
the days of greatest prosperity she
never weighed more than 1913. She
was a brunei with a thick cap of
blackest hair, blue eyes and rose
bud mouth and the lady sure could
curse!
But despite all her cussing and
her daily round of booking offices,
Venita kept only few inches from
the wolf and it was during this
period that Sol Horowitz, actors
representative decided that some
thing should be done for her and
about her. And as Sol has often
said, then and since, he was the
lad who could do it.
He did very we'll, as you may al
ready know, from the accounts of
the meteoric rise Of Venita Darcy
from the ranks of passe llght club
singers to a flaming voice who
could tear your heart out and did
from the Golden Room of the La
Marge Hotel and over the biggest
radio networks.
TIER rise with a natural" story
i l. and she crashed all the coll
umns and most of the magazines.
In most Of her stories she appeared
as an old and time worn veteran
who had been has-been for sew
night, electrified night club audi
ence with the brilliance and tear
Jerking intensity of her interpreta-
ton of her songs.
She had been before the public
eye for is years and, naturally peo-
pie thought she had gone into show
business at the time of Sarah Bern
hardts first farewell tour. Really,
though, she was only Is that day
the Law bundled her into the jug of
n tank town Immediately following
her debut. And today Venita is not
q day over 81.
Anyhow, that professional resur-
rection of hers was the talk of the
town for months and all through
the talk she worked and kept up
her average. For 10 months or so,
she was acknowledged as the
greatest torch singer of this decade
and the saddest voice in radio And
then, one night, she came on at
the La Marge Hotel for her act.
The audience stopped talking.
Some of them even stopped drink
ing-the perfect modern tribute to
the perfect artist. The music
struck up, playing song that was
sweeping the world and making it
cry into its handkerchief.
Venita drew herself up to her full
height. She filled her gorgeous lungs.
Mems eyes glistened with emotion,
and women's glittered with jealousy.
Venita opened her rosbud mouth.
And was she terrible!
DEOPLE didn't believe their ears
i She sang that song and mur-
dered it. When she finished, she
waited for the terrific applause that
always greeted her offerings. Ana
when it came as a trickle of polite
and startled hand-clapping, she
smiled a silly smile and shrugged
and walked off.
She lasted out the week because
The management thought she might
De only drunk or doped or suffering
from fractured skull or something.
nTf ch
worse, and finally the management
paid her her last weeks salary ana
offered her substantial bonus for
not working out a 10-week contract.
Certainly III take that much to
quit singing" she said. I'm tired
of singing. I've been singing for
is years. and what did it get me?
oh, shouldn't say that. It did
get me something. But it wasn't
what Won or I would expect from,