The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1943-06-09

A y y
acter parts" -. NO, No Nanette, !"
Student Prince, So Desert Song"
Good News" were among the
shows One of his most treas
ured possessions is an autograph
! ed program from all the members
of the cast in High Lights of
1884 in which he toured with
Betty Compson :. He won radio
competition sponsored by Paul
Whiteman for young singers, rep
resenting New York City among
961 contestants !.
! All went well until Aug. 8, 1885
=. He was touring the so-called
Borscht Circuit of New York sum-
mer resorts with a revue In
one of his acts, he had trick fall
-. On that date, when he did the
fall, his leg didn't snap back into
place 3. In some way he had dis
located cartilage At first it
seemed like minor accident, but
And for three and one half
years, Leon Kramer went from
hospital and clinis to another. had
more than 20 operations, became
a noted medical case, emerged
finally on crutches, with a plati-
mum splinter in his spine (he's
made Believe 1t or Not" with
that and dictum that he must
90 to warm climate :. Miami
was his first stop :. He ran the
Rumpus Room at Miami Beach for
a time, with occasional time out
during warm weather periods in
the North, with such interludes as
appearances at Zimmerman's Hun
garia in New York, and the estab-
lishment of his own club, the
Tombs, in Columbus. Ohio 3. It's
still running there -.
Last fall he came to Key West
The Chamber of Commerce
will tell you that this the one
frost-proof city in the United
States, though Leon will add that
there are a few days cool enough
TO give him twinges of pain
The Habana- Madrid has Just pass
cd through a none-too-happy
period, and Leon was intrigued
with the idea of putting it on its
feet as clean, nice place for
much needed entertainment in this
city of service men Hess rpob-
ably proudest of its record of not
a single fight in its eight months
of existence s.. There's one little |
item of which he's anything but
proud The strange quirk of hui
man nature that makes souvenir
hunting customers steal his pre-
cious autographed theatrical
photographs :. They once graced
the upstairs walls , Al Jolson,
Eddie Duchin, Harry Richman,
Eddie Carr, ct al, through the |
range of the best known names in
the field :. Sadly, he had to take
them down, after losing some of
his most priced pictures He
can't understand what anyone
would want with photograph in
scribed to another, but he hasn't |
found any way to combat this form
of kleptomania I. In addition to
being a singer, he's a writer of
songs and lyrics, did the words to
some such well-known songs as
Time On My Hands, 1.-TWO Gig
arettes in the Dark" -. When it
comes to entertainment for the SER
vice men in Key West, Leon Kra- |
mer can always find time from
his business to take part And,
oh, yes, if you don't believe the
Habana- Madrid has more than
justified his belief that it could |
be nice clean spot, look at the
record of Woman's Club and Red |
Cross benefits held there -.
{ If you're interested, before so
many weeks, maybe you'll have /
a chance to get glimpse of Ha-
bana-M Madrid yourself, for the last
night was there, Life magazine
photographer was swapping flash |
lights Overheard, at another
club, when man out for the eve
ming was asked if the Life photog- |
rapher had been around: Heck,
no -. if he had been, maybe some
of US would have gotten life"
Sloppy Joe's here is. said to be
the original; the one in Havana,
the offspring It's notable,
chiefly, for "a It's burlesque type
of murals; ~ It's water bison |
head, donated by Ernest Heming-
way, who used to frequent the
place
Not all the places you hear
about are picturesque Some
are not even good dives: they're
just dumps
Add interesting personalities
encountered here: My manicurist, |
who operates two parlors, whilel
her husband runs bar: finds time
to do Nurses Aid work at nights,
and takes care of twelve homeless
dogs because there's no SPCA or
Animal Rescue League here =.
An awfully nice young sailor and
his Texas bride, who own dude
ranch on Long Island, now taken i