the sisterhood of the sissy socks

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Article based on information from the mighty Los Angeles Mirror, which no longer exists:
THE DAILY MIRROR

Larry Harnisch REFLECTS ON LOS ANGELES HISTORY

stage

T.C. Jones, male actress

He was one of the newest — and certainly one of the freshest — of the “New Faces of ’56,” a Broadway show directed by Paul Lynde with sketches by a variety of writers, including Neil Simon and his brother Danny.

His name was Thomas Craig Jones, but he was best known as T.C. Jones and he was, according to The Times’ Philip K. Scheuer, “the greatest female impersonator I have seen and heard since Julian Eltinge — and that’s going back a long way.”

In an August 1958 Times story, Charles Stinson described Jones as “a husky, medium-sized fellow in his 30s with a Yul Brynner coiffure and a most affable manner.”

Times movie critic Kevin Thomas said in response to my query: “The 1950s were his decade. He was a terrific entertainer, more a male actress, as Charles Pierce described himself, rather than a traditional female impersonator.

Jones was a Navy veteran and a graduate of Carnegie Tech who appeared on Broadway in 1944 as a dancer in “Sadie Thompson,” starring June Havoc. Before becoming a female impersonator, he had worked as a nightclub emcee, standup comic, dancer and actor. He was married, The Times says, and his wife, Donnie Dickson Jones, told Stinson “I keep his wigs in order.”

Jones portrayer Bette Davis, Tallulah Bankhead, Mae West, Judy Holliday, Marilyn Monroe, Katharine Hepburn and Ethel Merman. “It is curious, in passing, how impersonators always latch on to the same handful of stars to lampoon,” Scheuer said. “They are the most distinctive!”

And, yes, he did Judy Garland too. The Times said in 1965: “Judy Garland and her rendition of ‘Over the Rainbow’ will never be the same after the telling treatment of Jones.” The Times said: “Mrs. Jones has done a splendid job in picking out the proper attire for her husband’s vignettes. Her choice of wigs and outfits matched the mood perfectly.”

He often ended his act by removing his wig to show his bald head.

Although Jones said he planned to return to Broadway in a male role in the fall of 1958, the show apparently fell through and he continued as an impersonator for most of his career, although he did appear in a male role in the 1964 production of “Three Nuts in Search of a Bolt” with Mamie Van Doren.

Jones made several records and occasionally appeared on television, including a Jackie Gleason TV special in 1960 and a cult episode of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” He was in the 1968 Bob Rafelson film “Head,” starring the Monkees. Writing in 1973 on a reappraisal of the film, Charles Champlin said: “One of the lads slugs female impersonator T.C. Jones, then argues with director Rafelson whether it’s right for the image. (The grips and extras shy away from him as from someone unclean.)”

Jones died Sept. 25, 1971, at the age of 50. The Times did not publish an obituary on him.

Julian Eltinge:

I had never heard of Julian Eltinge until I came across some material for sale on EBay. I dug out his photo file and over the weekend found his former home in Silver Lake.

Here’s Eltinge in his prime in an undated picture.

He performed frequently in Los Angeles and appeared at the Mason Opera House in a play titled “The Fascinating Widow,” which received rave reviews.

And he built this house in Silver Lake [Los Angeles].

(Photograph by Larry Harnisch / Los Angeles Times)

the former home of Julian Eltinge, 2328 Baxter St. Warning! Baxter is one of those extremely steep streets around Silver Lake. Because of the mature trees, it is quite difficult to see the home from the street. But it is still there. Note: In his later years, he lived in North Hollywood. He died in New York in 1941, somewhere in his mid-50s. The Times noted that he was a “lifelong bachelor,” a vintage code phrase for “gay.”

I feel like such an amateur!

sissy socks:

From Eremeeff on the sisterhood of the sissy socks # [Pending]

Hello, Super post, Need to mark it on Digg Have a nice day Eremeeff

40 thoughts on “the sisterhood of the sissy socks”

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