Bowman, Betty, 1906-1995

Betty Bowman grew up in Colorado, the youngest of four children. She began playing the piano when she was a little girl. The conductor, Paul Whiteman heard her play in Denver and recommended her for a vaudeville tour of the West Coast. Ms. Bowman eventually joined her sister Grace, who had established a singing career in New York. An introduction by her sister to J. H. Shubert led to a chorus job in the Second Edition of Artists and Models. Betty later toured with the First Edition of Artists and Models and appeared in Naughty Riquette. In 1926, while doing her piano specialty act at the Beaux Arts Cafe in Atlantic City, she was discovered by Al Jolson. She signed a two year contract to appear in his musical Big Boy but after touring with the show for a few months, she chose to leave the stage to marry bandleader Joe Smith.

From the guide to the Betty Bowman ephemera, 1920-1926, (The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.)

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