Elsie Janis (born Elsie Bierbower, March 16, 1889 – February 26, 1956) was an American actress of stage and screen, singer, songwriter, screenwriter and radio announcer. Entertaining the troops during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

immortalized her as " the sweetheart of the AEF" (

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...

Early life

Elsie Bierbower was born in

Marion, Ohio Marion is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Ohio, Marion County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in north-central Ohio, approximately north of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 35,999 at the 2020 United S ...

, the daughter of Josephine Janis and John Eleazer Bierbower. She had a brother, Percy John.

Stage

Bierbower first took to the stage at age 2. By age 11, she was a headliner on the

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

circuit, performing under the name Little Elsie. As she matured, using the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Elsie Janis, she began perfecting her comedic skills. Acclaimed by American and British critics, Janis was a headliner on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and London. On Broadway, she starred in a number of successful shows, including ''The Vanderbilt Cup'' (1906), ''The Hoyden'' (1907), ''The Slim Princess'' (1911), and ''The Century Girl'' (1916). Elsie performed at the grand opening of the Brown Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky on October 5, 1925.

Film, screenwriting and music

Janis also enjoyed a career as a Hollywood actress, screenwriter, production manager and composer. She was co-credited alongside

Gene Markey Eugene Willford "Gene" Markey (December 11, 1895 – May 1, 1980) was an American writer, producer, screenwriter, and highly decorated naval officer. Biography Early life Markey was born in Michigan in 1895. His father, Eugene Lawrenc ...

for writing the original story for ''

Close Harmony A chord is in close harmony (also called close position or close structure) if its notes are arranged within a narrow range, usually with no more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. In contrast, a chord is in open harmony (also c ...

'' (1929) and as composer and production manager for ''

Paramount on Parade ''Paramount on Parade'' is a 1930 all-star American pre-Code revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Lothar Mendes, Ot ...

'' (1930). She and director

Edmund Goulding Edmund Goulding (20 March 1891 – 24 December 1959) was a British screenwriter and film director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 silent film ''Three Live Ghosts'' alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwick. ...

wrote the song "

Love, Your Magic Spell Is Everywhere "Love (Your Spell Is Everywhere)", also called "Love, Your Spell Is Everywhere", "Love (Your Magic Spell Is Everywhere)" or "Love Your Spell Is Everywhere", is a traditional pop song first published in 1929, written by Elsie Janis with music comp ...

" for

Gloria Swanson Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...

for her talkie debut film ''

The Trespasser Trespasser In the law of tort, property, and criminal law a trespasser is a person who commits the act of trespassing on a property, that is, without the permission of the owner. Being present on land as a trespasser thereto creates liabi ...

'' (1929). Janis's song "Oh, Give Me Time for Tenderness" was featured in the

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

movie ''

Dark Victory ''Dark Victory'' is a 1939 American melodrama film directed by Edmund Goulding, starring Bette Davis, and featuring George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan, Henry Travers, and Cora Witherspoon. The screenplay by Ca ...

'' (1939), also directed by Goulding.

Radio announcer

In 1934, Janis became the first female announcer on the

NBC radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first t ...

network.

World War I

Janis advocated for British and American soldiers fighting in World War I. She raised funds for

Liberty Bonds A liberty bond (or liberty loan) was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the Allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financi ...

. Accompanied by her mother, Janis also took her act on the road, entertaining troops stationed near the front lines – one of the first popular American artists to do so in a war fought on foreign soil. Ten days after the armistice, she recorded for

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

several numbers from her revue ''Hullo, America'', including " Give Me the Moonlight, Give Me the Girl". She wrote about her wartime experiences in ''The Big Show: My Six Months with the American Expeditionary Forces'' (published in 1919), and recreated these in ''Behind the Lines'', a 1926 Vitaphone musical short. A musical about this period of her life called ''Elsie Janis and the Boys'', written by Carol J. Crittenden and composer John T. Prestianni, premiered under the direction of Charles A. Wallace as part of the Rotunda Theatre Series in the Wortley-Peabody Theater in Dallas, Texas on August 15, 2014.

Children

Janis expressed no desire to have children of her own, saying she'd never meet the standards her mother set, and said that her young husband could be her child. She was foster mother to a 14-year-old Italian war veteran and orphan, Michael Cardi.

Later life

Janis maintained her private home “ElJan” on the east side of High Street in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. The home was across the street from what was

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

Ohio Field Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, the precursor to Ohio Stadium. Janis sold the house following her mother's death. In 1932, Janis married Gilbert Wilson, who was 16 years her junior, which caused some scandal. There is some evidence it might have been a bearded relationship. The couple lived in the Phillipse Manor section of

Sleepy Hollow, New York Sleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States. The village is located on the east bank of the Hudson River, about north of New York City, and is served by the Philipse Manor stop on ...

, formerly named North Tarrytown, until Janis moved to the Los Angeles area of California where she lived until her death. Her final film was the 1940 ''

Women in War ''Women in War'' is a 1940 American war film about the nurses of the British Voluntary Aid Detachment during the Battle of France. Directed by John H. Auer and starring Wendy Barrie, Elsie Janis and Patric Knowles, it was nominated for an Osc ...

''. Elsie Janis died in 1956 at her home in Beverly Hills, California, aged 66, and was interred in the

Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries is an American corporation that owns and operates a chain of cemeteries and mortuaries in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties in Southern California. History The company was founded by a group of ...

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

Legacy

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Elsie Janis has a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

at 6776 Hollywood Blvd. elsiejanis

Partial filmography

* ''

The Caprices of Kitty ''The Caprices of Kitty'' is a 1915 American Comedy film, comedy silent film directed by Phillips Smalley and written by Elsie Janis. The film stars Elsie Janis, Courtenay Foote, Herbert Standing, Vera Lewis, Martha Mattox and Myrtle Stedman. The ...

'' (1915) * ''

Betty in Search of a Thrill ''Betty in Search of a Thrill'' is a lost film, lost 1915 American silent film, silent adventure film that was directed by Phillips Smalley and Lois Weber and written by Elsie Janis. The film stars Elsie Janis, Owen Moore, Juanita Hansen, Herbert ...

'' (1915) * ''

Nearly a Lady ''Nearly a Lady'' is a lost 1915 American comedy silent film directed by Hobart Bosworth and written by Elsie Janis. The film stars Elsie Janis, Frank Elliott, Owen Moore, Myrtle Stedman and Harry Ham. The film was released on August 12, 1915, b ...

'' (1915) * '' 'Twas Ever Thus'' (1915) * '' The Imp'' (1919) * ''

A Regular Girl ''A Regular Girl'' is a lost film, lost 1919 American silent comedy film directed by James Young (director), James Young and starring comedian Elsie Janis. It was produced by Lewis J. Selznick. The film had the working title ''Everybody's Sweethe ...

'' (1919) * ''

Bobbed Hair A bob cut, also known as a bob, is a short to medium length haircut, in which the hair is typically cut straight around the head at approximately jaw level, but no longer than shoulder-length, often with fringe or bangs at the front. The standar ...

'' (1925) * ''Elsie Janis in a Vaudeville Act, “Behind the Lines,” Assisted by Men’s Chorus of the 107th Regiment'' (1926) * ''

'' (1929) (screenplay) * ''

'' (1930) (production supervisor) * ''

Madam Satan ''Madam Satan'' or ''Madame Satan'' is a 1930 American pre-Code musical comedy film in black and white with Multicolor sequences. It was produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starred Kay Johnson, Reginald Denny, Lillian Roth, and Rolan ...

'' (1930) (music) * '' The Squaw Man'' (1931) (screenplay) * ''

'' (1940)

References

External links

* * * * *
Extensive biographical site
at

Elsie Janis collection:
SPEC.TRI.EJ Thompson Library Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute
Elsie Janis diaries, 1920-1928
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

Elsie Janis
images held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

selected recordings by Elsie Janis at Internetarchive.orgportrait of Elsie Janis from a play or early silent movie
moviecard)
Elsie Janis: Broadway Photographs
Univ. of South Carolina)
Elsie Janis
with ''Willys Overland'' motorcar 1917 {{DEFAULTSORT:Janis, Elsie 1889 births 1956 deaths 19th-century American actresses American stage actresses American film actresses American silent film actresses American women in World War I Songwriters from Ohio Screenwriters from California Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Actresses from Beverly Hills, California Actresses from Columbus, Ohio People from Marion, Ohio People from Sleepy Hollow, New York Vaudeville performers 20th-century American actresses Musicians from Beverly Hills, California Singers from California Songwriters from California Screenwriters from Ohio Screenwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers American women screenwriters American expatriate actresses in the United Kingdom 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American screenwriters