Geneva M. Duker Schissel (March 5, 1905 – July 14, 1976) was an American dancer, actress, and diver. She appeared on the vaudeville stage, and in several

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 ...

productions, in the 1920s.

Early life and education

Duker was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, the daughter of William John Duker and Ellen McMenamin Duker. She became a proficient swimmer and diver at the Boston Municipal Baths, and graduated from Notre Dame Academy in Boston. Her older sisters Susan, Alice and Jessie had a

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 ...

diving act known as the Duker Sisters, which she sometimes joined for performances. In 1921 she was a featured dancer in a children's pageant, ''Secrets of the Sun Dial'', produced in Boston to raise money for the Near East Relief Fund. She was also popular as an entertainer for recent

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 ...

veterans.

Career

Duke was a dancer who appeared on the vaudeville stage, and in several

productions. She also worked as an artist's model, and performed in a high-diving stunt act with her sisters at the

New York Hippodrome The Hippodrome Theatre, also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theater in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the worl ...

. Her stage credits included roles in ''Better Times'' (1922), '' Earl Carroll's Vanities of 1924'', ''

Greenwich Village Follies The ''Greenwich Village Follies'' was a musical revue that played for eight seasons in New York City from 1919 to 1927. Launched by John Murray Anderson, and opening on July 15, 1919, at the newly constructed Greenwich Village Theatre near Christ ...

'' (1924, with her sister Alice), ''The Great Temptations'' (1926), ''

The Desert Song ''The Desert Song'' is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colonia ...

'' (1926–1928), ''Cross My Heart'' (1928), and ''Sammy's Sally'' (1928). Her name and image appeared in advertisements for

hosiery Hosiery, also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the feet and legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also known generically as h ...

in 1924.

Personal life

In 1928, Duker married salesman Edmund Schissel; they had two children, Edmund and Geneva. She died in 1976, in

Falmouth, Massachusetts Falmouth ( ) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 32,517 at the 2020 census, making Falmouth the second-largest municipality on Cape Cod after Barnstable. The terminal for the Steamship Authority ferri ...

, aged 71 years.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duker, Geneva 1905 births 1976 deaths American dancers Vaudeville performers People from Boston