George Francis Peduzzi (June 13, 1897 – July 23, 1947), known professionally as Karyl Norman, was an American

female impersonator A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

who was popular in

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 ...

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

s and 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 ...

in the 1920s.

Biography

He was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

on June 13, 1897 to Mary and Norman Augusta Peduzzi. He left home at the age of 16, joined Neil O'Brien's Minstrels,''Finocchio's'' Program at queermusicheritage.com
Retrieved 29 May 2013 and began performing vaudeville on the

US West Coast The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

. In 1917, he traveled to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

as a theatrical performer. He took the name Karyl because it was sexless, and Norman after his father. Karylnorman

He billed himself as "The Creole Fashion Plate", and was known for his gowns, mostly made by his mother with whom he traveled. He made his

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

debut as a female impersonator in May 1919 and was an immediate success. He specialised in

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

songs, and was known for his quick changes of clothes and gender. One critic wrote: "Not only does this impersonator wear his feminine toggery in tiptop shape, but has a voice that fools 'em at the start. Then to a lower register he descends - a lusty masculine voice....". He wrote many of his own songs, including "Nobody Lied (When They Said That I Cried Over You)", "Beside a Babbling Brook", and "I’m Through (Shedding Tears Over You)". University of Saskatchewan, ''Ambisextrous: Gender Impersonators of Music Hall and Vaudeville - Karyl Norman''
Retrieved 29 May 2013 As well as performing in vaudeville, Norman appeared in many stage plays and

musical comedies Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

. He also toured in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. In New York, he appeared in the

Palace Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace Theater, is the name of many theatres in different countries, including: Australia *Palace Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria *Palace Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales Canada *Palace Theatre, housed in the Robillard Block, Mo ...

in 1923, starred in the ''Greenwich Village Follies of 1924'', and ''Lady Do'' in 1927, and headlined at the Palace Theatre in 1930 in an act called "Glorifying the American Boy-Girl". With Gene Malin,

Ray Bourbon Ray (or Rae) Bourbon (born Hallie Board Waddell; August 11, 1902 – July 19, 1971) was an American female impersonator, entertainer and vaudeville performer, noted for his "outrageous" risqué monologues. He mainly performed in nightclubs, ga ...

and others he instigated the "

Pansy Craze The Pansy Craze was an American national queer movement. During the Pansy Craze of 1930–1933 (however the exact dates are debated), drag queens, known as "pansy performers", experienced a surge in underground popularity, especially in Los Angel ...

" for

drag act The term "drag" refers to the performance of exaggerated masculinity, femininity, or other forms of gender expression, usually for entertainment purposes. A drag queen is someone (usually male) who performs femininity and a drag king is someone ...

s in New York in 1930. The actress

Fifi D'Orsay Fifi D'Orsay (born Marie-Rose Angelina Yvonne Lussier; April 16, 1904 – December 2, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress and singer. Early life Fifi D'Orsay was born Yvonne Lussier in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to a father who was a postal cl ...

described Norman as "...a great performer... a wonderful guy, beloved and respected by everybody, although he was a gay boy... it was harder for them than it is today. He did an act with two pianos and those gorgeous clothes. He had such class and he was so divine.". In the 1930s, his popularity diminished but he continued to perform in clubs, particularly at '' Finocchio's'' in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. He was reportedly arrested on a morals charge in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, but was released after the intervention of

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

. In 1942 he put on his ''All American Male Revue'', starring Niles Marsh, at the Castle Farms Night Club in

Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, southwest of Toledo, Ohio, T ...

. He retired after his mother's death. He died in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now ...

, in 1947 at the age of 50.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Karyl 1897 births 1947 deaths People from Baltimore American drag queens Gay entertainers Blackface minstrel performers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century LGBT people

Biography

See also

References