First off, Mary Louise Cecilia "Texas" Guinan (1884-1933) was an American entertainer, producer, entrepreneur, and bootlegger. She was a star on the New York stage (she once accidently shot herself during a performance of Simple Simon Simple) until her involvement in a weight-loss scam made her pull up stakes and move to Hollywood and the film business. She was one of the first female directors in the United States, forming her own production company in 1921. In her acting career, she had gravitated toward westerns and was soon called "the female Bill Hart." She never let the facts get ion the way of a good publicity story. With Prohibition also came the rise of the speakeasies; in 1923 she was hired as a singer at the Beaux Arts club and was paid $50,000. Here. she had found her true calling and soon she was emceeing a full floor show. Her catchphrase "Hello, Sucker! Come in and leave your wallet on the bar" drew in the wealthy and the elite. Her club was frequently shut down by police, only to reopen soon in a new location and under a new name. She opened the Texas Guinan Club in New York and the Del-Fey Club in Miami. In 1926 she served as hostess at the 300 Club in New York; visitors included Al Jolson, Jack Dempsey, and the Prince of Wales. During the Depression she tried to take her show overseas and found that she was on England's "barred aliens" list, and that she was banned in France. All this made for good publicity and she launched a satirical revue Too Hot for Paris and took it on the road. During that run, she contacted amoebic dysentery during an epidemic traced to tainted water at the Chicago World's Fair. She died from it in Vancouver at the age of 49 -- exactly one month before the repeal of Prohibition. The "Queen of the Speakeasies" was no more. Among her pallbearers were bandleader Paul Whiteman and writer Heywood Broun. The Whoopi Goldberg character from Star Trek: The Next Generation was named in her honor.
Here's Texas Guinan in a brief dance number:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijtvdfUdlTs
Woodward Maurice "Tex" Ritter (1905-1974) was an early pioneer of country music, with a 30-minute program of cowboy songs on Houston's KPRC. He moves to New York where he appeared in the Broadway production of Green Grow the Lilacs, which was the basis of the musical Oklahoma!. In 1931, he starred in New York City's first broadcast western on WOR. Ritter oved to Los Angeles in 1933 and was featured in 70 movies as an actor (78 on movie sound tracks). Ritter had been th8e first artist to sign on to the fledgling Capitol Records in 1942. He sang the theme song during the opening credits of High Noon, which went on to win an Oscar for Best Song. He died of a heart attack at age 68; his son, actor John Ritter, died in 2003 of an aortic dissection, now known to be hereditary; it is now believed that that was what also killed his father.
"The Ballard of High Noon"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsDyrZVqipA
"Streets of Laredo"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uBGYxgsMTA
"Rye Whiskey"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVWTeXzgkJE
"I Dreamed of a Hill-Billy Heaven"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyGGDCz6ry4
"I'm Wastin' My Tears on You"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HTL9svifT0
"You Two-Time Me One Time Too Often"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXmgP1owWkk
"Jealous Heart"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X59EWHhRbYE
"Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcysz2BhGx8
"The Deck of Cards"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKMKrIqGG44
"The Men in My Little Girl's Life"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuVzvNgR97M
"The Wayward Wind"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvP3ryvOwfo
"Pecos Bill"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBWbLIbqlPE
"Green, Green Valley"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq7QSmn_79Q
"Comin' After Jinny"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDnrQRin5yA
"When the Work's All Done This Fall"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3YiHI_yzzE
"Barbra Allen"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn3opZQtuUA&list=PL7VfgzbSxy-I1xK_ysxUNdxolSILFZ_Gw&index=9
"Billy the Kid"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2pfWXL5-ls&list=PL7VfgzbSxy-I1xK_ysxUNdxolSILFZ_Gw&index=8
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