The Twenties

Abstract

Abstract Movies had served Julian Eltinge well. But they were an unpredictable business, as the actor learned when a war–themed picture he made was abruptly shelved when peace unexpectedly alit in Europe. The impersonation artist pivoted between returning to vaudeville and committing fully to motion pictures, but he ultimately had to go where the work was. Because big-time vaudeville was on the decline, Eltinge found himself mounting revues in nightclubs, dinner cabarets, and cocktail lounges. Times were changing, though, and the “speakeasy culture” he found himself increasingly working in was sometimes viewed with suspicion as a haunt of gay men and transvestic inverts. During this period, the artist also became a mentor and éminence grise for college musical crossdressers, sponsoring and guiding a few proteges.