{{Infobox person | name = Alta King | image = AltaKing1921.jpg | alt = A young white woman with a dimpled chin, wearing a light-colored costume with lacing across the bodice. | caption = Alta King, from a 1921 publication | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = March 21, 1899 | birth_place = Barnesville, Minnesota, U.S. | death_date = March 1981 (aged 81–82) | death_place = Troy, New York, U.S. | other_names = | occupation = Dancer, singer | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = {{marriage|James Edward Royce|1925}} }}
'''Alta L. King''' (March 21, 1899 – March 1981) was an American dancer, singer, and Ziegfeld girl in musical theatre.
== Early life == King was born in Barnesville, Minnesota,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35214380/alta_king_1920/|title=Ziegfeld Follies|date=June 20, 1920|work=New-York Tribune|access-date=August 23, 2019|page=50|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> the daughter of John F. King (1866–1939) and Alta Mae Kimpton King (1876–1956), who had both been born in Wisconsin. She had a younger brother named Kenneth.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/169214195:7884|title = Join Ancestry®| website=Ancestry.com }}</ref> She left school after completing 10th grade.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/5596705:2442|title = Ancestry - Sign up| website=Ancestry.com }}</ref>
== Career == King's stage career began in a stock company in Minneapolis.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=uthNAQAAMAAJ&dq=Alta%20King%20Ziegfeld&pg=PA160 "Flowers in Broadway's Beauty Garden"] ''Theatre Magazine'' (September 1921): 160.</ref> Her Broadway credits included appearances in ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1919, Ziegfeld Follies of 1920'', ''Sally'' (1920–1922), ''Orange Blossoms'' (1922), and ''Cinders'' (1923).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRmGDwAAQBAJ&q=Alta+King+Broadway&pg=PA45|title=The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals|last=Dietz|first=Dan|date=2019-04-10|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781538112823|pages=45, 122, 157|language=en}}</ref> She was also in the ''Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic'',<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mantle|first=Burns|date=December 1919|title=Play-Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8DLmAAAAMAAJ&q=Alta%20King%20Ziegfeld&pg=RA7-PA56|journal=The Green Book Magazine|volume=22|pages=56}}</ref> and performed on the roof of the New Amsterdam Theatre.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=December 1920|title=The Stage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UIzNAAAAMAAJ&q=Alta+King+Ziegfeld&pg=PA508|journal=Munsey's Magazine|volume=71|pages=508}}</ref> She was considered to have the "stage's most beautiful legs", along with Ann Pennington and Mistinguett.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5026291/alta_king_ann_pennington_french/|title=Who Has Stage's Most Beautiful Legs?|date=September 6, 1919|work=El Paso Herald|access-date=August 23, 2019|page=31|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She was in the same sextet of Ziegfeld dancers as Elizabeth Meehan and Billie Dove.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/entertainment-clipping-dec-14-1928-1325324/|title=Extra-Girl Writes Way to Fame|date=December 14, 1928|work=Bismarck Tribune|access-date=August 23, 2019|page=29|via=NewspaperArchive}}</ref>
After her marriage, she gave recitals as a soprano singer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35215092/alta_king_royce_1927/|title=Mrs. Royce in Recital|date=March 8, 1927|work=Times Union|access-date=August 23, 2019|page=74|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
== Personal life == King married English-born theatrical producer and director James Edward Royce (1870–1964)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/bookshopdoor/signature.cfm?item=168#1|title=Edward Royce|website=The Greenwich Village Bookshop Door|access-date=2019-08-24}}</ref> in 1925.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=December 16, 1925|title=Legitimate: Edward Royce Marries Alta King, of 'Follies'|journal=Variety|volume=81|pages=20}}</ref> In 1940, her occupation was listed as model.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/5596705:2442|title = Ancestry - Sign up| website=Ancestry.com }}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == *{{IBDB name|id=48093}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Alta}} Category:1899 births Category:1981 deaths Category:Ziegfeld girls Category:20th-century American dancers Category:People from Clay County, Minnesota Category:Singers from Minnesota