# Ethel Levey

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American actress, dancer, and singer in musical theatre

Ethel Levey Portrait of Levey by Sarony, published in 1910 Born Grace Ethelia Fowler (1880-11-22)November 22, 1880 San Francisco, California, US Died February 27, 1955(1955-02-27) (aged 74) Occupation Actor Spouses George M. Cohan ​ ​ (m. 1899; div. 1907)​ Claude Grahame-White ​ ​ (m. 1916; div. 1939)​ Children 1

**Ethel Levey** (November 22, 1880 – February 27, 1955), born **Grace Ethelia Fowler**, was an American actress, dancer, and singer in musical theatre and on the [vaudeville](/source/Vaudeville) stage. She was the first wife of [George M. Cohan](/source/George_M._Cohan), and the second wife of aviator [Claude Grahame-White](/source/Claude_Grahame-White).

## Early life

Levey was born Grace Ethelia Fowler on November 22 1880 in [San Francisco, California](/source/San_Francisco%2C_California).[1] She was the daughter of David Fowler and Mattie McGee.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Her stepfather was Solomon Levy; she used another spelling of his surname as her professional name.[1]

## Career

*Dear Little Girly, Girly* sheet music featuring a photo of Levey

Levey made her professional debut in San Francisco, in [Charles H. Hoyt](/source/Charles_H._Hoyt)'s *[A Milk White Flag](/source/A_Milk_White_Flag)* in 1897. She appeared regularly on vaudeville programs in New York and on tour. After marrying [George M. Cohan](/source/George_M._Cohan), she continued performing with him, in *The Governor's Son* (1901 and 1906), *Running for Office* (1903), *[Little Johnny Jones](/source/Little_Johnny_Jones)* (1904), and *George Washington Jr.* (1906).[2] After their divorce, her Broadway appearances included roles in *Nearly a Hero* (1908),[3] *[Watch Your Step](/source/Watch_Your_Step_(musical))* (1914), *Go Easy, Mabel* (1922), *Sunny River* (1941), and *[Marinka](/source/Marinka_(operetta))* (1945). She was also seen in London, in the revues *Hullo Ragtime* (1912), *Hullo Tango* (1913), *Look Who's Here!* (1916),[4] *Follow the Crowd* (1916), *Three Cheers* (1917), *Oh! Julie* (1920), and *Blue Kitten* (1925).[1][5][6]

[Irving Berlin](/source/Irving_Berlin) recalled Levey's slower interpretation of his "[Alexander's Ragtime Band](/source/Alexander's_Ragtime_Band)": "I remember how upset I was at her rendition of it. The audience, of course, did not agree with me. She was a riot."[7]

She appeared in the film *[High Stakes](/source/High_Stakes_(1931_film))* (1931) and in a 1940 short comedy, "Tattle Television".

## Personal life

[Arnold Daly](/source/Arnold_Daly), [Irving Berlin](/source/Irving_Berlin), [Grahame-White](/source/Claude_Grahame-White), Levey, her daughter Georgette, and Georgette's husband, 1921

Levey married George M. Cohan in 1899, in [Atlantic City, New Jersey](/source/Atlantic_City%2C_New_Jersey).[8] They had a daughter, Georgette (1900–1988),[9] before they separated in 1906 and divorced in 1907.[10] She was rumored to be engaged to actor [Robert Edeson](/source/Robert_Edeson) in 1907.[11][12] There was another rumor that Levey had married a French equestrian, Pierre Crespina, in 1910.[13] Levey and her daughter lived in Paris before [World War I](/source/World_War_I).[14] Levey married again, to English aviator Claude Grahame-White, in London in 1916.[15][16] With Grahame-White, she flew over wartime France and regularly commuted by air between Paris and London.[17] Grahame-White disliked her continuing stage career;[18] the couple divorced in 1939.[19][20]

In 1942 she unsuccessfully sued [Warner Brothers](/source/Warner_Brothers) for invasion of privacy over *[Yankee Doodle Dandy](/source/Yankee_Doodle_Dandy)*, a film biography of George M. Cohan. (His domestic life is highly fictionalized in the film.)[21]

Levey died in 1955, aged 74, in New York City.[22]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Vaudeville_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Vaudeville_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Vaudeville_1-2) Cullen, Frank, Florence Hackman and Donald McNeilly (eds.) ["Ethel Levey"](https://books.google.com/books?id=XFnfnKg6BcAC&pg=PA679), *Vaudeville Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performances in America*, Psychology Press (2004), pp. 679–680. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780415938532](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780415938532)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Ethel Levey"](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ethel-levey-mn0000806230), *AllMusic*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Scenes in Sam Bernard's New Piece, 'Nearly a Hero'"](https://books.google.com/books?id=3vfQ005ijLwC&dq=Ethel+LEvey&pg=RA3-PA91), *Theatre Magazine* (April 1908), p. 91

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Our Captious Critic"](https://books.google.com/books?id=6KpEAQAAMAAJ&dq=Ethel+LEvey&pg=PA646), *[The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News](/source/The_Illustrated_Sporting_and_Dramatic_News)* (August 5, 1916), p. 646.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Slide, Anthony. [*The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Hu3nNSmRjZ0C&pg=PA312) (University Press of Mississippi 2012): 311-312. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781617032509](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781617032509)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Hischak, Thomas. [*The Oxford Companion to the American Musical*](http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195335330.001.0001/acref-9780195335330-e-1081) (Oxford University Press 2008). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780199891474](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780199891474)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Hamm, Charles. [*Irving Berlin: Songs from the Melting Pot: The Formative Years, 1907-1914*](https://books.google.com/books?id=35t8suq9m4MC&pg=PA136) (Oxford University Press 1997), p. 136. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780195361148](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780195361148)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Cohans have Separated"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21471614/ethel_levey_1906/) *Boston Globe* (December 28, 1906): 1. via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [Georgette Cohan photographs and memorabilia, 1895–1978](http://archives.nypl.org/the/22473), New York Public Library, Archives & Manuscripts.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Ethel Levey Isn't Earning Any Money Now"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21471352/ethel_levey_1913/), *Wichita Beacon* (October 11, 1913), p. 11. via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Ethel Levey Injured"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21468339/ethel_levey_1907/) *Washington Post* (August 25, 1907), p. 3. via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["'Strongheart' to Wed Ethel Levey"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21471514/ethel_levey_1907/), *Daily Arkansas Gazette* (March 4, 1907), p. 4. via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Ethel Levey Married Abroad"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21472306/ethel_levey_1910/), *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)* (July 8, 1910), p. 7. via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["American Best Dressed Says Miss Ethel Levey"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21471685/ethel_levey_1911/), *Brooklyn Daily Eagle* (July 18, 1911), p. 18. via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Ethel Levey Bright of Grahame-White"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21471456/ethel_levey_1916/), *Boston Globe* (December 22, 1916), p. 9. via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["When You're Divorced Your Troubles Begin"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21468823/ethel_levey_1921/) *The Times* (December 11, 1921), p. 51. via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** ["About Ethel Levey"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21471915/ethel_levey_1921/), *Brooklyn Daily Eagle* (March 8, 1921), p. 8. via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** ["Grahame-White Detests Stage"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21472012/ethel_levey_1921/), *Boston Post* (March 30, 1921), p. 2. via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** ["Ethel Levey to File Petition for Divorce"](https://www.nytimes.com/1937/12/03/archives/ethel-levey-to-file-petition-for-divorce-former-wife-of-george-m.html), *The New York Times* (December 3, 1937), p. 29.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** ["Gay 90's Girl Divorced"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21472107/ethel_levey_1939/), *Daily News* (March 31, 1939), p. 570. via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** John T. Aquino, [*Truth and Lives on Film: The Legal Problems of Depicting Real Persons and Events in a Fictional Medium*](https://books.google.com/books?id=-fNWBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA31) (McFarland 2005), p. 31. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780786420445](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780786420445)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** ["Ethel Levey Dies of Heart Attack; Funeral is Tuesday"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21472170/ethel_levey_1955/), *The Town Talk* (February 26, 1955), p. 18. via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Ethel Levey](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ethel_Levey).

- [Ethel Levey](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0505405/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

- [Ethel Levey](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/49633) at the [Internet Broadway Database](/source/Internet_Broadway_Database)

- [Ethel Levey](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/93749492) at [Find a Grave](/source/Find_a_Grave)

Authority control databases International VIAF FAST WorldCat National United States Other Yale LUX

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