Brox Sisters
The Brox Sisters were an American trio of singing sisters, enjoying their greatest popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Early life
The sisters were Lorayne (born Eunice, November 11, 1901 – June 14, 1993), Dagmar (later Bobbe) (born Josephine, November 28, 1902 – May 2, 1999), and Patricia (born Kathleen, June 14, 1904 – August 27, 1988). They were born in Iowa and Indiana, grew up in Alberta and Tennessee, and retained Southern accents during their performing careers. They began a singing career as a trio in Canada, first appearing as child performers in Mother Lang's Children's Show.[1]
The family name "Brock" was changed to "Brox" for theater marquees.[2]
They began touring the
Broadway
The trio performed in
In 1925 and 1926, they performed on Broadway in the musical comedy The Cocoanuts, with the Marx Brothers. In 1927, they appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1927 at the New Amsterdam Theatre with comedian Eddie Cantor.
Film history
The Brox Sisters were among the earliest artists to appear on Warner Bros.' Vitaphone sound shorts in the late 1920s. They were featured in three productions: "Glorifying the American Song," "Down South" (both in 1928), and the 6:00 short, "Down South" (1929). None of the features currently exists in full audio and visual format, with research underway to locate missing visual or audio components.[5] "Down South" exists in camera negative at the Library of Congress and a scruffy Vitaphone disc was located by Ron Hutchinson of the Vitaphone Project, who raised funding for a restoration at UCLA Film & Television Archive circa 2018.
In 1929, they appeared in the film
In 1930, the sisters appeared in the film King of Jazz. They performed the song "A Bench in the Park", with Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang, and with The Rhythm Boys (Bing Crosby, Harry Barris and Al Rinker). In that year they also appeared in the film Spring Is Here in which they performed the song "Crying for the Carolines".
They performed "Falling in Love Again" in the movie Hollywood on Parade (1932).
Radio and recordings
The sisters also made
References
- ^ Aukerman, Cynthia, "Brox Sisters: from UC to Hollywood", The News Gazette (Winchester, Indiana), Jan 23, 2007
- ^ "Bobbe Brox, 98, Vocalist in A Family Trio". The New York Times. New York, NY. May 15, 1999. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
- ^ "Brox Sisters". Red Hot Jazz Archive. 13 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- ^ Bobbe Brox obituary
- ^ The Vitaphone Project
External links
- Bobbe Brox at Internet Broadway Database
- Lorayne Brox at Internet Broadway Database
- Patricia Brox at Internet Broadway Database
- The Brox Sisters at IMDB
- Bobbe Brox at IMDB
- Kathlyn Brox at IMDB
- Lorraine Brox at IMDB
- Bobbe Brox obituary at NY Times
- Brox Sisters pages at JazzAge 1920s site
- Brock Sisters from UC to Hollywood
- Bobbie Brox obit in The Independent
- Cameo performance in King of Jazz
- Bobbe Van Heusen, original name: Josephine Van Heusen at Find a Grave (buried in Desert Memorial Park)
- Lorraine Brox at Find a Grave (buried in Desert Memorial Park)