According to literature, it is hard to exactly define the starting point of the common “chorus girl” dancer. It may have been traced back to the Ballet Russes, or perhaps it goes back further to the late 1800s days of the cancan dancers.
Many famous actresses started their professional careers as dancers in a chorus line including Marlene Dietrich, Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn,...
These vintage photographs capture Los Angeles chorus girls from between the 1920s and 1940s.
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| L-R: Lillian Langston, Myrtle Reeves (before becoming Oliver Hardy's second wife) and Edith Roberts. Photos circa 1918. |
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| Chorus girls at the Music Box Theatre (now the Fonda Theatre) at 6126 Hollywood Blvd, circa 1927. |
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| Frank Sebastian's "Creole Cuties" posing on the steps of the Sebastian Cafe (also known as "Frank Sebastian's Venice Cafe") in 1920. The popular cafe was located on Winward Ave. and specialized in vaudeville and jazz. |
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| Frank Sebastian's "Creole Cuties" posing in front of his Cafe Sebastian location in 1920. |
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| Chorus girls from "The Dance of Life" (1929) |
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| An unknown chorus girl from the early musical, The Dance of Life (1929). |
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| Chorus Girls from the Hollywood Revue of 1929. |
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| The Hollywood Revue of 1929. |
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| A publicity photo for the MGM early musical "The Broadway Melody" (1929). |
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| Chorus Girls from The Hollywood Revue of 1929. |
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| An early Los Angeles stage production. The photographer was taken by the "Dick" Wittington studio, who operated one of the first commercial photography studios in the city. The theater and stage production are unknown (at this time). |
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| Fanchon and Marco chorus girls at the Shrine Auditorium for a special benefit in 1930. |
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| The Devil's Cabaret (1930) |
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| Dancers at Laguna Beach, 1930. |
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| Dancers on Long Beach, circa 1930. |
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| Dancers at Laguna Beach, 1930. |
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| This line-up comes from 1932 for a Fanchon and Marco program called "Carnival" in Los Angeles. |
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| From Gold Diggers of 1933. |
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| The "By a Waterfall" musical number in Footlight Parade (1933). Choreographed by Busby Berkeley. |
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| Three Busby Berkeley chorus girls from Footlight Parade (1933). |
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| Dancing Lady (1933). Photographer: Ted Allan. |
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| Four Busby Berkeley Girls from Dames (1934) |
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| Chorus girls from Moulin Rouge (1934). |
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| Two chorus girls from the "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams" musical number in Moulin Rouge (1934). |
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| Chorus girls for the musical number "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" in Moulin Rouge (1934). Lucille Ball and Barbara Pepper are among the girls. |
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| From the film College Rhythm (1934). |
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| From "George White's 1935 Scandals." |
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| Behind the scenes during the filming of Twentieth Century Fox's Star for a Night (1936). |
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| Chorus girls waiting in a 20th Century Fox dressing room during the production of Star for a Night (1936). |
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| Chorus girls from the Broadway Melody of 1936. |
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| Chorus girls for the Paramount film, Her Bodyguard (1933). |
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| The Great Ziegfeld (1936). |
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| The Albertina Rasch dancers on break during rehearsals for the Broadway Melody of 1936. Photo by C.S. Bull. |
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| Two dancers/showgirls with Avon Gayles's Follies Parisien at the Los Angeles County Fair in the fall of 1937. (Photographer: Herman J. Schultheis/LAPL) |
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| A side show carnival performer with the Parisian follies dancers at the 1937 Los Angeles County Fair. (Photographer: Herman J. Schultheis/LAPL) |
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| Avon Gayle's Follies Parisien show girls wearing heavier clothing on a cool October day at the 1937 Los Angeles County Fair. (Photographer: Herman J. Schultheis / LAPL 00082003) |
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| Backstage at the The Earl Carroll Theater, once located at 6230 Sunset Boulevard. Photographer: Joseph Jasgur. Date: sometime in the 1940s. |
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| Behind the scenes at the Hollywood Earl Carroll Theatre in the 1940s. Photographer: Joseph Jasgur. |
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| Show girls on the set of Happy Go Lucky (1943) at Paramount Studios. |
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| Chorus girls from the RKO movie, George White's Scandals (1945). |
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| Chorus girls from Ziegfeld Follies (1946). |
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| A stage show at the Earl Carroll Theatre (6230 Sunset Boulevard). Date: Sometime after 1938. (Photographer: Herman J. Schultheis / LAPL 00082003) |
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| Earl Carroll is with chorus girls at his celebrated Earl Carroll Theater in Los Angeles, June 18, 1947. |
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| Earl Carroll Theatre chorus girls, circa October 1949. (Photographer: Gene Lester / LAPL 00036027) |
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| Chorines using the name The Barbary Coast Girls were hired as part of the live prologue to promote the film "The Flame of the Barbary Coast" at the United Artists Theater in 1945. |
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| Live prologue chorus girls for the film "Dracula" pose backstage at the Orpheum Theatre at 842 S. Broadway in 1931. |
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| Live prologue cast members for the film "Ten Cents a Dance" pose at the Orpheum Theatre at 842 S. Broadway in 1931. |
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| A spectacular shot from the Academy Award winning early musical The Broadway Melody (1929). |
