Gene Malin

Gene Malin

Gene Malin (born Victor Eugene James Malinovsky; June 30, 1908 – August 10, 1933), also known by his stage names Jean Malin and Imogene Wilson, was an American actor, emcee, and drag performer during the Jazz Age. He was one of the first openly gay entertainers in the Speakeasy culture of the Prohibition era.

Early life

Malin was born Victor Eugene James Malinovsky in Brooklyn, New York, on June 30, 1908. He had two sisters and two brothers, one of whom worked for a sugar refinery and another who became a police officer.

As a child, Malin attended P.S. 50 in Brooklyn before attending Eastern District High School. As a teenager, he began winning prizes for his costumes at the elaborate Manhattan drag balls of the 1920s. By his late teens, Malin had worked as a chorus boy in several Broadway shows, including Princess Flavor, Miami, and Sisters of the Chorus. During this time, Malin also performed as a drag artist at various clubs in Greenwich Village, most notably at the Rubaiyat.

Career

In the spring of 1930, Malin became the headline act at Louis Schwartz's elegant Club Abbey on 46th Street and 8th Avenue in New York City. Although Malin was sometimes assisted by Helen Morgan, Jr. (Francis Dunn) and Lestra LaMonte (the paper-gown-wearing Lester LaMonte), popular drag artists of the time, he did not perform in female attire (other sources, however, claim that he impersonated Gloria Swanson and Theda Bara). The core of Malin's act was not about impersonating women but showcasing himself as a flamboyant, effeminate, openly gay man in a tuxedo; William Randolph Hearst newspapers' Broadway columnist Louis Sobol described Malin as "a baby-faced lad who lisped and pressed his fingers into his thighs" during performances, while another observer referred to him as "a brilliant entertainer, a hilarious guy, but risqué."

Malin moved through the stage and among the audience as an elegant, witty, wisecracking emcee, adopting a broad, exaggerated, swishing persona associated with the "Pansy acts" that emerged afterward. In doing so, Malin and fellow performers like Karyl Norman and Ray Bourbon sparked a "Pansy Craze" in New York's speakeasies and beyond. (He once punched a disruptive patron during a performance, leading Ed Sullivan to write, "Jean Malin belted a heckler last night at one of the local clubs. All that twitters isn't pansy.") One theatrical publication, Broadway Brevities, proclaimed, "the pansies hailed La Malin as their queen," and Vanity Fair magazine featured a caricature of the celebrated Malin in 1931. Among his fans was actress Ginger Rogers, and he frequently escorted actress Polly Moran.

Malin was reportedly the highest-paid nightclub entertainer of 1930, described as "a six-foot-tall, 200-pound bruiser who also had an attitude and a lisp." He also appeared in Broadway productions such as Sisters of the Chorus (1930) and The Crooner (1932).

After headlining several New York clubs, including Paul and Joe's, Malin took his act to Boston and eventually, in the fall of 1932, to the West Coast, performing at popular nightclubs like the Ship Café in Venice. He also entertained at a club named after himself. While in Hollywood, he appeared in Arizona to Broadway (1933), where he played Ray Best, a female impersonator who donned Mae West's attire and sang "Frankie and Johnny." Malin was cast in a third film, Double Harness (1933), but his scene was cut, and a less effeminate actor replaced him; the president of RKO Pictures, B. B. Kahane, shocked by Malin's flamboyance, commented, "I do not think we ought to have this man on the lot for any picture—shorts or features."

Malin also recorded at least two songs, "I'd Rather be Spanish than Mannish" and "That's What's the Matter With Me."

Personal life

Despite being gay, Malin married former showgirl Lucille Heiman/Helman in New York City in January 1931. Malin and Heiman had known each other since his days performing in drag at the Rubaiyat. Malin filed for divorce in Mexico in November 1932. At the time of his death, the couple were still married.

Between 1936 and 1943, Malin's widow spent time in prison for operating high-priced brothels (which the press referred to as "exclusive call houses") on Central Park West, Park Avenue, and 57th Street, as well as for violating the Mann Act Act.

Death

In the early hours of August 10, 1933, Malin was involved in a fatal car accident. He had just given a "farewell performance" at the Ship Café in Venice, Los Angeles. He climbed into his sedan with Jimmy Forlenza (whom newspapers called Malin's "close friend") and comedic actress Patsy Kelly. Malin apparently confused the gears, causing the car to lurch in reverse and plunge off a pier into the water. Pinned under the steering wheel, Malin was killed instantly; Forlenza suffered a broken collarbone and severe bruising, while Kelly experienced shock and serious injuries from being submerged.

Malin's funeral took place on August 17 at St. Mary's Queen of the Angels Church in Brooklyn, New York. He is buried at Most Holy Trinity Cemetery in Brooklyn.

See also [ Victor/Victoria ]

External links

• Gene Malin at the Internet Broadway Database
• Gene Malin at the Internet Movie Database

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