Dudley Liddell was in a successful vaudeville act, Liddell & Gibson in the 1920s.

He was born in 1898. At around age 15 he was already appearing on stage as a female impersonator with a burlesque troupe. His family knew he was on the stage but they didn't know what act he was doing.

He was arrested by police several times from 1914 to 1915 when he was 16 years old, for charging women’s clothing on his father and sister-in-law’s accounts at local department stores, impersonating a young woman and flirting with businessmen to get free dinners.  Liddell’s father would bail him out and pay any fines; it doesn’t appear from newspaper reports that he ever served jail time. When he appeared in court in August of 1914, Gertrude Gordon from the Pittsburgh Press was there and related in a newspaper story printed on August 8, 1914 "Dudley was one of the most fascinating visions that ever has graced the space before the magisterial desk: 'Her' eyes were bright and expressive, 'her' hair was abundant and of a reddish brown, 'she' was dressed up to the latest minute in a pink silk blouse, white ratine skirt, black velvet hat with tulle trim, trimmed with one big white rose; long white silk gloves, gray hose and slippers, the latter with pretty rhinestone tango buttons on them, and belt of roman striped ribbon." Gertrude Gordon interviewed Liddell that day in court and asked him, "Which brings you the most fun, going out with a girl or a man?" to which he replied, "As a girl, you don't have to spend money, but you have to listen to a lot of silly gush the men hand you."

Somewhere along the line Liddell partnered with Del Gibson to form their singing and dancing comical vaudeville act. It wasn’t until the finale of their performances that Liddell would take off his wig and reveal to amused audiences that he was a man. Their act was popular and played the Orpheum and Keith circuits across the U.S. during the 1920s.  

In the 1930s Dudley was living in Philadelphia but by the 1940s he was back in Pittsburgh. He was working as window dresser in a department store there when he died of an overdose of barbiturates at age 44.

I can’t find any info on what happened to Del Gibson; he is a mystery.

Top photo via the Queer Music Heritage website.

The Liddell and Gibson vaudeville photo from the 1923 National Vaudeville Artists yearbook, courtesy of the Media History Digital Library.

Music hall singer and male impersonator Ella Shields as she appeared in the 1928 National Vaudeville Artists yearbook. The ad reads "Expresses her thanks to brother and sister artists for their kind thoughts and messages during those moments when they were so welcome."

Her career was on the skids at this point and she retired from show business the following year, though she had a short comeback in the late 1940s. A very young Julie Andrews met Miss Shields around then when they appeared on the same stage during a Royal Command Performance. It's rumored that Andrews based her character in "Victor/Victoria" on Shields' male impersonation. I can see it! Julie Andrews also recorded Shields' best-known song "Burlington Bertie from Bow."

Photo is courtesy of the Media History Digital Library.