Yet again, Douglas Stewart Fine Books ,Melbourne , has produced latest acqusitions lists with many items of interest, one being five carte de visites of English comedian and female impersonator , Gilbert Saroney , photographed in Sydney in l880 ,
He spent almost a year in Australia and , dressed as an old maid , was well received by the Ballarat miners . Much later in his career, she developed into the film character called Giddy Gusher .
She was a grotesque and talkative lady whose catchphrases included “I thought I’d die” and “Goodness, girls, was I embarrassed.” Saroney’s 15 Dec 1910 USA obituary called him “one of the first female impersonators of the old maid type. He was considered one of the funniest men in the show business.”
The bookshop says Gilbert Saroney (Sarony / Saroni) is a very significant figure in the history of drag performance and crossdressing, being one of the first drag artistes to appear in several early American silent films.
He did a cross dressing performance in a 1903 Thomas Edison film and also participated in what is probably the first gay kiss in cinema history in the 1904 short film, Meet Me at the Fountain, directed by Sigmund Lubin.
The carte de visites , priced at $3800, are from the collection of Sydney actor, stage manager and playwright Alfred Dampier .
(Drag, USA, Bookshop).‘
