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American Vaudeville Museum |
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All material © 1998-2008 American Museum of Vaudeville, Inc. Page 124 |
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Santoro & Marlow |
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For more information about Santoro & Marlow with Baby Victory, send for Volume IX, Issue #4 of |
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Edward Santoro 1869-1946
Margaret Marlow 1885-1951
Baby Victory 1902-1981
Not every act lasted a lifetime; some performers teamed up for a season or two, then went their separate ways. Santoro & Marlow lasted a bit more than a decade, but as they were married and parents, breaking up the act was not simple. Santoro & Marlow had entered vaudeville around 1900 as a mixed double. Ed, a former art student and actor, recited and sang while he painted an upside down picture. Margaret sang and tore paper (very popular at the time), pinching and tearing pieces from a folded sheet of paper. They finished together and ED turned his painting right side up as Margaret unfolded a lovely, lacey design. Ed soloed as a tramp comedian before settling down in Chicago. Margaret worked as a singer in the 1910s and also did a “sister act” with her daughter. Their oldest child, billed as Baby Victory, had been brought into the act when she was three. The public loved cute personable children, but often found them less charming as they struggled through their adolescence. At the same time, Victory no longer found show business charming and longed for a normal child’s life. BY the end of vaudeville, none of the three remained in show business. |