Don't you love learning about women trailblazers of history?
What a Dame! The Glorious Renée Harris
I first “met”
Renée Harris when researching for “Glamour
Onboard the Titanic,” a talk I was to
give at the Biltmore in Asheville, NC, a few years ago during their costume
exhibition. Renée and her husband Harry, a famously successful
Broadway producer, were passengers on the RMS Titanic returning home to New York City in 1912 from a working
holiday abroad. She made it; he, like many other men, went down with the ship.
During my
research, I became curious about the lives of a number of women after they
survived the Titanic disaster. It
took a lot of courage and determination to live through such an ordeal—and they
would need that tenacity in the changing world culture. The early years of the
20th century were a transformative time, especially for women who,
in the United States, were revving up the nearly-seven-decades-long campaign
for the vote, to continue moving their lives out of the “domestic sphere” into
the “public sphere”—and the patriarchal powers-that-be were pushing back!
What had women,
like Renée Harris, undertaken in this brave new world once they
arrived home? I later wrote about some of these trailblazing women, but the
information was often limited since history tends to ignore or gloss over a
woman’s story. Therefore, I was delighted to learn that my historian friend
Randy Bryan Bigham had co-authored, with Gregg Jasper, also a historian and
collector, a first-of-its-kind biography of Renée—Broadway Dame: The Life and Times of Mrs. Henry B. Harris. And what a great “dame” she was!
Once back
home in New York City, the vibrant and “unsinkable” Renée Harris, while grieving her beloved
husband, not only took on his business enterprises—when the “Harris theatrical
empire was on the brink of bankruptcy”—she also had to take on an unwelcoming
man’s world! However, she had the right combination of good humor, hutzpah,
business savvy, and the wisdom to listen to her intuitive vibes to not only win
over the guys (most of the time), but also to become a successful and
innovative owner and manager of the elegant Hudson Theater. Indeed, Broadway’s
first woman producer!
Glamorous
and spirited—"one of the great personalities of the Jazz Age”—Renée produced and managed 200 plays (some on controversial
social topics) and musicals (including the “Hot Chocolates” revue with a young
Louis Armstrong playing trumpet) during her 20-year run. She lived life abundantly,
enjoying the wealth of her success—yearly trips to Europe, a home and yacht in
Palm Beach, lavish entertaining, and a fabulous wardrobe of designer hats and
furs. But she was also an active supporter of better working conditions and increased
salaries for the performers and behind-the-scene workers—often going up against
her male counterparts to champion workers’ rights.
Renée (who added that second “e” to her
name just because she thought it had more élan!) had feminist views but didn’t
need a label in order to speak and act true to her egalitarian convictions. And
she was wise enough to recognize her secret weapon: she trusted in, as she
said, the “female perspective” and a woman’s “quick intuition.” “A woman can do
it as well as a man,” Renée shared in an interview about
producing Broadway plays. “A woman does not go about this the same way that a
man does, but the results are the same. Sometimes I think they’re better. A
woman brings to the stage a woman’s point of view. After all, it is what in the
long run pleases a woman that makes a show a success.” (You see why I love
her!)
Randy and
Gregg’s biography is full of marvelous stories and never-before-published photographs
gathered from various archives—including Gregg’s own collection of Broadway
memorabilia. The book’s many images set the tone for this exciting,
groundbreaking age in history and since Gregg knew Renée in her later years, his experiences add an intimate and
personal quality to the narrative.
The co-authors
tell the story of a woman who found her confident voice—encouraged by the
memory of a husband’s love and faith in her (“I never take an important step
without consulting Renée,” Harry told a friend only months
before his death on the Titanic. “If
anything happened to me, she could take over the reins.”); a woman who was unafraid
to put her social conscience on the line and
on the stage; and who, when she lost it all soon after the stock market crash
in 1929, kept her resourcefulness, optimism and light-heartedness, continuing
to enjoy life and live 93 legendary years!
Thank you,
Randy and Gregg, for an inspirational and entertaining book about a strong,
glorious woman that history almost forgot until you two were determined to tell
her full story. ~
Broadway Dame: The Life and Times of Mrs.
Henry B. Harris by Randy
Bryan Bigham and Gregg Jasper available at Lulu.com.
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