Frances Charlotte Lamberton (born October 6, 1917) was an American deaf vaudeville and ballroom dancer.
Charlotte Lamberton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Frances Charlotte Lamberton October 6, 1917 Idaho, U.S. |
| Other names | Charlotte Frances Lamberton, Charlotte Drolet (married name) |
| Spouse | Edwin Drolet |
Biography
editCharlotte Lamberton was born in Idaho to Ethel (née Clark) Lamberton and Frank Lamberton, an insurance broker.[1] At age 2, the family lived in Mountain Home, Idaho.[2] She had two brothers, Henry (Charles) and Jack who was killed in a train accident in 1931.[3] Both Charlotte and Charles were born deaf.[4] They were not allowed to learn sign language but instead were homeschooled in oralism by their mother and attended Los Angeles Day School for the Deaf.[5] Both learned to speak and sign as they got older.[4]
Charlotte took dancing lessons starting at five years old because her mother wanted to "make [her] normal like other kids.[6] She would often dance with her brother Charles but when he became a teenager he was diagnosed with a weak heart and Charlotte mostly danced alone.[5] The family moved to Southern California and she started performing professionally in Hollywood when she was eleven.[6] By 1930, the family lived in Long Beach.[7] When she was fourteen, she was being billed in stage shows as "The Exquisite Charlotte."[8]
Lamberton was booked for two weeks at the Hollywood Restaurant in New York which turned into a 28-week engagement.[4][9] Charles, who had received a clean bill of health, joined her and they went on tour starring in Dave Apollon's Revue, touring the country and gaining national fame.[10][11][12] Charles stopped dancing in 1940 again due to declining health and then to join the war effort. Charlotte later performed alone, and claimed to be "the only solo dancer in the country without the sense of hearing."[13][14]
When asked how she could dance to music she could not hear, Lamberton explained "Do I feel it through my feet? No but that's what everyone asks. I feel it through my arms, my legs, my body. It comes to me in a faint sort of pulsation, in rhythmic beats that are like waves... Oh I can't explain it!"[15]
Lamberton's last show was in Alaska in 1948, where she was on a four-month tour.[16] She left show business to take care of her mother, who always accompanied her professionally. Lamberton's mother died of cancer in August 1948.[17] She married Edwin Drolet on October 3, 1948, and they moved to Detroit, Michigan.[16][18][19] He died of cancer in 1977.[20]
References
edit- ^ "Idaho, U.S., Birth Records, 1861-1919". Ancestry. 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
- ^ "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDCL-FFB : 1 February 2021), Charlotte Lamberton in entry for Frank S Lamberton, 1920.
- ^ "Charlotte Lamberton - Census - United States Census, 1920". FamilySearch.org. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
- ^ a b c Taylor, Marjorie (October 16, 1942). "This Job Done By Mother and Children". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, KY. p. 10. Retrieved 28 April 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Montague, Harriet (July 1938). "Who Shall Set Limitations? A Story of Two Deaf Dancers". The Volta Review. 40 (7): 400–402. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
- ^ a b Bellamy, Jeanne (January 9, 1938). "Young Brother and Suster, Professional Dancers, Do a Floor Performance to Music They Can Not Hear". Miami Herald. p. 45. Retrieved 28 April 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCJK-VBL : accessed 5 May 2023), Charlotte Lamberton in household of Frank S Lamberton, Long Beach, Los Angeles, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 1071, sheet 4A, line 7, family 107, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 129; FHL microfilm 2,339,864.
- ^ Ross, George (March 1, 1936). "New Night Club Star Hears and Dances With Her Feet". Johnson City Press-Chronicle. p. 16. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
- ^ "The Magnificent Lambertons". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 29, 1936. p. 9. Retrieved 28 April 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Medicine: Discontented Mutes". TIME. 1937-08-09. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
- ^ "Charles and Charlotte Lamberton Dancers Extraordinary". Detroit Free Press. Nov 1, 1936. p. 22. Retrieved 28 April 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Phillips, Robert B. (December 12, 1936). "Dave Apollon Back on Stage in Captiol [sic] Stage Show". Evening Star. Washington, D. C. p. 36. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
- ^ "Novelty Acts Head Civic Stage Bill". Portland Press-Herald. May 7, 1944. p. 27. Retrieved 28 April 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Freeman, Norine (June 12, 1941). "Patience won Handicapped Girl a Career". The Cincinnati Post. p. 22. Retrieved 28 April 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "They Dance To Music They Cannot Hear". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. October 25, 1936. p. 64 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Pair to Live in Detroit". Long Beach Press Telegram. October 10, 1948. p. 33. Retrieved 28 April 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Vital Statistics - Obituary". The Silent Worker. 1 (2). Gallaudet University Archives: 21. October 1948. Retrieved 28 April 2023 – via Archive.org.
- ^ "Edwin P Drolet or Srolet". FamilySearch.org. 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
- ^ "Charlotte Frances Lamberton Marriage - California, County Marriages, 1850-1952". FamilySearch.org. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
- ^ "Edwin Drolet Death - United States Social Security Death Index". FamilySearch.org. Retrieved 2023-04-28.