Hester Harvey (1896-1979)

Berlin (1928)

Hester Frederika Marguerite Watt was born February 22, 1896 in the Brown Mine neighborhood of Johannesburg, Transvaal Republic. According to later interviews, she claimed her father was German and her mother was a local native woman. It's possible her European father migrated to Johannesburg around 1886 during the Witwatersrand Gold Rush to seek his fortune. In pre-Apartheid South Africa, laws were very relaxed, allowing for interracial marriages to be permitted. 

As a young child, Hester would've witnessed the chaos of the Second Boer War and the British seizing control over the Transvaal from the Boers. By the time she had begun school in 1902, the war was over and South Africa was on its way to becoming unified, which it did in 1910 as the Union of South Africa. Despite the unification, the Transvaal continued to be extremely Dutch. Although German was spoken in the Watt household, English, Dutch and Afrikaans were spoken in public. Although she had slightly more freedom as a young Coloured woman compared to native women like her mother, her life was still restricted as a woman of color. 

Marriage certificate (1916)

By 1915, the Watt household relocated to the Fairland neighborhood in the nearby town of Roodepoort. It was here that 19-year old Hester had been introduced to 37-year old Swedish businessman, Bror Arvid Thunberg. Originally from Gothenburg, Bror had been traveling to South Africa since as early as 1900 accompanied by his younger brother Viktor. The circumstances of which the couple met is known, however on March 29th, 1915, the couple announced their engagement. The news had reached Swedish newspapers a month later. After a two year engagement, the couple married in Johannesburg on December 23rd, 1916. Hester's parents had given consent and her father was listed as a witness on the marriage certificate. Shortly after the wedding, the new Mrs. Thunberg accompanied her husband back to his homeland in Sweden. 

1930 Swedish Census

Suddenly, after settling into a villa in the wooded suburb of Storegården, located in the northern part of Gothenburg's Askim district, Hester was in Germany, performing under the pseudonym “Hester Harvey”. From July 1917 until January 1918, she was dancing and singing in cabarets around Berlin and Munich with great success. 

Her new career was cut short suddenly when she discovered she was pregnant. The Thunbergs returned to South Africa for the birth of their son, Yngve Andreas Thunberg in Johannesburg on November 11th, 1918 upon the end of World War I. As soon as she was able, Hester was back in Europe by May 1919, performing at Berlin's Reichs-Café. Soon she was with child again and on July 17th, 1920, Ingrid Linnea Thunberg was born in Gothenburg. 

Hester returned to work instantly, as she returned to Berlin the following month to film “Das Floß der Toten” (The Fleet of the Dead). Set in German South West Africa (now Namibia), Hester played a local native woman who triggers an uprising against the German authorities. The film was released in Germany on March 7th, 1921. She appeared in another film, “Söhne der Hölle” (Sons of Hell) which was released on October 18th, 1921. However little information is known about this film. Shortly after filming, she returned home to Sweden for the birth of her third child, Astrid Viola Thunberg on December 10th, 1921.

Die Rache der Mulattin (1923)

In May 1923, Hester returned to Berlin as the star of Leo Heller and Fritz Lemmen's one act play, “Die Rache der Mulattin” (The Revenge of the Mulatto). The production was staged at the illustrious Friedrich-Wilhelm-Städtisches Theater, which was under the direction of the legendary Max Reinhardt. Hester and her co-star, Georg Burghardt received considerable applause from German audiences. 

The following year, she starred in Erik Charell's revue “An Alle…!” at the Großes Schauspielhaus. Opening October 18th, 1924, the revue was considered the first revue to be introduced to German stages. The show was composed of two acts and 21 sketches and featured the John Tiller Girls, Josefine Dora, Reeves & Reeves, Elvira Ronné and Diane Belli & Mars performing to the songs of Dr. Ralph Benatzky, Rudolph Nelson and Irving Berlin. The revue ran for six months, closing April 1925. 

Zurück zu Methusalem (1925)

In November 1925, she appeared in George Bernard Shaw's play “Zurück zu Methusalem” (Back to Methuselah) at the Theater in der Königgrätzer Straße. The cast was also composed of a young Marlene Dietrich as Eve. The play also appeared at the Theater Tribüne in January 1926.

In July 1926, Hester appeared in Hans H. Zerlett's operetta, “Die Leichte Isabell” (The Light Isabell) at the Schiller Theater. Directed by Robert Gilbert and starring Erika Nymgau and Greta Mosholm, the operetta was a huge success and after two months, moved over to the Theater am Nollandorfplatz in September. During this time, she also made a few appearances on German radio. 

From 1927-1930, Hester went on a tour of Germany and Austria, appearing in Hamburg, Dortmund, Bonn, Vienna and Graz. In-between touring, she frequently appeared in Berlin at the Haus Vaterland's Wild West Bar, singing and dancing before a set of chorus girls known as the Arizona Girls. Frequently the Arizona Girls accompanied her on her tour. In the background, a band composed of clarinetist Sidney Bechet and Afro-German drummer William MacAllen blasted the latest jazz numbers.

In mid-1931, Hester joined Professor William Curt Doorlay's “Brazilian Kaleidoscope Revue”. Professor Doorlay's revue had been touring across the world since the early 1920s and was extremely popular in Germany. Joining around the summer of 1931, Hester toured with the revue for nearly eight months, appearing around Germany, Lithuania, Sweden, Italy and Switzerland. The heavily pregnant Hester abandoned the revue promptly after the Swiss tour to give birth to her fourth child, Arvid Erling Thunberg on May 31, 1932. 

Dollar (1938 film)

After Arvid's birth, Hester's career in Germany slowed down to a halt. In January 1933, Adolf Hitler had been elected as the new Chancellor of Germany and racist laws were being quickly put in place, restricting Black entertainers from working in Germany. Instead, she became a popular singer at Stockholm's popular Gröna Lund amusement park and toured the folk parks across the country. 

Between 1937-1938, she appeared in two films, “John Ericsson - segraren vid Hampton Roads” and “Dollar” with Ingrid Bergman. Unfortunately she was casted in the minor role of maid in both films. After an appearance in Hamburg in March 1938, Hester disappeared from the stage for a while. 

1940 Swedish Census

By 1940, the Thunberg household had relocated to a villa at 13 kv Krokodilen 29 in the Örgryte neighborhood. Hester leaves her occupation blank in the 1940 Swedish Census. 

Pinguin Negerbar (1950)

Berlin (1949)

She reappears from 1949-1950, in Germany at the Pinguin Negerbar, the only Black nightclub in Berlin. There she appeared with many of her old colleagues from before the war, including William MacAllen and his Orchestra. After the club closed down in August 1950, she disappeared from the limelight again. 

On April 4th, 1954, 75-year old Bror Arvid Thunberg died and 58-year old Hester became a widow after 17 years of marriage. She lived quietly amongst her children and their families in Gothenburg until her death on November 19th, 1976.

Didi Fortunia

The fascinating Haitian-Polish singer, dancer, sculptor and actress, Didi Fortunia was born Louie Marguerite Verna on January 27th, 1928 in the Prussian port city of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia) to a Polish mother and Haitian father Felix Auguste Verna (April 17, 1896-after 1952).

Berlin (1932)

Her father, Felix, originating from Port-au-Prince, had migrated to Brooklyn in 1917 and married his first wife, Catherine Clarke before fleeing to England three years later after being drafted at the outbreak of WWI. From 1919-1922, he studied music in London and traveled with an African-American Jazz band throughout Europe and the British Isles. In 1923, while engaged in Vienna, he began appearing in several unknown Austrian films.

Berlin 1936

Eventually his travels brought him to Lwów, Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine), where he met and married a local ballet dancer. Late-1928, shortly after the birth of their daughter, the family settled in Berlin, where Felix appeared at Johnny's Nightclub and starred in three German films. In December 1931, Felix partnered with Jacques Perroux, opening the Rio Rita Restaurant at 12 Kaiserstrasse, where Felix's orchestra appeared nightly. Around May 1936, after the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Germany's chancellor and the rise of antisemitic and racist sentiments across the country, the Verna household relocated to Warsaw. During her time in Poland, young Louise was enrolled in a dance academy attached to the Warsaw Opera. 

After the German invasion and occupation of Poland in September 1939, Felix Verna was listed as a Belgian citizen and deported to Antwerp, where he remained until August 1947, when he returned home to Haiti. Around 1941, Louise and her mother were arrested and deported to Germany, where they were held at infamous Buchenwald Concentration Camp until September 1944, when they were separated and Louise was transferred to the Jena sub-camp, performing forced labor for the Reich Railways Repair Works. There she repaired railways and performed other factory tasks.

Aunt Fortuna la Créole

After the camp was liberated in April 1945, Louise traveled to Paris under the name Anita Verna (or Anita Averna) where she reunited with a family friend (sometimes referred to as her aunt) Fortuna la Créole. Born Emilia Falaye (June 2, 1906-after 1960) in French Guiana, Fortuna had traveled to Paris during the 1920s to study medicine but decided instead to become a cabaret artist, touring across Europe before settling back in Paris in 1942, where she opened her own cabaret, La Pergola behind the Moulin Rouge. In the summer of 1945, the Pergola was renamed the Arizona and 18-year-old Louise debuted as Didi Fortunia.

During her engagement at the Arizona, Fortunia was spotted by Hungarian director and costume designer, Michel Gyarmathy and given a leading role at Folies Bergère's latest revue, “C'est de la Folie”. Opening March 1946, the show ran for three years before closing February 1949. During her engagement at the Folies Bergère, she became an overnight sensation. Seen as the new Joséphine Baker, she appeared in American and French magazines and newspapers. During the summer of 1948, she appeared as a dancer in the film, Une Femme Par Jour (released February 1949).  

In February 1949, after “C'est de la Folie” closed, Fortunia appeared as a chorus girl in the Casino de Paris’ revue, “Exciting Paris”. During its run, she became acquainted with French restaurant owner, Auguste Paul Bénazet (June 13, 1907-December 6, 1971). The couple married in Paris on December 15th, 1949 and settled at Bénazet’s villa in Fontainebleau, where he also ran the Table de la Ravine Hotel-Restaurant. 

May 1951

In March 1950, Fortunia departed for London, where she performed for nine months in the London Casino revue, “Latin Quarter” as a replacement for the Afro-Brazilian entertainer, Miss Bartira. By the time she had returned home to France that December, she was three months pregnant. Retiring briefly from the stage, she gave birth to her son, Jean-Paul Bénazet in June 1951. A month after his birth, she was a contestant in the Miss Automobile of 1951 contest, winning first place. In December, she returned to the stage, performing in the “Nuit du Far West” revue at the Crazy Horse Saloon, appearing there for four months.  

March 1952

During her run at the Crazy Horse, in March 1952, she was reunited with her father who read an article about her success in an American magazine. The following month, she appeared for a few weeks in the A.B.C. musichall’s “Autre chose…!” revue. By May, Paul Bénazet had pressured his wife to refrain from performing semi-nude onstage. Thus, the following month she appeared more subdued in the play, “Paris Galant” at the Théâtre des Capucines, which ran for 16 months. In the meantime, she had another minor film role in, Plaisirs de Paris (released November 1952). During the winter of 1953, she performed at the Ba-Ta-Clan cabaret in Geneva, Switzerland.

May 1955

In October 1954, she replaced Yvonne Ménard, in the last seven months of the Folies Bergère revue, “Une Vraie Folie”. Following her husband's wishes, she remained mostly covered onstage. In March 1955, Paul Bénazet filed for divorce from Fortunia, claiming she committed adultery with a member of Italian nobility. After being fined $28.56 for adultery, Fortunia married her Italian lover the following month. In May 1955, she returned once again to the Folies Bergère, as the star of the “Ah! Quelle Folie!” revue, which ran for nearly three years.  

Milan (1959)

After the revue closed in February 1958, Fortunia relocated to Milan with her new spouse. In September, she debuted at the Teatro Odeon in the musical, “Sayonara Butterfly” (based on the play, Madame Butterfly). After a month's run in Milan, the show toured Italy for the next six months. During this tour, she made her last film appearance in “Pensione Edelweiss” an French-Italian production (released February 1959). Sometime between 1959-1960, she gave birth to a second child. On April 4th, 1961, she signed with Remigio Paone's company. That July, she debuted in the musical, “Il Ragazzo con la Valigia” at the Teatro Nuovo, which ran for two months. After another month touring various Italian cities, the show traveled to Venezuela. 

February 1962

In December, she appeared in the revue, “L'Astoria del Balordi” at the Teatro Alla Maschere alongside African-American musicians, George Joyner and Buster Smith. The revue ran for a month before closing in early February 1962.

Ponte Nizza (1992)

From 1962-1963, Fortunia made several television appearances before disappearing entirely from the limelight. She eventually studied ceramics at the Centro Addestramento Professionale Scuola d'Arte Cova and participated in the 1967 International Art Ceramics Competition in Faenza. By 1990, she had relocated to the village of Pizzocorno, near the town of Ponte Nizza. In February 1990, she created a terracotta station of the cross for the nearby monastery, Eremo di Sant'Alberto di Butrio. On May 28, 1992, she was a witness to a deadly car accident on the highway near Ponte Nizza. Afterwards she disappears completely.  

Lizzie Avery-Genéri

 On April 1st, 1877, Elizabeth Goines (or Hardin) was born in Chicago, Illinois to Lottie Payne and Charles Goines. 

Elizabeth, as Lizzie Hardin, first appeared in 1897 as an acrobatic dancer touring the Midwest with the Howe's London Shows. During her travels, she met fellow performer, Daniel Avery (c.1877-February 23, 1912) and formed the “Avery & Hardin” duo. On April 30th, 1898, the couple married in Billings, Montana and joined Richards, Pringles, Rusco & Holland's Minstrel Festival with whom they toured the Midwest and Southern states for the next two years.

During the fall of 1899, the duo traveled with Sissieretta Jones’ Black Patti Troubadours before joining the Creole Burlesques Company the following year. From 1901-1902, the couple relocated to New York and toured the American Eastern Coast on the Keith Circuit.

In 1903, Dan Avery partnered with Charles Hart. The new duo of Avery & Hart went on the road with Williams and Walker's Sons of Ham company, with Lizzie possibly joining as a chorus girl. They remained with the company for nearly a year and a half before sailing to England in July 1904 to join the cast of In Dahomey. 

 Williams and Walker's In Dahomey, had already played London for eight months and toured the British provinces for another six months.  Now the original company was returning to America. In August 1905 A second company opened in London, with Avery & Hart replacing Williams and Walker. This second company continued touring until February 1905.

After the In Dahomey tour finally came to a close, Dan and Lizzie Avery separated, with Dan returning home to New York. Lizzie joined the “Four Black Mexican Girls”, a quartet which also included Pauline Freeman, Nettie Glenn and Nettie Goff-Garland. The group opened in Paris at the Cirque d'Hiver in March 1905 before touring for a year across the United Kingdom and Europe before dissolving in the spring of 1906.

From 1906-1908, Lizzie Avery disappeared from the spotlight, before reappearing in London during the summer of 1909, as the mistress of an Italian, Carlo Giuseppe Pietro Genéri (September 5, 1866-Unknown) and was heavily pregnant. On November 13th, 1909, their son, Carlo Lorenzo Pietro Genéri was born. Carlo Jr was baptized on December 12th at St. Pancras Parish Church.

London (1910)

From 1910-1914, as Lizzie Avery-Genéri, she resided in London's Camden district at 8 Brunswick Square and lived as a socialite. She was also a member of the Coronation Syndicate Club, a group of African-American women living in London that organized sewing circles and helped fellow African-American entertainers arriving in London. 

In 1914, Lizzie and Carlo Genéri officially married and finally began residing together in Manchester at 23 Darley Road until the outbreak of the First World War. On July 29th, 1914, Lizzie and her four-year old son sailed aboard the SS Olympic to New York. There they remained for the next two years before arriving back in England on September 11th, 1916, aboard the SS Finland, settling at 91 Vassall Road with her husband. 

In April 1917, after the learning of death of her brother, Robert Hardin, Lizzie was hospitalized for an unknown ailment. After her release, the Genéri family relocated to Cambridge at 28 Alpha Road. On March 25th, 1918, the family relocated again to a mansion in Southport, Lancashire at 25 Westburne Road, where the family resided until December 5th, 1920, when Elizabeth Estella Genéri died. She cremated in Liverpool at the Ashfield Crematorium, three days later. 

Carlo Genéri Sr. and his eleven-year old son disappeared from British records shortly afterwards, possibly relocating to Italy. 

Ollie Burgoyne (1875-1974)

Ollie Burgoyne was born, Olive Martin on June 13th, 1875, in Chicago, Illinois to Melvina Alexander and Henry C. Martin. Her maternal grandparents, William (1826-1891) and Mary Alexander (April 1824-May 23, 1916) originated from a plantation in Lafayette County, Missouri near the city of Lexington. After marrying around 1840, the couple produced the children: Charlie, Melvina (August 1849-c. 1908) and Jennie L. Alexander (April 1857-December 1923). After William Alexander was sold down to New Orleans, Mary hired her son off to various landowners to raise money to relocate to Peoria. Eventually the family reunited after the Civil War and moved further north to Chicago.

Chicago (1875)

In 1869, after graduating from Wilberforce University, Melvina “Mattie” Alexander met and married Henry C. Martin (1834-Jul.21, 1903), a barber from New York and settled into an apartment next door to the Academy Music Theatre. The marriage produced two children, William C. Martin (October 1869-1959) and Olive “Ollie” Martin. The entire Alexander family relocated to Kansas City, Kansas in September 1871. Since Mr and Mrs Martin frequently relocated between Chicago, Topeka and Kansas City, William and Ollie were left in the care of their Aunt Jennie Edinboro (she had married William Edinboro in 1887) at 539 State Street. 

Kansas City (1880)

Ollie's career began around 1887, at age 12, possibly in local churches. By 1894, she had left home and relocated to Chicago to work as a singer in the local clubs. By April 1896, she was a member of Allen's Celebrated Jubilee Singers. That August, she adopted the stage name, Ollie Burgoyne and moved to New York City as a chorus girl with John Isham's Oriental America Company. The show toured the Eastern United States for eight months before sailing for England in April 1897, where it remained for a year. However, Ollie isn't mentioned as being a part of the British tour, deciding to remain with a second company that continued appearing in New York for another year. In 1898, she joined the cast of John Isham's Octoroon company, touring the East Coast for a year before then joining the Williams & Walker company by December 1898, appearing in the productions “The Talk of the Town” and “A Lucky Coon”. Late-1900, she was traveling with Dunbar & Cook's production, “Uncle Eph’s Christmas”.

Returning to New York by April 1901, Ollie noticed an advertisement posted in the New York Herald by German theatrical impresario Paula Kohn-Wöllner, seeking seven African-American women with the ability to sing and dance for a concert tour of Germany. The Seven Louisiana Amazon Guard company was composed of Fannie Wise, Florence Collins, Emma Harris, S. T. Jubrey, Alverta Burley and Burgoyne. The seventh member, Coretté Hardy, remained in New York as a reserve. 

Vienna (September 1901)

On April 10, the six women were brought to the Passport Office to apply for their first passports. After two weeks with Ms. Kohn-Wöllner paying for all six of the women's travel expenses, they boarded on the S.S. Deutschland, heading for Germany. By April 21, the troupe had arrived in Leipzig, Germany. Throughout June and July, the troupe made a series of successful performances at Kaiserkrone and Carlsbad's Hotel Weber in Kiel. In late August, the women intrigued Hungarian audiences at the Os-Budavara fortress. In September, the women fulfilled a month-long engagement at Vienna's Colosseum Theater. The following month was spent at Copenhagen's Cirkus Variete for the beginning of their brief Scandinavian tour.

Budapest (August 1901)

In November, the troupe spent two successful weeks at Goteborg's Circus Madigan and two more weeks at Stockholm's Svensalen Variety Restaurant. Between their performances, on November 11, Ms. Kohn-Wöllner conducted several interviews with the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper, frequently pushing forward Wise (dressed in a black and white dress). Ms. Kohn-Wöllner mentioned her plans to organize a band for the troupe, the contract she signed with the Folies-Bergere (for January 1902) and to bring over Hardy, who was still waiting in America. The troupe returned to Germany in December to entertain at Berlin's Circus Schumann where they ended the year, preparing for another year of extensive touring.

Germany (c. 1902)

The new year of 1902, the group opened in Magdeburg for a two-week engagement before moving on to France, where the women intended to perform at Paris' famous Folie-Bergere cabaret. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as if that ever came into fruition and the troupe returned to Germany to appear in Braunswich's Bruning Theater and Halle's Walhalla Theater. The month of March was spent in Breslau's Liebich Etablissement, followed by performances at Danzig's Wilhelm Theater and Poznan's Kaisergarten in April. In May, the group disappears briefly from the limelight as Fannie Wise and S.T. Jubrey suddenly quit the group and returned home to the United States. During this time their replacements, standby performers, Coretté Hardy and Fannie Smith (20-year-old from Philadelphia) were promptly brought over to Europe. Throughout June, the troupe toured across Switzerland, performing in Zurich and St. Gallen before returning north to Germany. The month of July was spent at Munich's Deutsches Theater, followed by a month at Leipzig's Central Theater (September) and Dresden (October). 

On November 9th, 1902, after twenty-one months of touring across Europe, during their Dresden engagement, the entire troupe walked out on their German impresario. Kohn-Wöllner was taken to court and accused of exploiting them financially. Lead performer Ollie Burgoyne was elected as their new manager and, now as the "Five Louisianas", the women left for Berlin, where they entertained at the Orpheum Theater and Harmonie Circus. After a brief engagement in Trier and Aachen, the group suddenly disappeared. In March 1903, Ollie Burgoyne and Florence Collins renewed their American passports and departed for London to join the cast of Hurtig & Seamon's In Dahomey, which opened on May 16th at the Shaftesbury Theatre.

Ollie performed as a chorus girl with “In Dahomey” for the next ten months before sailing for Russia in March 1904, where she filed a passport in Saint Petersburg on March 14th. During the summer of 1904, the Harris Trio (remnants from the Louisiana Amazon Guard), together with Ollie Bourgoyne and Jennie Scheper (from the Florida Creole Girls) formed a new company known as the "Creole Troupe" and continued touring the principal Russian cities. On January 22, 1905, while attending a party, hosted by popular American jockey, William Caton, in central Saint-Petersburg, the women witnessed the Bloody Sunday riots outside the Tsar's palace and across the city. The trio immediately packed up and returned to Moscow, where they resumed working at the Aumont Theater. In February, while performing in the city of Vyatka, the troupe decided to dissolve. 

Helsinki (March 1905)

Now known as Olga Burgoyne, Ollie formed a duet known as the Sisters Burgoyne (Jennie Scheper possibly being the other member) and appeared at Helsinki's Societetshuset (March 1905) and Saint Petersburg's Krestovskiy Garden Theater (May-August 1905), although Ollie later claimed that her engagement at the Krestovskiy lasted two years. According to LeRoi Antoine's later biography on Laura Bowman, by September 1906, while Pete Hampton & Laura Bowman were appearing in Moscow, they were entertained by Ollie Burgoyne, her cousin Ida Forsyne and another African-American entertainer known as Irene Ford.

The following month, Hampton & Bowman took a vacation to Odessa, where they ran into Ollie Burgoyne again, who had joined her boyfriend, a Russian nobleman known as Sasha. Sasha was buying a set of horses for his wife and his Black mistress. A couple of weeks later, as the 1905 revolution intensified across the Russian Empire, Ollie and Ida Forsyne, with the help of friends at the American Embassy, escaped to London before returning to Saint Petersburg in the summer of 1907, moving into N°3 Moshkov Lane, according to the local address books. In September, she debuted at the Apollo Theater for a month before moving on to Finland, performing at Helsinki's Princess Restaurant (November) and Turku's Hotel Phoenix (December).

By early 1908, she had returned home to the Russian capital, settling into a new residence at N°4 Aleksandrovskaya. Ollie had become a popular exotic dancer in the Russian Empire known as, Граната (The Grenade) due to her firecracker personality. She began singing in German, French and Russian and performed the Maxixe, Ballet and Algerian Belly Dances onstage. Five months later, after a brief trip to England, on May 21, 1908, Ollie boarded the S.S. Celtic at Liverpool returning to America to visit relatives in Kansas City (possibly for her mother's funeral). The family still resided at 539 State Avenue and her brother William had become an editor with local African-American publication, The American Citizen. On July 2nd, Ollie performed onstage at the Sparks Theater, the proceeds going to a local orphanage. On September 24th, she gave a brief appearance at New York's Woods Palace before returning home to Russia, to appear that winter at Moscow's Scala Theater. 

12-b Bolshaya Ruzheynaya (c. 1915)

The year 1909, proved to be a very successful year for Ollie Burgoyne. She settled into a luxurious apartment at N°10 Bolshaya Ruzheynaya in the Petrogradsky District of Saint Petersburg. Two doors down, at N°12-b Bolshaya Ruzheynaya, she opened the Maison Créole: Lingerie Parisienne, an upscale lingerie boutique with 27 employees and showcased black mannequins in the windows. Together with her business partner, Mattie Vera Wilkes (a fellow chorus girl from Oriental America), the boutique ran for the next five years. When she wasn't running the boutique, she was appearing across the Russian Empire. In April, she appeared at Saint Petersburg's illustrious Kontan Restaurant, situated within the Hotel Rossia, located at 58 Moika River Embankment and famous for its exquisite cuisine and Romanian orchestras. The following month, she was dancing at Moscow's Aquarium Garden Theater. By July 2nd, she was back in Saint Petersburg, filing passport with the American Embassy. For next year, there's no records of her whereabouts.

 

Bucharest (March 1912)

On September 20th, 1910, she was in London visiting the home of Jennie Scheper and her new husband, Alphonso Haston. Four days later, she sailed on the SS Campania from Liverpool to New York, listing her destination as 20 West 136th Street. Although it's unknown how she spent her time during this trip to America, she reunited with her cousin, Ida Forsyne and Ida's husband Usher Henry Watts. Ollie and Usher decided to form a duet, known as the Duo Eclatants and returned together to Europe to embark on a 16-month tour. After a brief Russian tour, the couple appeared across Germany, Austria-Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Greece and Egypt. On May 7th, 1912, the couple sailed from Bremen aboard the SS Kronprinz Wilhelm back to New York, where they went their separate ways. Ollie returned home to Russia on June 15th.

In February 1913, Ollie was performing in Moscow, renewing her passport while there on the 26th. Two months later, for a few weeks in April, she appeared at Kiev's Villa Josef Cabaret. Returning to Moscow that summer, she appeared at the famous Hermitage Gardens, a popular recreation garden known for its attractions and live performances located in central Moscow on Karetny Ryad Street. That October, she headed west for Poland, performing at Warsaw's Oaza Kabarett for a few weeks.  By early 1914, her touring had taken Ollie across the border into Austria-Hungary, appearing in Budapest by March. She filed a passport from the American Consulate General on March 12th. By July, she was vacationing in the Austrian spa town of Marienbad when WWI broke out on July 28th. Ollie however did not receive the news until three days later. Traveling immediately to Vienna, she attempted to return home to Russia but was unable to. After several more attempts from Berlin, The Hague and London, she gave up and on October 20th, sailed from Liverpool aboard the SS Franconia back to America accompanied by Mattie Wilkes. Her luxurious Saint Petersburg apartment, filled with all her possessions, had been lost and her successful Maison Créole boutique at N°12-b Bolshaya Ruzheynaya had been sold and turned into an automobile dealership.

1915 Passport Photo

Unable to find work in America, and refusing to become a maid as her cousin, Ida Forsyne had become, Ollie sailed back across the Atlantic, settling in London, moving into an apartment on Southampton Row in early 1915. There she began entertaining the British elite with her exotic dances. Perhaps she hoped to wait out the war in England and return to Russia when the borders reopened. However by 1916, she had given up hope and sailed back permanently to the United States on March 18th aboard the SS Finland. After a brief stint at the Lincoln Theatre, she joined the cast of “Way Down on the Suwanee River”, appearing with them throughout the summer, leaving briefly to return to Kansas City for the funeral of her grandmother Jennie Edinboro. After moving back into her childhood home of 539 State Avenue, with her brother and aunt, Ollie began spending long months on the road with various vaudeville productions such as: Over The Top (1918), They're Off (1919), Town Top Piks (1920), Lost In Hawaii (1921), Ollie Burgoyne Company (1922) and Follow Me (1923-24). She was frequently billed as Olga Burgoyne: the Algerian Girl, and told stories to reporters that she was of Russian and Algerian heritage.

In September 1924, while appearing in Pittsburgh, Ollie eloped with 41-year old Ward Lionel Calloway, proprietor of the Ward Calloway Hotel. Ollie moved into his home at 2341 Wylie Avenue and abandoned the Follow Me company. However after a brief romance, she was back on the road the following year with the Darktown Strutters company alongside Ida Forsyne. In 1927, after appearing for a year on Broadway in the production of “Lulu Belle”, she once again traveled the United States with the Miss Bandanna company before settling back in New York in 1928, appearing on Broadway in several productions such as “The Lady Lies” opening November 26th at the Little Theatre, “Solitaire” on March 12th, 1929 at the Waldorf Theatre, “Tired Man Business”, opening June 3rd at the Waldorf Theatre and “Make Me Know It” opening November 4th at Wallack's Theatre. During this time she married Louisiana musician, Davidson Claudfield Nelson (Jul.25, 1903-Apr.7, 1946). The couple settled at 166 West 128th Street with her brother William and the mother of her ex-husband, Ward Calloway. This second marriage was also brief. 

Scene from "Laughter" (1930)

In 1930, she appeared in the comedy film produced by director Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast, Laughter. Filmed in Astoria, Queens at Paramount Studios, Ollie appeared as Pearl, The maid to actress Nancy Carroll's character, Peggy Gibson. In 1937, she also briefly appeared in the 1937 film, “The Timid Ghost”, directed by William Watson.

In March 1931, she appeared in Yonkers as a member of the Bronze Ballet Plastique. The group rebranded and returned to New York City as the Negro Art Theater Dance Group, appearing throughout the summer, although it didn't receive much recognition. By the fall of 1931, Ollie had retired as a dancer at age 56, focusing on her career as an actress. From 1931-1942, she appeared in numerous stage productions, such as “Run Lil Chillun, Run!” which opened at New York's Lyric Theatre on March 1st, 1933 and ran for three and a half months. She was also hired as a choreographer, teaching Russian dances to American entertainers. 

Colonial House Restaurant

By May 1943, at age 67, she retired from the stage altogether, working at the 34th Street Subway Station exchange booth. A few months later, she traveled to California, visiting a friend in Oxnard. During her visit, she accepted what was supposed to be a short term gig as a hat-check girl at the Colonial House Restaurant, the most popular spot in Ventura County frequented by Hollywood stars. Instead, this visit turned into a permanent residency. For the next 22 years, she checked coats, waited tables and occasionally performed onstage at the Colonial House. In-between songs, she frequently recounted stories of her time in Europe to diners. Suffering from a heart condition, she retired in 1965.

On April 2nd, 1974, Ollie Burgoyne passed away in Oxnard. Four days later, after a service at Payton’s Mortuary Chapel, she was buried at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.