Florence Tempest (born Claire Lillian Ijames, June 25, 1889 — died after January 1932), sometimes billed as Florenze Tempest, was an American comedian and dancer, a vaudeville and musical theatre performer, best known as part of "Sunshine and Tempest" with her sister, Marion Sunshine.
Early life Claire Lillian Ijames described herself as "born in Louisville";"Orpheum Offerings" Western Magazine (April 1, 1920): 188. other sources give Richmond, Virginia as her hometown.Emily Brokamp, "'You Ought to See Her Now': The Female Kings of the Music Hall and Vaudeville" Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute, Ohio State University Libraries. Her parents were Edward Henry Ijames and Mary Henesey Ijames. About 1901, Mary Henesey Ijames moved to New York City as a widow, with her young daughters June (or Junie), Claire (or Clara), and Mary (or Marion). The sisters sometimes performed as a trio act."Next Week's Orpheum Show" Ogden Morning Examiner (January 2, 1910): 11. via Newspapers.com"Pretty Sisters in Act" The Fort-Wayne Journal-Gazette (May 9, 1910): 5. via Newspapers.com
Career
Florence Tempest had a vaudeville act with her younger sister, Marion Sunshine; "I always played the boy, while Marion was my sweetheart", Tempest explained. They toured with their mother. Tempest's act was admired not only for its humor but also for its technical ingenuity: "Florence Tempest has conceived and put into effect the most unique fashion of hair dressing for her boy characterization", commented one reviewer, "Her own front and side hair is combed into the wig and makes and excellent boy's pompadour without the suspicion of girlish coiffure."Jackson D. Haag, "Midweek in the Theatres: A Pleasing Sister Act" The Pittsburgh Post (April 12, 1912): 20. via Newspapers.com The duo made a short silent film, Sunshine and Tempest (1915), in which they played telepathic twin sisters in the Tennessee mountains."Lyceum" The Allentown Leader (November 2, 1915): 8. via Newspapers.com
Tempest also had a headlining solo act,"Florence Tempest Heads Savoy Bill" Asbury Park Evening Press (October 24, 1913): 17. via Newspapers.com again playing masculine characters,E. L. M. "The Town's Gossip" Detroit Free Press (September 27, 1917): 9. via Newspapers.com but also donning a gown as the only female character in her "College Town" act, with "Ten 'Rah-Rah' Boys" as her chorus."Cool Air Without, Good Bill Within" The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (May 27, 1913): 28. via Newspapers.com She was described as vaudeville's "Most Lovable Boy and Daintiest Girl" in a 1917 headline."Most Lovable Boy and Daintiest Girl" Hartford Courant (October 5, 1917): 7. via Newspapers.com She appeared on the cover art of sheet music in masculine suits and caps, in youthful poses, even smoking a cigarette; for "I Want a Boy to Love Me" (1913), she's shown lounging on a bench, a hand in her trouser pocket;"Florenze Tempest: Male Impersonator" Queer Music Heritage website. for "I Love the Ladies" (1914) she appears in a boater hat and the caption "Our American Boy"."I Love the Ladies" sheet music, J. D. Doyle Archives, Digital Transgender Archive. In the 1920s, no longer suited to "boyish" characters, she was in a vaudeville act with her second husband, comedian Homer Dickinson; they were billed as "Broadway's Smart Couple".Gillian M Rodger, Just One of the Boys: Female-to-Male Cross-Dressing on the American Variety Stage (University of Illinois Press 2018): 179-180. James Muir, "Five New Productions" Dayton Daily News (April 27, 1926): 17. via Newspapers.com"Colonial Opens its Vaudeville Season with Big Feature Act" The Akron Beacon Journal (August 23, 1924): 2. via Newspapers.com They were still performing together as late as 1932."Broadway Vaudeville Bill Opens at State Today" Reading Times (January 11, 1932): 9. via Newspapers.com
Florence Tempest appeared on Broadway in the shows Ziegfeld Follies of 1907 (1907), Little Nemo (1908–1909), H.M.S. Pinafore (1911), La Belle Paree (1911), Stop! Look! Listen! (1915–1916), and Earl Carroll's Vanities (1923). She also toured with the Ziegfeld Follies in the 1907–1908 season.Kay Green, ed., Broadway Musicals, Show by Show (Hal Leonard Corporation 1996): 14.
Personal life Florence Tempest married a theatrical agent, Joseph E. Shea, in 1915. They separated months later, and they divorced in 1920."Florence Tempest Finds Tempest in her Married Life" The Oregon Daily Journal (August 22, 1920): 44. via Newspapers.com By 1924 she was married again,"Florence Tempest to Appear in Vaudeville at Hancock This Week" The Austin Statesman (February 12, 1924): 5. via Newspapers.com to her vaudeville partner, Homer Dickinson.Jamie Brotherton, Ted Okuda, Dorothy Lee: The Life and Films of the Wheeler and Woolsey Girl (McFarland 2013): 9.
References
External links
Examples of Florenze Tempest sheet music, in Digital Commonwealth: Massachusetts Collections Online.