Theatre Register

Winnie Lightner

Shows · Winnie Lightner

Actor 1899–1971 On stage 19221927

Winnie Lightner (born Winifred Josephine Reeves; September 17, 1899 – March 5, 1971) was an American stage and motion picture actress. Perhaps best known as the man-hungry Mabel in Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929), Lightner was often typecast as a wise-cracking gold-digger and was known for her talents as a comedian and singer. She is also noted for introducing the song "Singin' in the Bathtub" in the 1929 motion picture The Show of Shows.

On stage 7 productions, 5 years

1922 George White's Scandals [1922] Globe Theatre · Original 89 perf.
1922 George White’s Scandals Globe Theatre · Original · directed by George White 88 perf.
1923 George White's Scandals [1923] Globe Theatre · Original 168 perf.
1924 George White's Scandals [1924] Apollo Theatre · Original 196 perf.
1925 Gay Paree [1925] Shubert Theatre · Original · directed by J. J. Shubert 181 perf.
1926 Gay Paree [1926] Winter Garden Theatre · Original · directed by J. J. Shubert 192 perf.
1927 Harry Delmar's Revels Shubert Theatre · Original 112 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once12 names

Richard Bold 5 productions
Newton Alexander 5 productions
Lester Allen 4 productions
Thea Lightner 3 productions
Dolores Costello 3 productions
Viola Griffith 2 productions
Vera Colburn 2 productions
Tom Patricola 2 productions
Thalie Hamilton 2 productions
Peggy Jones 2 productions
Peggy Dolan 2 productions
Pearl Regay 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 8 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

Also credited on1 work

George White’s Scandals

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature2 passages

  • Cast: W. C. Fields, Winnie Lightner, Paul Whiteman Orchestra, Lester Allen, George White, Jack McGowan, Pearl Regay, Dolores Costelloebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • Lane and Imogene Wilson were in the “Ziegfeld Follies,” Lester Allen and Winnie Lightner in the “George White’s Seandals,” Joe Cook and Sophie Tucker in the “Vanities,” Grace Moore, Fannietheatre-pdfs/A Pictorial History of the American Theatre, 1860-1985 (Blum).txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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