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VOLUME 53, NUMBEFthe prettiest girlsaround Grapevine prairie, a few years back, were the Schramm sisters.And the most romantic young men were those in show business. . .Medicine show business, to ze exact.What happened to the old-time traveling troupe is one of die theater's secrets.But what happened to theblack-face comedian who married the Grapevine girl is not. The two have lived happily ever after. They spent more than 20 years in vaudeville, with stage bands, on Missis- [ n sippi show boats. rt-UAJV1^ They played for Billy Rose at the Fort Worth, Texas Centennial and staged a 19-week performance at his New York Diamond Horseshoe.They are the T.L. Simmonses, who with their son and his wife, Dick and Doris Simmons, own Dracor, a firm specializing in custom-made, draperies, located in downtown Irving.* * ♦Blackie Simmons was hisname back then. It still is, if you get him to talking about show days.When I was a school boy Ifound out that 1 could make people laugh by blacking my face and telling a joke.My brother and I teamed up as 'Blackie and Brownie, Two Bits of Color* and hit the trail.I was wearing flap-toed shoes and full makeup when I first met the prettiest girl I ever saw. That was the Grapevine girl. Old Dr. Walker introduced us, I made quite a hit, But next day when I tried to shine up to her without show black, she wouldn't speak to me.¥ * #Simmons also had an ear for music and was the master of 14 different instruments.When vaudeville began to slow he organized his own band, Blackie’s Blue Jackets,
Newspaper Details
Grand Prairie Daily News Texan
Grand Prairie, Texas, US
Thu, Aug 09, 1962
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Kevin C.
GB 22 Apr 2020
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