Mazie King
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M. K. Patton
Mazie King | |
|---|---|
 Mazie King, from a 1916 publication. | |
| Born | January 14, 1888 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | November 1968 (aged 80) Montclair, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Other names | Mazie Nourse M. K. Patton |
| Occupations | Dancer, Singer |
| Years active | 1890s-1920s |
| Known for | Toe dancing stunts, Vaudeville, Broadway |
| Spouses |
John Patton (m. 1920) |
Mazie King (January 14, 1888 – November 1968)[1] was an American dancer, singer, and vaudeville performer.
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Mazie King danced on Broadway in three shows: The Mimic World (1908),[2] The Hen-Pecks (1911),[2] and The Doll Girl (1913). She was also in The Rising Generation (1895), Hogan's Alley (1896), The Midnight Sons (1910),[3] The Passing Show of 1913,[4] and Over the Top (1919).[5] Dances and songs were named for Mazie King; sheet music featured her likeness.[6]
She was in a touring show called Painting the Town in 1907.[7] She toured in California as a dancer on the Orpheum vaudeville circuit in 1911, with her "artistic dance" titled "The Legend of the Spring".[8] Sometimes she danced with partners, including Tyler Brooke in Boston in 1915,[9] and E. E. Marini in Delaware in 1917.[10][11] She was touring again in 1919, with a program called "Dance Jingles".[12] When she was starring in a vaudeville program in 1920, her partner was Harry Ormond.[13]
King drew publicity for various unusual reasons. She was considered the first dancer to have her foot x-rayed en pointe, in 1898.[14][15] She was said to have her legs insured for $30,000 with Lloyd's of London.[16] "Miss King is credited with being the only toe-dancer who has ever accomplished the feat of jumping from a table to the stage, alighting on her toes, and continuing her dance without intermission," noted one report in 1900.[17][18] In 1910, she posed for miniature portraits to show her "old-fashioned" and "beautifully moulded" shoulders.[19] She descended the stairs of New York's 45-story Metropolitan Life Building, en pointe, in 1911.[20][21] In 1914, she repeated the feat at the Los Angeles Courthouse.[22]
King took a break for a few seasons when she married late in 1920, but was back on the variety stage in 1923.[23] In 1928 she registered Safety First: A Nautical Farce and A Tale of the Sea: A Nautical Farce for copyrights, under the name "Mazie King Patton".[24]