Kirsey Apel

My Life As An Immigrant

My name is Ruby Keeler, but my name when I was born was Ethel Hilda Keeler.

My Name

My Origin

Darthmouth, Nova Scotia,

Canada

When I was only three years old (1912), my family and I moved from Canada to New York City.

Year I Moved

My father was a Ice truck delivery driver, and when I was three years old, my family packed up and moved to New York City where my father knew he could get better pay.

Why We Moved

To get into New York City, me and my family had to pass through Ellis Island.

How I Got In

I was only three years old when me and my family immigrated to the U.S. so I started going to a Catholic school. When I was 12 I enrolled in dance school and became a regular performer in Prohibition-era theaters and clubs, under the watchful eye of my stage mother. At 13, I lied about my age (the legal age to work was 16), and became a chorus dancer.

What I Did

Me and my family members were fortunate enough to not have to work as indentured servants; my father worked as a truck driver and delivered ice to stores and houses.

Indentured Servant?

When we first moved to New York City we were poor, even though there were better jobs for my father here than in Canada, but had enough to make it through. When I was 18, I got discovered and started doing Broadway Musicals.

Living and Working

My religion is Catholic. I was raised a Catholic and attended a Catholic school when I was young.

Religion?

I was received and accepted very well by my community, especially when I started becoming famous. People loved my singing and dancing in all the musicals I starred in like “42nd Street”, “Gold Diggers of 1933”, and “Dames”.

Community

When I was 18, I met and married the famous entertainer Al Jolson, who was 46 at the time. Our marriage was difficult though, and it ended in 1940. A year later I met a real estate agent named John Homer Lowe and got married to him. That year, I also retired from show business and a couple years after, me and John had four children.

My Family

In 1992, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to me. I have a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6730 Hollywood Blvd.

I am one of six siblings. My two sisters, Helen and Gertrude, had brief performing careers.

Other Stuff!

These are the features I was in throughout my career.

Show Girl in Hollywood (1930) 42nd Street (1933) Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) Footlight Parade (1933) Dames (1934) Flirtation Walk (1934) Go Into Your Dance (1935) Shipmates Forever (1935) Colleen (1936) Ready, Willing and Able (1937) Mother Carey's Chickens (1938) Sweetheart of the Campus (1941) The Phynx (1970) Beverly Hills Brats (1989)

Filmography