Barbette (performer)
American entertainer (between 1897 and 1899-1973)
Vander Clyde Broadway (December 19, 1899 – August 5, 1973), stage name Barbette, was an American female impersonator, high-wire performer, and trapeze artist born in Texas. Barbette attained great popularity throughout the United States but his greatest fame came in Europe and especially Paris, in the 1920s and 1930s.
Barbette began performing as an aerialist at around the age of 14 as one-half of a circus act called The Alfaretta Sisters. After a few years of circus work, Barbette went solo and adopted his exotic-sounding pseudonym. He performed in full drag, revealing himself as male only at the end of his act.
Following a career-ending illness or injury (the sources disagree on the cause), which left him in constant pain, Barbette returned to Texas but continued to work as a consultant for motion pictures as well as training and choreographing aerial acts for a number of circuses. After years of dealing with chronic pain, Barbette took his own life on August 5, 1973. Both in life and following his death, Barbette served as an inspiration to a number of artists, including Jean Cocteau and Man Ray.
Early life and career
Barbette (birth name cited as Vander Clyde and Vander Clyde Broadway) was born on December 19, 1899, (although it is sometimes cited as 1904) in Texas. Most sources indicate he was born in Round Rock, although Barbette stated that his birthplace was Trickham.
“Barbette (performer)” enters the record as american entertainer (between 1897 and 1899-1973). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Barbette, performer and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q807829. VIAF identifies the subject as 42637074. The Library of Congress control number is n81101670. 5 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1899, 1973 and 1904.
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This entry incorporates text from “Barbette (performer)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.