Entertainer. Born in Brooklyn to Austrian-Jewish immigrants, she made her Broadway debut in 1928 as a chorus girl in the "Vanities" musical revue. There she caught the roving eye of producer Earl Carroll, who made her his mistress and gave her increasingly prominent roles in his shows. She later accompanied him to Hollywood and became his lifelong companion. A statuesque brunette with a flair for musical comedy, Wallace appeared in 23 films, including "Murder at the Vanities" (1933), "Romance of the Rockies" (1937), W.C. Fields' "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man" (1939), "Johnny Eager" (1942), and "I Married an Angel" (1942). She also had her own weekly show on NBC Radio, "Furlough Fun", in the early 1940s. But her chief claim to fame was as the headliner of Carroll's popular supper club-theatre in Hollywood, which opened in 1938. The building's exterior bore a 24-foot likeness of Wallace in neon, crowned by the slogan, "Thru These Portals Pass The Most Beautiful Girls In The World". It was a well known local landmark for years. On June 17, 1948, Wallace and Carroll were among the 43 who died in the crash of United Airlines Flight 624 at Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania. In an eerie coincidence, a few months earlier Carroll had added a codicil to his will stating that if he and Wallace died simultaneously, their ashes were to be buried together. And so they were, in a private garden at Forest Lawn in Glendale. In 1993 a full-scale replica of Wallace's famous neon portrait was created by the Museum of Neon Art. It is now on display at the Universal City Walk, Universal City, California.
Entertainer. Born in Brooklyn to Austrian-Jewish immigrants, she made her Broadway debut in 1928 as a chorus girl in the "Vanities" musical revue. There she caught the roving eye of producer Earl Carroll, who made her his mistress and gave her increasingly prominent roles in his shows. She later accompanied him to Hollywood and became his lifelong companion. A statuesque brunette with a flair for musical comedy, Wallace appeared in 23 films, including "Murder at the Vanities" (1933), "Romance of the Rockies" (1937), W.C. Fields' "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man" (1939), "Johnny Eager" (1942), and "I Married an Angel" (1942). She also had her own weekly show on NBC Radio, "Furlough Fun", in the early 1940s. But her chief claim to fame was as the headliner of Carroll's popular supper club-theatre in Hollywood, which opened in 1938. The building's exterior bore a 24-foot likeness of Wallace in neon, crowned by the slogan, "Thru These Portals Pass The Most Beautiful Girls In The World". It was a well known local landmark for years. On June 17, 1948, Wallace and Carroll were among the 43 who died in the crash of United Airlines Flight 624 at Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania. In an eerie coincidence, a few months earlier Carroll had added a codicil to his will stating that if he and Wallace died simultaneously, their ashes were to be buried together. And so they were, in a private garden at Forest Lawn in Glendale. In 1993 a full-scale replica of Wallace's famous neon portrait was created by the Museum of Neon Art. It is now on display at the Universal City Walk, Universal City, California.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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"In life we weep at the thought of death
Perhaps in death we weep at the thought of life"
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