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Jean Malin

Jean (sometimes Gene) Malin got his start as a female impersonator in the 20s, but his greatest success would come later as a noted emcee during the time of the short-lived and under-researched "pansy craze" of the early 30s. He died in 1934, accidentally backing his car off the Santa Monica pier; actress Patsy Kelly, who was with him at the time, survived. He left behind but two recordings, released posthumously and pressed in a single royal blue shellac 78, "That's What's the Matter With Me" and "I'd Rather Be Spanish Than Mannish." [Source: "Gay New York (Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940)" by George Chauncey]

Below, from Vanity Fair, February 1931, Jean Malin at the Club Abbey

Malin Video Clip

Malin appeared in at least two movies, and I've got a clip of him in "Arizona to Broadway" (1933), which starred James Dunn and Joan Bennett. Malin had an uncredited role as Ray Best, a female impersonator obviously intended to represent Mae West. To set up this scene, a gangster, Tommy Monk, wants to have a Broadway show so at gunpoint lures top performers of the day to take part. Also represented was Jimmy Durante and Ed Wynn. This is the earliest clip I know of a performance of an actual female impersonator.

So little survives about Jean Malin, so I'm sharing these two pics of him, from a copy of
"Modern Screen" from 1933, and also a menu from a restaurant where he emceed

   

Below, (on the right) from promotional shots for the 1933 movie "Double Harness"

Jean Malin was originally cast in the role of a dress-shop owner for this film,
but the scenes were reshot with another actor, Fredric Santley. Malin was
thought too flamboyant for the part and reportedly studio president B.B. Kahane
wrote in an inter-studio memo that "I do not think we ought to have this man
on the lot on any picture-shorts or features."

another promotional shot, of a scene not in the movie

Below, from Richard Lamparski's very interesting book "Hollywood Diary: Twelve Untold Tales"

Below, NYT article reporting his death

Below, another Malin obituary