Esther Lee Jones, also known as Baby Esther or Lil Esther, was a child entertainer from Chicago, Illinois in the 1920s. She was a trained scat singer, dancer and acrobat. Esther’s career began when she won first prize in a Charleston contest at six. A theatre manager named Lou Bolton saw her performance and took her on as a client. Bolton set up performances for Esther in Chicago, New York, Detroit, Toronto and other cities which brought her to the attention of European theatres.
Tom Shayne served as the New York booking agent for Esther. He was also the booking agent for another singer named Helen Kane. Kane caught Esther’s performance, which was an impersonation of Florence Mills in 1928 at the Everglades Club.
Esther toured Europe when she was 10 and was the highest- paid child artist in the world. In Spain she played for King Alphonso and Queen Victoria Eugenie, Swedish King Gustave, and the Queen also saw Esther perform. Esther also performed in France, Germany and other countries during the tour. In France, Esther performed at the Moulin Rouge and was known as the “Miniature Josephine Baker.” The London Sunday People in its review of Esther stated: “Thousands flock no longer to the Moulin Rouge to see Mistinguett herself or the clever American ballet girls, or the beautiful women of the chorus, but to applaud a little mite, 10-year-old, who has won fame and wealth within the space of a few weeks. We are living in an age of speed, but this amazing little child has broken every record of sudden theatrical success.”
In Esthers act, she danced, made funny faces, rolled her eyes, and made nonsense phrases like “Boo-Boo-Boo”, “Wha-Da-Da”, and “Doo-Doo-Doo”.
In Stockholm, Sweden, Esther was refused service at an American restaurant ran by Branda Tomton an American immigrant. Swedish officials and dignitaries spoke up to support Esther and railed against “Jim Crowism” in Sweden. They eventually forced the restaurant to close.
Esther took her act to South America and performed in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and Montevideo.
In Brazil, Esther was interviewed by press who wanted to know how she avoided the racists who lynched and burned black people in Texas and Alabama. Esther replied, she had escaped their wrath by staying out of the South.
Esther returned to the United States and toured and danced for Cab Calloway and his orchestra at his club in New York in 1934.
In 1930, Fleischer Studios animator created a singing character that mimicked Helen Kane’s mannerisms. Kane was known for her baby voice and a signature phrase of, “boop-oop-a-doop.” The character was initially a singing dog with droopy ears and a squeaky singing voice. The name of this character was “Betty Boop.” Boop, took off and became immensely popular, and they changed the character into a human, with the long dog ears converting into hoop earrings.
In May 1932, Kane filed a $ 250,000 ($4.7 million in 2021) lawsuit against Max Fleischer and Paramount Publix Corporation for “exploiting her image.”
The defense gave testimony that Kane adopted her singing style after watching Esther perform in the aforementioned Everglades show. Judge Edward J. McGoldrick ruled that “the vocables ‘boop-boop-a-doop’ and similar sounds had been used by other performers prior to the plaintiff.” The judge ruled in his opinion that the “baby” technique of singing did not originate with Kane. Kane lost the trial.
The Fleischer’s admitted years later that Kane was their model for Betty Boop. Before his death, the cartoonist who drew Betty Boop admitted he designed a young girl based upon a photo of Kane. After 1934, Esther’s bookings declined and her performances fell out of flavor. She died in relative obscurity.
So who was the real Betty Boop? They took her likeness and attire from Kane. The voice, singing and Booping, were from Kane via Esther, who was inspired by Florence Mills and other African American female singers. In the end, Betty Boop was a mixture of singers and performers from the late 1800s -1920s who never got to profit from the still relevant character who was created from their skills and talents. When you view or buy Betty Boop videos or materials today, think of the many female performers who inspired Betty Boop but never got their fair shine or a dime from the Betty Boop cartoon.
