When I first left home I joined the Air Force and was stationed in Beloxi, Mississippi, which was very close to New Orleans, Louisiana.   I was sent there because it was the communications school.   After I completed school I stayed on as an instructor.   In the mean time I fell in love with New Orleans, and of course that's where the My-O-My Club was located.   That was my second encounter with female impersonators.   I decided after I was discharged from the Air Force, that at one of the Carnivals there I would go in drag.   I had met several people who did that at Carnival time.   I had this very beautiful gown made.   There were so many wonderful dressmakers there at that time who worked for all the Burlesque Queens and female impersonators.   On Carnival day the owner of the My-O-My Club approached me and asked if I would be interested in coming to work for him.   I said, "What do you need, a singer or a dancer?"   That was the beginning of my drag career.   I worked there for about a year and a half.

Then I heard about The Jewel Box Revue and I wrote a letter to Doc and Danny who were the producers, and sent some photographs.   Fortunately for me around this time the production singer had just left the show so I was hired as a production singer and also did my own spot in the show.   I was kind of a bluesy type of singer; Saint Louis Blues, and songs like that.   Quite a few years later when The Jewel Box was appearing at Ben Massick's Town & Country Club in Brooklyn, NY, a number was written for the show called "Famous Ladies of the Palace", in which different people in the show impersonated Stars of that era; Jan Britton impersonated Marilyn Miller, Robin Rogers did an impersonation of Helen Morgan, Dale Roberts did the "I Don't Care Girl", Eva Tangway.

I impersonated a young Broadway Star from The Palace named Charlotte Greenwood.   Not too many people remember her now, but I was always an admirer of hers.   She was in many Broadway shows written for her in the early '30s.   One in particular that was a very big hit around the country was called "Linger Longer Letty".   She was a comic dancer much like Ray Bolger.   She's the lady that appeared in many Betty Grable movies after her career in New York moved to Hollywood.   She was always the second banana; someone's aunt, or friend.   I admired her so much and felt so much like her.   In this particular number I did "I Got Out Of Bed On The Right Side".   There was a lot of comic dancing and high kicks, a very strenuous number.   I had to warm up for about half an hour every time that this number was in the show.

In 1960 when the Jewel Box was playing in Hollywood, we were at The Palace Theater at Hollywood & Vine.   I loved the city so much.   I had been there before but this time I decided that I was really getting tired of touring.   It was summer time and it was a very gay city then, many many gay bars, and I decided to make a career change so I opened a wig salon on Hollywood Blvd. and was there for a good 15 years.

I also styled wigs for Lynne Carter and Jimmy Tai.   Jimmy did a beautiful act in The Jewel Box Revue.   He was gorgeous . . . so very beautiful!   He is Japanese and worked with fans.   He and I are still good friends.

David:  Can you share any anecdotes from your Showbiz days that involved any well known names either in the Drag World or Hollywood that our readers in Cyberspace would enjoy hearing?

Robbie:  I was doing "Little Me" with Donald O'Connor and Yvonne De Carlo and a woman called Paula Stewart [ The wife of comedian Alan King at the time ].   Paula's and Yvonne's wigs had already been sent to the Sahara Club where the show was taking place.   Donald O'Connor's wigs were all custom made with hair lace.   He played eight rolls in this particular play.   The changes were very fast.   I had just got his wigs finished under the wire in time to leave for Sacramento and take the bus up to Lake Tahoe.   It was very stormy and we couldn't fly.   I took the bus three times to the summit.   It was a horrible blizzard and I was scared to death that I wasn't going to make the dress rehearsal, and I had never missed a show in my life.   You know that feeling I'm sure.   I still dream about it.

I called Donald's secretary, Mr. Harrah, who owned the club there, and I said "Can't you send a Harrahcopter?   Don't you have a Harrahcopter?"   "Yes, we have a Harrahcopter, and by the way it is called a Harrahcopter, but we can't fly in this kind of weather."   It finally cleared up and I made it to the Sahara Club the next day.   The dress rehersal was half over and I was panicked when I walked in because I didn't know what to expect.   Donald O'Connor was so kind to me.   He said "Don't worry a bit about it", he could see that I was horrified.   He said "I've done the show many times before, and I know all the changes.   These are the nicest wigs I've ever had for this show. You went to a lot of extra work, which I appreciate".   He was just as kind as he could be, a real pro and a gentleman.   That evening I stayed up with Donald and styled all the wigs and did the final cuts on him and so forth.   The show opened the very next night and I will always be grateful for his generousity as a professional and it was great fun working with him.

David:  I understand you met the great Judy Garland once in Chicago.   For so many of us Garland fans out there, would you tell us that story?

Robbie:  Yes, I was fortunate to meet the fabulous Miss Judy Garland.   The way it came about; I was in Chicago apprenticing in Bill Harwood's beauty salon and she was playing at The Chicago Opera House.   In Judy's stage concert performances she always does a number called "A Couple of Swells".   It's a hobo/clown act.   She had done this number with Fred Astaire originally in the film [Easter Parade], but in the theater she sometimes used other comedians.   In this particular performance she was doing the number with comedian Alan King.   I had met Alan through Paula Stewart when I did "Little Me", and we got tickets from some show girls that Alan King had sent over as a surprise.   My friend Bill Harwood and I went along with a few of the show girls from the Chez Parèe.   We were also asked to come backstage and meet Miss Garland after the show.

The only other person that I ever saw do that was Angela Lansbury.   I was doing a show in Los Angeles called "Pirates of Penzance" and she was playing in "Sweeny Todd" next door at The Dorothy Chandler Pavillion.   Every night after the performance she would stand by her Cadillac Limousine, sign autographs and meet her fans for at least 45 minutes.   I though that was very kind of her and very sweet.   She's a very hard working lady and she probably wanted to get home and go to bed too.

David:  Did you design your own wardrobe or did someone make it for you?

Robbie:  I did design most of my own wardrobe for my personal spot in the shows that I worked in.   Some of the designers were kind enough to let me make suggestions and design for myself the production wardrobe.   Because I was very tall and thin they had to be heavyly padded and made to certain specifications.   I always got along well with the wardrobe people; Tony Midnite, and Frankie Page, we always had fun working together, so I was lucky to be able create some of my own costumes, (however I don't sew).

David:  What was the best part and worst part of working in drag?   Also the same question applying to your hairstyling career?

Robbie:  The best part of working in drag I would say is that at the time I was in the business after I left the My-O-My in New Orleans, The Jewel Box was just going on the road and was hitting the nicer clubs.   I opened with them in a place in Toledo, Ohio called Casey's Supper Club, which was a very elegant show room.   We also worked in a place in Washington, DC called The Casino Royale which is another very nice nightclub.   Then when we did the theater circuit we worked for Lowe State Theaters all over New York City, on Broadway and all the way out to Jamaica Long Island.   We also worked in theaters called the Chitlin' Circuit. They were the black theaters throughout the East Coast; Washington, DC, Philadelphia, places like the Apollo Theater in Harlem.   We were exposed to a variety of different cultures and life styles and I learned things that we were never taught in school.

Probably the worst part of my hairstyling career was the fact that I did do the road companies of Broadway shows and as most people know it's very rough out there . . . to put the show up, to get it going, to pull it down in a week or a few days and then set it back up in another city, especially big shows like "La Cage Aux Faux" and "Dream Girls".   I did "Les Misèrables" for four years.   Those kind of shows are very strenuous and take a lot of stamina.   I spent a great deal of time on the road because the money was better.   The last show that I did was Andrew LLoyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera" in San Francisco, for 5 years, then in 1997 I retired.   I bought a home in Rohnert Park in Sonoma, CA, the wine country.   I just love it here.

David:  You traveled to many places in your lifetime.   Is there any place that you really enjoyed and that you might have selected as a retirement Shangri-La?

Robbie:  In all my travels I think my favorite city in the world is Paris, France.   I was there in 1985 with a show called "Dream Girls", which is a story about Diana Ross and The Supremes.   We were right down town near the Champs Elysees at a big theater in a major mall called the Palais de Congrès.   We were there for five weeks and we did only six shows a week in the evenings, no matineès, which was a great joy to find out, because with most shows you never get that kind of luck.   I just loved Paris.   I went all over the city, to the Eiffel Tower, and outside into the country to Versailles.   I must say, contrary to what most Americans tell you, the Parisians were very considerate and polite.   Many did speak English and were very kind and helpful at the same time.

David:  Have you ever considered putting the story of your long and varied career and personal experiences into an autobiography?   Our mutual friend Robin Price says that of all people he knows, you are "the one that should write a book!"

Robbie:  I am planning on writing a book, as a matter of fact you have given me the inspiration by asking me to do this interview.   When I left "Phantom of the Opera" and retired, two of the actors gave me tape recorders and said "You better write a book!".   I had not opened them or used them until I heard from you.   I find that it's very interesting and fun to do, and I'm sure I'll be starting on my book very soon, thanks to you.

David:  Is there anything that is "so very you" that perhaps not even your family or closest friends would ever dream and that you can share with us?

Robbie:  One of the interesting things that happened to me while I was in Hollywood shortly after I left The Jewel Box, (something that I don't tell very many people because first of all I don't think they would believe me when they look at this old geezer) that I did a screen test for a movie called "Myra Breckenridge" for 20th Century Fox.   This was a book by Gore Vidal and Hollywood was making it into a film.   Mae West and Rex Reed were cast and they were auditioning female impersonators to play the role of Myra, because as you know, the character was a sex change.   The first day I went to audition we all went in drag and there must have been 3000 female impersonators in the hallway.   The next time we were called back we came in a suit, mens clothes, and talked to the producers, and in the final call there were only six people asked to test and I was the last of the six.   I was very thrilled that I got to test for that part.   That will also be one of the most memorable moments in my career.   Unfortunately, they didn't use a female impersonator in the role of Myra Breckenridge, and I didn't feel too bad losing out to Raquel Welch!   Incidently, she was absolutly fabulous but the picture stunk, so I was so glad I didn't get the part.