Gene Malin was one of the first openly gay performers in Prohibition-era Speakeasy culture.
12 Facts About Gene Malin
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Gene Malin had two sisters and two brothers, one of whom worked for a sugar refinery and one who became a police officer.
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Around the same period, Gene Malin worked at several Greenwich Village clubs as a drag performer, most notably the Rubaiyat.
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The crux of Gene Malin's act was not to impersonate women, but to appear as a flamboyant, effeminate, openly gay male wearing a tuxedo; William Randolph Hearst newspapers' Broadway columnist Louis Sobol described Gene Malin as "a baby-faced lad who lisped and pressed his fingers into his thighs" during performances while another observer called him "a brilliant entertainer, a very funny guy, but risque".
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Gene Malin moved on stage and amongst the audience members as an elegant, witty, wisecracking emcee, affecting a broad exaggerated swishing image associated with the "Pansy acts" that followed.
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Gene Malin reportedly was the highest-paid nightclub entertainer of 1930, "a six-foot-tall, 200-pound bruiser who had an attitude and a lisp".
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Gene Malin appeared in Broadway productions such as Sisters of the Chorus and The Crooner.
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Gene Malin recorded at least two songs, "I'd Rather be Spanish than Mannish" and "That's What's the Matter With Me".
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Between 1936 and 1943, Gene Malin's widow served stints in prison for operating high priced brothels on Central Park West, Park Avenue, and 57th Street and for violating the Mann Act.
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Gene Malin had just performed a "farewell performance" at the Ship Cafe in Venice, Los Angeles.
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Gene Malin piled into his sedan with Jimmy Forlenza and comedic actress Patsy Kelly.
12.
Gene Malin is buried at Most Holy Trinity Cemetery in Brooklyn.