The Biography

Dancer Hal Skelly was born in Pennsylvania in 1891. He left home at 15 to join a circus, at 17 went into comedy, toured with light opera in China and Japan, joined after that Dockstader's Minstrels, made his Broadway debut in 1918 in "Fiddlers Three." His biggest success was the Broadway play, "Burlesque," in which he played opposite future movie star Barbara Stanwyck. He also starred in the film version of it, "The Dance of Life." He died in 1934, when his friend's car, in which he was traveling, was hit by a train on a crossing.