Vernon Castle

Birth Name:
William Vernon Blyth
Birth Date:
05/02/1887
Birth Place:
Norwich, Norfolk, England
Death Date:
02/15/1918
Place of Death:
Benbrook Airfield, Fort Worth, Texas
Age:
30
Cause of Death:
Airplane crash
Cemetery Name:
Woodlawn Cemetery
Claim to Fame:
Other Entertainers
Associates:
Vernon Castle and his wife Irene Castle were the best known ballroom dancers of the early 20th Century. Beginning about 1914 they operated several clubs and studios in the New York City area, toured the country dancing, and were able to charge as much as a thousand dollars an hour for lessons. They are credited with reviving the popularity of modern dancing. The couple reached the peak of their popularity in Irving Berlin's first Broadway show, Watch Your Step (1914), in which they refined and popularized the Foxtrot. They also helped to promote ragtime, jazz rhythms and African-American music for dance. Irene became a fashion icon through her appearances on stage and in early movies, and both Castles were in demand as teachers and writers on dance.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Woodlawn Cemetery

4199 Webster Avenue

Bronx, New York, 10470

USA

North America

Map:

Grave Location:

H-2 Parkview

Grave Location Description

From the Jerome Avenue entrance, turn left on West Border Avenue and then right on Park View Avenue. Stay to the left and park at the Wedell monument on your left. Irene And Vernon Castle’s grave is about 75 feet northwest of the road across the lawn on your left directly behind the Wedell monument.

Grave Location GPS

40.890587, -73.877121

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Read More About Vernon Castle:

Videos Featuring Vernon Castle:
The Castle Walk by Vernon and Irene Castle (1915)
Vernon and Irene Castle dancing
About Vernon and Irene Castle
A Tribute To Irene & Vernon Castle

See More:

Irene Castle

popular name: Irene Castle

date_of_death: 01/25/1969

age: 75

cause_of_death: Heart failure

claim_to_fame: Other Entertainers

best_know_for: Irene Castle and her husband Vernon Castle were the best known ballroom dancers of the early 20th Century. Beginning about 1914 they operated several clubs and studios in the New York City area, toured the country dancing, and were able to charge as much as a thousand dollars an hour for lessons. They are credited with reviving the popularity of modern dancing. The couple reached the peak of their popularity in Irving Berlin's first Broadway show, Watch Your Step (1914), in which they refined and popularized the Foxtrot. They also helped to promote ragtime, jazz rhythms and African-American music for dance. Irene became a fashion icon through her appearances on stage and in early movies, and both Castles were in demand as teachers and writers on dance.

Alexander Herrmann

popular name: Alexander Herrmann

date_of_death: December 17, 1896

age: 52

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Other Entertainers

best_know_for: Alexander Herrmann was a French magician, better known as Herrmann the Great. He was married to magician Adelaide Herrmann, known as the Queen of Magic. Together, Alexander ("Professor Herrmann" or "Herrmann the Great") and Adelaide entertained audiences with a variety of magic tricks, including escape tricks and the bullet catch trick. Adelaide was a key part of many illusions, performing as a levitating sleeper, a human cannonball, a bicycle rider who carried a girl on her shoulders, and a dancer who spectrally swirled in red silk like a pillar of fire. The Herrmanns toured the United States, Mexico, South America, and Europe.

Chung Ling Soo

popular name: Chung Ling Soo

date_of_death: March 24, 1918

age: 56

cause_of_death: Accidental gunshot wound to the lung during his stage act

claim_to_fame: Other Entertainers

best_know_for: At the beginning of the 20th century, audiences across Europe were wowed by a Chinese magician who drew on ancient Asian mysticism to perform illusions and contact the spirit realm. But he was, in fact, none of these things, as “Chung Ling Soo” was actually William Ellsworth Robinson, an American of Scottish ancestry who built a phony, racist Chinese persona and magic act based directly on that of another magician, Chung Ling Foo (who actually was Chinese). Yet audiences looked past the obvious identity theft as Chung Ling Soo was actually a great magician.

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