Bert Savoy

{{Infobox person

| name = Bert Savoy

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = Everett McKenzie

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1876|01|07}}

| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, US

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1923|06|23|1876|01|07}}

| death_place = Long Beach, Long Island, New York, US

| nationality =

| other_names =

| occupation = Vaudeville performer

| years_active =

| known_for = Female impersonation

| resting_place = Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York

}}

Bert Savoy (January 7, 1876 or 1888 – June 26, 1923), born Everett McKenzie, was an American entertainer who specialized in cross-dressing as a vaudeville act. His comedic skits contributed to popular culture with phrases such as "You slay me" and "You don't know the half of it."{{Cite book |last=Boyd |first=Nan Alamilla |url=https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520244740/wide-open-town |title=Wide-Open Town: A History of Queer San Francisco to 1965 |publisher=University of California Press |year=2003 |isbn=9780520244740 |location=Berkeley}}{{Cite web |last=Imig |first=Nate |date=June 6, 2022 |title=Tracing the roots of Wisconsin's drag history, dating back to the 1880s |url=https://radiomilwaukee.org/story/uniquely-milwaukee/tracing-the-roots-of-wisconsins-drag-history-dating-back-to-the-1880s/ |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=Radio Milwaukee |language=en-US}}

Biography

Savoy often partnered with Jay Brennan on Broadway. Playbill lists Savoy and Brennan appearing on Broadway in Miss 1917, Ziegfeld Follies 1918, The Greenwich Village Follies of 1920 and The Greenwich Follies of 1922.{{Cite book |url=http://www.playbill.com/person/bert-savoy-vault-0000072175 |title=Bert Savoy |publisher=Playbill}} Savoy's drag queen mannerisms were an inspiration for Mae West. Savoy was a rival of sorts to the more famous Julian Eltinge, and his star was on the rise when he was struck and killed by lightning while on the beach at Long Beach, Long Island, New York.{{cite web |editor-last1=Doyle |editor-first1=J.D. |title=More Bert Savoy... |url=https://queermusicheritage.com/jun2004b.html |website=queermusicheritage.com}} There are several reports of his last words, one being that after a clap of thunder, he said "Mercy, ain't Miss God cutting up something awful?"{{Cite book |url=http://queermusicheritage.com/MAY2010/Savoy%20death-syracuse%20herald.jpg |title=2 ACTORS KILLED BY LIGHTINING IN STORM ON BEACH |date=1923-06-27 |publisher=Syracuse Herald |access-date=2015-06-18 |via=queermusicheritage.com}} Savoy is buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.

Savoy was the subject of an abstract painting by Charles Demuth, part of a series of abstract, "poster portraits" of friends and acquaintances of the artist, the most famous being I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold. The painting Calla Lilies (Bert Savoy) makes coded references to Savoy's death and life: the wave, seashell and calla lilies to his death, but the flowers also having a well-known symbolism representing sexual orientations, such as bisexuality and homosexuality.{{Cite book |last=Demuth |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Demuth |url=https://curiator.com/art/charles-demuth/calla-lilies-bert-savoy |title=Calla Lilies (Bert Savoy) |year=1926}}