Starting out as a fatherless kid from Kentucky with a bad case of stage fever, Hattie Burks made quite a life for herself. She was born in Lexington, Ky., in 1885, but her life carried her to the bright lights of Broadway, the glamour of vaudeville, and the concert halls of Europe. Her story is one of grit and a relentless hunger for the stage.
Her childhood was marked early by tragedy. At just six years old, Hattie lost her father, James Burks, to a brutal shooting in Cumberland Gap. The Lexington Leader reported that he was killed after a quarrel began in a saloon and ended in the street. His assailant was later lynched by an angry mob.
Left a widow with four children, Hattie’s mother, Rannie, managed a boarding house above Central Bank in downtown Lexington. The Family Hotel became both their livelihood and Hattie’s first window into the theatrical world. Performers passing through town stayed under their roof, dazzling young Hattie with their fashion and their tales of being on the road. She loved their clothes, their jewelry, and their lifestyles, and the seed of ambition took root…