Lyda Roberti

This brilliant blonde stage comic went on to appear in a handful of early 1930s films. Born into a Polish circus family, Roberti spent her youth trouping through Russia, China, Egypt, France and Germany before she and her sisters came to the US in the late 1920s. She was discovered in a Brooklyn vaudeville house and went on to Broadway fame with "You Said It" (1931), singing "Sweet and Hot" and "Minnie the Moocher" in her broad Polish accent. From time to time, Roberti returned to Broadway, with "Pardon My English" (1932) and the successful "Roberta" (1933-34).