Where Are They Now: Vaudeville's Grogan Sisters

Copenhagen, Denmark - Remember the Grogan Sisters? They were the ahead of their time team of five real life sisters who took the vaudeville circuit by storm from 1893 to 1897. Known by many as the The Devilish Danes, Leona, Helga, Sonia, Ingrid, and Gabby are all dead according a leading scholar of entertainment history.

Historian Freewilly, shown here sporting a grizzly professor mustache that adds an air of rugged wisdom to match his boyish charm

"That's right, all dead. Feel old yet?" Lamont Freewilly laughed, his upper lip hidden beneath a thick professor mustache that well suits the mature face of the 73-year-old vaudeville historian. "Gabby, who often played the role of the "sexy baby" during performances, was the last to go back in 1973. Emphysema."

Vaudeville was an extremely popular theater genre in North America from the early 1870s into the 1930s that involved a wide variety of performances. According to Freewilly, large crowds would pay to see musicians, singers, dancers, comedians, and magicians, just to name a few. "Oh sure, you could see trained animals, clowns, feats of strength, you name it. And yes, the Grogan Sisters fit right in with their bawdy act. The mustache? Well it didn't get like this overnight, that's for sure!"

"The Grogan Sisters' were the darlings of the vaudeville circuit until Ingrid contracted grimp in Toronto in 1896," Freewilly explained. "Her rapid deterioration forced the group to perform with only 4 members for a few months but the magic was gone. Crowds thinned and they retired the following year. Oh, I use a 50/50 blend of shea and cocoa butters, and sometimes a bit of fresh mango. I know, but it works."

The Grogan Sisters were famous for an act that bolstered mediocre singing and dancing with dirty jokes and double entendres. Freewilly, who kept his mustache after years of being fully bearded, believes that the Grogan Sisters made up for a lack of true talent with a confidence and charm that won audiences over. "Why did I shave the beard? I think I just needed a change after my wife died. Sure, she liked the beard. But she loved the stache."