This photo above is in my private collection and what an unexpected find. I had not heard of this amazing dancing duo before. Along with the original 8×10 photo was a description of the scene. The title reads:
“SUMMER DOG SHOW ATTRACTS FILM COLONYITES”
This was taken at the show held at the Ambassador Hotel, where the brother and sister were stopped in the grooming area for a photo. ‘Ching Chong Yang’ was one of the entries!
SOURCE: Billy and Beverly Bemis, brother and sister, were featured in their father’s (Kenneth Bemis) book that outlined the Bemis Method for the whole family to learn the latest dancing rage, The Charleston. Their mother, Ruth Stillwell Lovell Bemis, illustrated this very successful book, which was published in 1923. Billy was six years old and Beverly was five years old when they learned the Charleston and were photographed for the book in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ruth continued to teach her children dance, and this led to Billy and Beverly becoming an international dancing team that travelled the world and appeared in a number of movies. In 1926 the family moved to California. The dance team retired in 1939.
BELOW SEE A RARE VIDEO OF BILLY AND BEVERLY BEMIS IN ACTION ON THE DANCE FLOOR
Leave a Reply