Billee Maye Vaudeville collection
Vaudeville dancer Billee Maye performs with partner Harry Roye, circa 1930s
Collection area: Performing Arts
Collection dates: 1920 to 1998
The Billee Maye Vaudeville collection consists of documentation, photographs, correspondence, and publications related to the career of Billee Maye primarily during 1920 to 1940. The materials include scrapbooks, business correspondence and contracts, photographs of Billee, and signed photographs from other performers. Printed materials include news clippings, programs for shows, magazines, and documentation of travels abroad. A substantial amount of the collection is focused on Billee Maye’s partnership with Harry Roye and their act. Correspondence, photographs, and posters related to Sally Rand, a performer and colleague of Billee, are included as well. The collection also contains an autobiographical publication written in 1998.
Billee Maye was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1905 and spent most of her youth in St. Louis, Missouri. There she learned to sing and dance and began performing locally while in school. She later began traveling the United States performing in various acts and companies. In New York City, she joined the cast of “Buzzin Around” where she met and performed with her partner Harry Roye. For twenty years, Harry and Billee performed as “Roye and Maye” on the B.F.-Orpheum circuit and overseas in London during the Vaudeville era.
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