Vernon Castle

Vernon Castle and his wife Irene Castle were the best known ballroom dancers of the early 20th Century. Beginning about 1914 they operated several clubs and studios in the New York City area, toured the country dancing, and were able to charge as much as a thousand dollars an hour for lessons. From 1906 through 1913 he appeared in nine Broadway musicals: "The Sunshine Girl", "The Lady of the Slipper", "The Hen-Pecks", "The Summer Widowers", "Old Dutch", "The Midnight Sons", "The Mimic World", "The Girl Behind the Counter", and "About Town." In 1914, he appeared with Irene in the Irving Berlin musical "Watch Your Step." Vernon (as a military flying instructor) was killed in an airplane accident shortly before the end or World War I. Vernon and Irene were the subjects of the movie The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939).