Editing Ruby Keeler (section)

==Early dance career==
[[File:Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler on board the Olympic.jpg|thumb|Newlyweds [[Al Jolson]] and Ruby Keeler aboard the ''[[RMS Olympic|Olympic]]'' in September 1928]]
[[File:42nd-Street-Merkel-Keeler-Rogers.jpg|thumb|[[Una Merkel]], Ruby Keeler, and [[Ginger Rogers]] in ''[[42nd Street (film)|42nd Street]]'' (1933)]]
Around 1923, when she was around 14 years old, she was hired by [[Nils Granlund]], the publicity manager for [[Loews Cineplex Entertainment|Loews Theaters]], who also served as the stage-show producer for [[Texas Guinan]] at [[Larry Fay]]'s El Fay nightclub, a [[speakeasy]] frequented by gangsters.<ref>{{cite book| last=Granlund| first=Nils Thor| title=Blondes, Brunettes, and Bullets| publisher=[[David McKay Company]]| location=New York City| year=1957| page=125| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a0FQAQAAMAAJ&q=el+fay| access-date=April 30, 2019}}</ref><ref name=foster>{{cite book| first=Charles| last=Foster| author-link=Charles Foster (writer)| title=Once Upon a Time in Paradise| year=2003| location=Toronto| publisher=[[Dundurn Press]]| pages=167–176| isbn=978-1550024647}}</ref> She was noticed by Broadway producer [[Charles B. Dillingham]], who gave her a role in ''Bye, Bye, Bonnie'' (produced by [[L. Lawrence Weber]]), which ran for six months. She then appeared in ''Lucky'' and as Mamie in ''The Sidewalks of New York'', also produced by Dillingham. In the later show, she was seen by [[Flo Ziegfeld]], who sent her a bunch of roses and a note that stated, "May I make you a star?"<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VTfrVOw8c_0C&pg=PA104| access-date=January 23, 2016| date=January 10, 2014| location=New York City| page=104| publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]| last=Hoefling| first=Larry J.| title=Nils Thor Granlund: Show Business Entrepreneur and America's First Radio Star| isbn=978-0786455997| via=Google Books}}</ref>

She appeared in Ziegfeld's ''[[Whoopee!]]'' (before being replaced before the opening by [[Ethel Shutta]]) in 1928, the same year she married [[Al Jolson]].<ref>{{cite episode| title=Ruby Keeler| url=http://www.goldenage-wtic.org/gaor-25.html| series=The Golden Age of Radio| last1=Bertel| first1=Dick| last2=Corcoran| last3=Ed| network=Broadcast Plaza, Inc.| station=WTIC Hartford, Conn.| airdate=April 1972| season=3| number=1}}</ref> The two met in Los Angeles (not at Texas Guinan's as he would claim), where Granlund had sent her to assist in the marketing campaign for ''[[The Jazz Singer]]''. Jolson was smitten and immediately proposed. The couple married September 21, 1928, in Port Chester, New York, in a private ceremony.<ref>{{cite news| newspaper=The New York Times| title=Jolson Secretly Weds Ruby Keeler, Actress; Captain of Olympic Barred From Officiating| date=September 22, 1928| page=1| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/09/22/archives/jolson-secretly-weds-ruby-keeler-actress-captain-of-olympic-barred.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LJkhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BJgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3068,4037894&dq=ruby+keeler&hl=en| title=Jolson Takes Third Bride| date=September 22, 1928| newspaper=[[Reading Eagle]]| access-date=November 14, 2010| via=Google News}}</ref> The two sailed the following morning for a brief honeymoon before she began her tour with ''Whoopee!''<ref name=foster/> She was 19 years old, and he was around 42.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://shadowwaltz.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html| work=Shadow Waltz| access-date=January 23, 2016| title=Happy Birthday Ruby!}}</ref>

In 1933, producer [[Darryl F. Zanuck]] cast Keeler in the Warner Bros. musical ''42nd Street'' opposite Dick Powell and [[Bebe Daniels]]. The film was a huge success due to [[Busby Berkeley|Busby Berkeley's]] lavish, innovative choreography. Following ''42nd Street'', [[Jack L. Warner]] gave Keeler a long-term contract and cast her in ''[[Gold Diggers of 1933]]'', ''[[Footlight Parade]]'', ''[[Dames (film)|Dames]]'', and ''[[Colleen (1936 film)|Colleen]]''. Keeler and Jolson starred together in ''[[Go into Your Dance]]'', which was their only film together. They are satirized in [[Frank Tashlin]]'s 1937 cartoon ''[[The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos]]''. Jolson and Keeler appeared on Broadway one last time together for the unsuccessful show ''Hold on to Your Hats''.