Kitty Doner

Kitty Doner, born Catherine Donohoe on September 6, 1895, in Chicago, Illinois, was an American performer whose career encompassed vaudeville, Broadway, television production, and choreography. She died on August 26, 1988, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 92.

Doner was raised in a show business family. Her parents, Joe and Nellie Doner, were both born in England and worked as vaudeville performers, and her siblings Ted and Rose also pursued careers in the field. She built her reputation as a male impersonator, actress, and dancer, with a particular specialty in boy roles. Her small physical stature contributed to the youthful quality of her characters. A signature element of her act was changing from masculine to feminine clothing in full view of the audience, a technique she used to demonstrate that her impersonation relied on skill rather than costume. She was regarded as the foremost American male impersonator of her era and was compared to British performers such as Vesta Tilley and Ella Shields.

Doner appeared on Broadway between 1914 and 1923. Her credits included Dancing Around in 1914, in which she performed alongside Al Jolson; Robinson Crusoe, Jr. in 1916, again with Jolson; Sinbad in 1918, a third collaboration with Jolson; and The Dancing Girl in 1923, in which she appeared with her brother and sister. In 1921, she performed at two benefit events in New York: one for the Women's Auxiliary of the National Disabled Soldiers League at the Apollo Theater, and another for the American Committee for Relief in Ireland at the Metropolitan Opera House.

Her work was captured on film in the 1928 early sound short A Bit of Scotch. In 1945, Doner co-produced a musical television series for CBS titled Choreotones alongside dancer Pauline Koner; the series is now considered lost. The two subsequently produced shows for Holiday on Ice. Her final professional work before retirement came in the early 1950s, when she auditioned acts for Ted Mack's Amateur Hour.

A collection of Doner's papers, including an unpublished autobiography, photographs, and scrapbooks, is held at the University of California Santa Barbara Library.