Trixie LaMae aka Marie Carey was born 3 Dec 1892 James Carey (1853 – 1905) and Lena M. Satzger Carey (1863 – 1947) who residence at 535 Second Street.
She went off at a young age to become a chorus line dancer in New York City, where she met Fred Wallace, the estranged husband of Mae West, Hollywood’s highest-paid actor of 1935.
She returned to Henderson for good in 1952 to operate two different night-clubs, the most widely known being Trixie’s Alibi Club.
Trixie died on 2 Jan 1997 (aged 104) and was buried in Saint Louis Cemetery.
Trixie turns 102
Redbanks resident still lights up at thought of doing a little dancing
By Judy Jenkins
Red banks LPN Lori Thompson leaned close to the right ear of the tiny woman with the long white braid and asked, “How old are you, Trixie?”
The question brought a coy look to the face of the former entertainer who is the nursing home’s most famous resident. Coquettishly lowering the lids of her deep blue eyes and smiling, Trixie LaMae turned to Lori and purred, “How old do you think I am?”
The diplomatic nurse pretended to think about it a moment, and then replied, “You’re 25, aren’t you?”
At that, Trixie sat up straighter in her wheelchair and declared, “That’s right!”
Trixie, who turned 102 on Saturday, was stretching the truth by only 77 years. She’s sensitive about her age and instead of giving a number, she usually gives a mischievous grin and says, “I’m old enough to know better.” The one-time dancing sprite, with the mop of blond curls and eyelashes out to there, has led a life every bit as colorful as the bright red pants and scarlet and black sweater she wore during our interview.
Born to Henderson tavern owner Bill Carey and his wife, Lena, she was originally named Marie and, like her brother Willie and sister Mary, attended Holy Name School. It’s conceivable that she was a challenge to the nuns, whose convent was near the Carey family homestead at 535 Second St. By age 14, she had closed the book on her parochial school days and discovered the world of show business. Soon, she was part of the bright lights of New York City, earning her living as a chorus line dancer. It was in such a line of nimble-footed beauties that she was discovered by Frank Walace, the estranged husband of sultry screen siren Mae West.
Wallace never achieved Fred Astaire-like status, but he was well known in the Vaudeville era and capitalized on his marriage by billing himself as “Mae West’s Husband.”
He was looking for the perfect dancing partner, and found her in Marie Carey who had by then emerged as Trixie LaMae. For the next 28 years their names would appear on marquees all over the United States and Canada. Trixie, playing up her resemblance to her partner’s spouse, was hailed as “The Miniature Mae West.” Together, she and Frank “made good money,” Trixie says. Their healthy bank accounts must have made up for the harassment they received from “thugs” allegedly hired by the real Mae West to follow them around and intimidate them.
The years brought Trixie plenty of recognition and the chance to meet some of the show business greats. She and Cary Grant were acquaintances, she says, “but we never went out.” Still a looker at 102, she enjoys the attention she receives and on her good days, says nurse Dana Eubanks, “can really tell you some stories.”
Age has diminished her hearing and sometimes her memory, but not her habits. She continues to smoke and says she’d drink a glass of champagne if she could get her hands on one.
In 1952 when she was 60, she retired from one career and returned to Henderson to began another as the owner of Trixie’s Jungle Club and Trixie’s Alibi.
Around that time she met a young wife and mother named Margaret Watkins, who befriended her and today is Trixie’s guardian.
Margaret knows the less-fla-shy Trixie, the one who has quietly helped numerous people through the years without ever taking a bow for her generosity.
When Trixie became a Redbanks resident in 1988, she still could occasionally kick up her heels in a spirited jig. She can’t do that now, but when one of the nurses asked if she wanted to dance, she immediately said
“Yeah!” Gently pulled to her feet, she swung her hips and laughed and was for a moment the razzle-dazzle Trixie LaMae of yester-year.
References:
Yesterday’s News by Frank Boyett, The Gleaner Sunday, January 2, 2022
Miss Trixie: Henderson’s own LeMae was poured from Mae West mold By Frank Boyett : Aug. 14, 2010
