Gene Greene

Eugene Delbert Greene (June 9, 1881 – April 5, 1930), better known as Gene Greene was an American entertainer, singer and composer, nicknamed The Ragtime King. He was a vaudeville star and made some of the earliest sound recordings of scat singing in 1911 for Columbia Records and Victor Records and was a popular Ragtime performer. Greene was born in Aurora, Illinois and moved to Chicago as a young child. He began his professional career in the late 1890s with his future wife Blanche Werner. They performed in vaudeville first as Manjonita and Eugene and then as Greene & Werner. Greene began performing as a solo act around 1909. He toured England in 1912 and 1913 and Australia in 1913 and 1914. His pianist was on these tours was Charley Straight. Greene continued to be a popular vaudeville performer in the United States and Canada until his death backstage immediately after a vaudeville performance at the Grand Opera House in New York in 1930.