nightclub act

MGM producer Arthur Freed caught her nightclub act at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles and offered her a part opposite Astaire in “Silk Stockings,” also co-starring Cyd Charisse.

Broke and newly divorced, she toured her own nightclub act to pay the bills and soon landed on Broadway, where she became a star on her own terms in the well-received comedy-mystery “Remains to be Seen” opposite Jackie Cooper in 1951 and “The Pajama Game” in 1954.

The couple also formed a touring nightclub act, and Time noted that they were “mobbed when they appear in public,” with Mr. Hayes in particular being showered with attention from female fans.

He also recorded albums and headlined an acclaimed, long-running nightclub act.

The two became a nightclub act of sorts, peppering sage investment advice with one-liners that kept the crowd of thousands enraptured.