Meglin Kiddies was an American troupe of acting, music and dance performers, consisting of children up to the age of 16. It was also known as The Meglin Professional Children's School, The Meglin Dance Studio, Meglin's Dance School, and Meglin's Wondrous Hollywood Kiddies.
The troupe was started by Ethel Meglin in 1928. Meglin was a Ziegfeld girl in feature films.[1] Director/actor and Slapstick Keystone King Mack Sennett was supportive of the formation of the troupe's studio. Sennett donated a Meglin Kiddie studio building sign and assisted in securing an operations location on his lot.[2] The Johnny Grant Building[3] at 7018-7024 Hollywood Blvd once housed the Meglin Dance Studio on its second floor.
One of the most successful child stars of all time, Shirley Temple, was a Meglin Kiddie dancer when she was recruited for her first movie role:[4] During a visit to the Meglin Kiddie studio, Charles Lamont, a director from Educational Pictures, chose Temple, hiding under the piano, for a part in a movie that he was about to direct."[5]
Superstar Judy Garland was also a Meglin Kiddie.[6] Garland's mother, Ethel Gumm, played the piano at the Meglin Kiddie studio to help pay for Garland's singing and dancing lessons there.[7] The film debut of Judy Garland was in Meglin Kiddie short films.[8] Garland also performed with the Meglin Kiddies over the radio, and live at theaters such as: Shrine Auditorium, Pantages Theatre (Hollywood), and Loew's State Theater in Los Angeles, California.[9]
In the 1950s, the Meglin Kiddies had a television show.
Ethel Meglin retired in 1962, as did the studio and dance troupe.[1]
In alphabetical order:
