McCoy, Bessie (1888–1931)

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McCoy, Bessie (1888–1931)

American theatrical dancer and singer. Name variations: Bessie McCoy Davis; The Yama Yama Girl. Born Elizabeth McAvoy in 1888; died Aug 16, 1931, in Bayonne, France; m. Cecil Clark (div. 1912); m. Richard Harding Davis (writer), 1912 (died 1916).

Made theatrical debut in parents' vaudeville act; won great acclaim for performance in Broadway's The Three Twins (1908) where she danced and sang "The Yama-Yama Man," and was known as The Yama-Yama Girl thereafter; performed in The Echo (1910) and Ziegfeld Follies of 1911, and after marriage appeared as Bessie McCoy Davis in Miss 1917 at Century Theater; performed as specialty dancer in Greenwich Village Follies (1919) and danced in Morris Gest's Midnight Whirl (1919) before retiring from stage.

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