Bert Savoy (1876-1923), birth name Everett McKinzie, was an American entertainer known for his cross-dressing vaudeville act.  Partnered with straight  man Jay Brennan, he appeared in the Ziegfield Follies and the Greenwich Village Follies in New York City.  Their act used many double entendres and gay slang.  Savoy created the phrases “You slay me!” and “You don’t know the half of it!”  His campy, arch mannerisms influenced Mae West in her onstage and film personas.  Walking on the beach on Long Island with friends, during a thunderstorm, Savoy remarked “Mercy, ain’t Miss God cutting up something awful?”, and then he was struck and killed by lightning.  He was memorialized by Charles Demuth in the painting Calla Lilies (Bert Savoy).

Bert Savoy was a pioneer of cross-dressing acts.  And he was hysterically funny.  A clip of his and Brennan’s act:

S. Gray

May 2026