Cedar Rapids Gazette
March 8, 1973
Bette Midler will receive the “After Dark” Ruby Award for Performer of the Year at the Casino Russe; April 23.
The Ruby Award was established in 1971 and was named after Ruby Keeler, a Canadian-born American actress, dancer and singer most famous for her on-screen coupling with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Brothers, particularly 42nd Street (1933). From 1928 to 1940, she was married to actor and singer Al Jolson. She retired from show business in the 1940s, but made a widely publicized comeback on Broadway in 1971 in No, No Nanette!.
