Redhead Inez Courtney, the quintessential embodiment of coquettish charm, dominated the world of Broadway musical comedy during the 1920s. Having abandoned her plans to become a milliner after leaving school, she instead embarked on a career as a specialty dancer in vaudeville, earning the nickname "Mosquito" during her five-year apprenticeship.
By 1919, Courtney had made her Broadway debut as part of the ensemble, but it wasn't long before she began to garner rave reviews for her performances in "The Wild Rose" by Rudolf Frimland and the college musical "Good News" (1927),where she danced alongside Gus Shy in two numbers.
Courtney's talent and charm also led to a leading role in "Spring is Here" (1929),but as the Great Depression took hold, musicals began to fade, and she made the move to Hollywood. Although she didn't quite reach the same level of stardom as her contemporaries, Marilyn Miller and Bernice Claire, in "Sunny" (1930) and "The Song of the Flame" (1930),respectively, Courtney remained a reliable presence in non-musical roles, often playing sarcastic or wise-cracking friends to Jean Harlow, Ginger Rogers, and Nancy Carroll.
For ten years, Courtney worked under contract with Harry Cohn at Columbia Pictures, appearing in a variety of roles. Occasionally, she would return to the theatre, with her final stage appearance coming in 1933 for "Hold Your Horses." Courtney eventually retired from the screen in 1940 and settled down with her second husband, Luigi Filiesi, an aristocratic wine merchant, in Rome.
