Josie Sadler

Josie Sadler (1871–1927) was for twenty years a leading American stage comedienne known for her "Dutch" (German) dialect routines and heavy-set appearance. She made several early phonograph recordings for the major companies of the time, and also made several silent films, mostly for Vitagraph. She retired from show business to operate her deceased husband's electrical research business.

Biography Early life and career Josie Sadler was born as Josephine Rauscher in New York City in 1871. Her father was German, and her mother was French. Sadler then appeared in 2 more John Russel productions, Easy Street and Miss McGinty, before engaging with Henry Dixey for revivals of the shows Patience and The Mascot.

In August 1897 she appeared in the William Harris production Good Mr. Best, where she played the role of "Gretchen Slowe", which proved to be one of her favorite characters.

In February 1899 she was back at the Bijou for Brown's in Town as "Frida Von Hollenbeck", but this production was a failure. She then went to the Webber & Fields' Theater for the part of the sister in Catharine, to great success. Here she not only starred alongside Fred Lennox in the role of "Wild Rosie of Yucatan," but wrote and performed the hit song of the play, "Oh, If I Could Only get a Decent Sleep." Following this, she appeared in the Alfred Baldwin Sloane musical Broadway to Tokio (January 1900), where she again sang "Oh, If I Could Only get a Decent Sleep". Next was a role in the play The Supper Club at the New York Roof Garden. In 1908 she headlined with Charles A. Bigelow in the play A Waltz Dream, where she played the role of "Fifi", a bass drummer. Her next theatrical appointment was in Lew Fields' The Jolly Bachelors, followed by, at the Globe Theatre, The Bachelor Belles, which ran for 32 performances through November and December 1910. She was next alongside Eddie Foy and Lillian Lorraine in Over the River. and was among the featured performers of the 1912 Ziegfeld Follies.

Film and later career Sadler joined Vitagraph in March 1913. Her first appearance on film was shown May 1913, in support of Norma Talmadge's Omens and Oracles. The films were not very successful, and the "Josie" series did not continue. At this point she went on the vaudeville circuit with her sketch "Moving Pictures" based on her movie-acting experience.

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Josie "Romantic Josie" Len Spencer remained in the Victor catalogue until 1923. Her records did not sell very well, Walsh speculates that her routines lacked variety, and that her "Dutch" German dialect, used in most of her recordings but not all,