Gross, Dorothy Bercu, 1917-2015
Biography
Naomi Dorothea (Dorothy) Bercu was born June 14, 1917 in Douglas, Wyoming. Her father George Bercu owned the Chicago Hide, Fur and Wool Company in Douglas and in Denver. He married Olive Mistachkin and the couple became parents of Dorothy (1917-2015), Harryette (1918), Robert (1919), Bernard (1921), and Berverly (1935). From 1925-1928, Dorothy and Harryette danced on the Orpheum Vaudeville circuit around the west. They were later joined by Bob and Bernard and the whole troupe performed from New York City to Juarez, Mexico. The sisters also danced from 1936 to 1939. Dorothy attended the University of Utah in Ogden, Utah beginning in 1930 at the age of sixteen. She started a theatrical booking agency in Salt Lake City and taught dancing. Dorothy married Norman Gross in 1941 after he had signed up for her dance class. They raised three children, Valerie (Schreiber), Gary, and Dennis in Dallas, Texas. She also taught fitness classes. She died in Dallas in 2015.
Found in 14 Collections and/or Records:
Spanish Jota Dance, 1935
Studio photograph of Dorothy Bercu in a Spanish dance costume posing with head bent backward. Dorothy Bercu Gross was a vaudeville performer in the 1920s and 1930s.
Valerie Gross Wedding, 1961 December 31
Wedding invitation for the marriage of Valerie Lynn Gross to Julian Victor Horwitz December 31, 1961 and a photograph of Valerie Horwitz in her wedding gown.
Visit to Austin, 1995
Photographs of a girl and awards in Dorothy Gross home in Austin, Texas.