Remembering Vernon Castle

Today, 15 February, marks 100 years since pilot and dance superstar Vernon William Blythe Castle died in a plane crash in Texas. Commemorated by the Commission in New York, Vernon was a distinguished pilot who flew hundreds of combat missions. Here is more about the man remembered as one of America’s first celebrity dancers.

Vernon was raised in Norwich, UK, and was training to become a civil engineer before moving to New York in 1906 with his sister, Coralie Blythe, and her husband Lawrence Grossmith, both established actors. There he was given a small part on stage, which led to further acting work, and him becoming established as a comic actor, singer, dancer and conjuror, under the stage name Vernon Castle.

In 1910, he met his future wife and dance partner, Irene. After they married, the couple travelled to Paris to perform in a dance revue. The show quickly closed, but the couple was then hired as a dance act by the Café de Paris, where their popularity soared. Their success was widely reported in the US, preparing their way for a triumphant return to New York in 1912.

The duo was soon in demand on stage, in vaudeville and in motion pictures. They also became staples of Broadway. Among their shows were The Sunshine Girl (1913) and Watch Your Step (1914), in which the couple refined and popularised the Foxtrot. After its New York run, Watch Your Step toured through 1916.

In 1914, the couple opened a dancing school in New York called "Castle House", a nightclub called "Castles by the Sea" on the Boardwalk in Long Beach, New York, and a restaurant, "Sans Souci". At Castle House, they taught New York society the latest dance steps, by day, and greeted guests and performed at their club and cafe at night. They also were in demand for private lessons and appearances at fashionable parties.

In 1915, determined to fight in the war, Vernon attended flight school in the US, leaving the touring cast of Watch Your Step. He received his pilot's certificate in early 1916. The Castles gave two farewell performances at the Hippodrome in New York in January 1916.

Vernon returned to England to enlist as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps. He completed 300 combat missions, shot down two aircraft and was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1917. He was then posted to Canada to train new pilots, promoted to Captain, before being transferred with the rest of his unit to the US for winter training.

On 15 February 1918, over a training field near Fort Worth, Texas, Vernon had to take emergency action shortly after take-off to avoid a collision with another aircraft. His plane stalled, and he was unable to recover control before the plane hit the ground. He died soon after the crash, aged 30. Vernon was the only casualty. Vernon is buried in New York City (Woodlawn) Cemetery.