It’s with sadness that we report the death of cabaret legend Baby Jane Dexter, who passed away after an extended illness. The 72-year old performer was long a mainstay in the New York City Cabaret scene and beyond, beginning her career in 1973. She was variously described in her career as “larger than life” and as a “force of nature.” Despite waning health, she continued her cabaret career through 2017.
Dexter was a Bistro Award and Nightlife Award winner as well as a multiple MAC (The Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs) Award winner, presented with the MAC Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. Her performances were seen at major NYC venues including Weill Recital Hall, plus cabaret rooms from The Russian Tea Room, Reno Sweeney, The Ballroom and Eighty Eight’s to the Blue Note, Village Gate and the now defunct but popular Metropolitan Room. Outside of New York she played venues such as The Kennedy Center and Blues Alley in Washington DC, King of France Tavern in Annapolis’ Maryland Inn, the Cinegrill in Los Angeles, the Plush Room in San Francisco, and Toulouse Cognac Bar in Chicago.
As a recording artist, her albums include The Real World: Live At The Metropolitan Room, You’re Following Me!, With Arms Wide Open, Big, Bad and Blue Live! As an actress she was briefly in the cast of Hair on Broadway and also appeared on stage in Anything Goes and The Music Man as well as appearing on television.
She stopped singing in 1981 to take a short break, which lasted for almost a decade. During that time Dexter, who had already been the victim of a date rape as a young woman, became embroiled in a difficult relationship, endured depression and finally, with the encouragement of her close friend, Vito Russo, returned to performing with a show entitled I Got Thunder.
Unwilling to become a victim, Dexter integrated her experiences in songwriting and performing. She was also a counsellor in programs designed to offer an alternative to prison for young offenders and developed a workshop entitled Healing Through Entertainment—A Motivational Performance Art Experience For Women. In the late 1990s, she took part in TED/Technotainment, a merger of the entertainment and technology industries.
Baby Jane Dexter in her life and passing has left an indelible mark on the cultural history of New York nightlife and beyond.
A performance by the cabaret singer Baby Jane Dexter is like a revival meeting without Jesus. —Stephen Holden, The New York Times
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