The Gentlemen of the Follies!

At age 35

Wayne Albritton

"My favorite childhood memory of summer is visiting my parents' relatives in the backwoods of Mississippi, and I do mean backwoods!"

Baseball lost a hot prospect when Wayne Albritton, a college shortstop, opted to become a dancer. At 69, he returns for his 12th season at the Fabulous Follies. He discovered dancing when he got a severe case of measles at 6 and the doctor recommended it to regain his strength. At 19, he left his native Jackson, Mississippi, for New York and was immediately cast in the Broadway production of Carnival.

Wayne migrated west to become a Moro Landis dancer at the Sahara Hotel and the principal singer and dancer for Ann-Margret's Las Vegas debut. He was lead singer for 13 years in four Donn Arden shows, including the Lido de Paris at the Stardust Hotel and Hallelujah Hollywood! at the MGM. After owning and operating two Las Vegas taverns for a decade, he returned to performing and "being a kid again" with the Follies cast.

Wayne and his wife Greta, also a Follies dancer, are now full-time Palm Springs residents.

MORE FUN FACTS

• His main athletic pursuits now are golf and playing basketball, and romping with Peanut, a hairless dog with hair, and a Yorkie named Jazzie.
• His penchant for oldies extends to early black-and-white television shows; Gone with the Wind, made 70 years ago, tops his movie choices; the old cowboy, Roy Rogers, is #1 among his heroes.
• In 1966, Wayne joined Ann Margret's show in Las Vegas. They used actual Triumph motorcycles in the act, but no one ever told Wayne how heavy they were. One night, though one fell on top of him in the middle of a show and he couldn't get it off of him. "How embarrassing!" he remembers.
• Surviving the rigors of nine Follies shows a week follows a simple formula: "We just do it. We show up. We suit up. And we shut up. And thank goodness for the mineral waters at The Spa Resort Hotel."