Editing Ray Bolger (section)

===Early career===
His entertainment aspirations evolved from the [[vaudeville]] shows of his youth. He began his career in a vaudeville tap show, creating the act "Sanford & Bolger" with his dance partner. In 1926, he danced at New York City's legendary [[Palace Theatre (Broadway)|Palace Theatre]], the premier vaudeville theater in the United States. His limber body and improvisational dance movements won him many leading roles on Broadway in the 1930s. Eventually, his career also encompassed film, television, and nightclub work.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/8/Ray-Bolger.html| title=Ray Bolger Biography| publisher=Film Reference| access-date=September 18, 2012}}</ref> In 1932 he was elected to the theater club [[The Lambs]]<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.The-Lambs.org| title=About The Lambs| website=The Lambs, Inc.|access-date=March 8, 2018}}</ref> and performed on opening night at [[Radio City Music Hall]] in December 1932.<ref name="varobit">{{cite magazine |last=Oldfield |first=Barney, Col. |date=April 12, 1978 |title=Ray Bolger Was There At Music Hall's Birth |magazine=[[Variety (Magazine)|Variety]] |page=2}}</ref>

After starring in [[Richard Rodgers]]' first stage production of ''[[On Your Toes]]'' in 1936, in which he played the male lead Junior, as well as the hero of the ''[[Slaughter on Tenth Avenue]]'' ballet within the musical, Bolger signed his first cinema contract with [[MGM]] in 1936, and although ''The Wizard of Oz'' was early in his film career, he appeared in other movies of note. His best-known pre-Oz appearance was ''[[The Great Ziegfeld]]'' (1936), in which he portrayed himself. He also appeared in ''[[Sweethearts (1938 film)|Sweethearts]]'' (1938), the first MGM film in [[Technicolor]], starring [[Nelson Eddy]] and [[Jeanette MacDonald]]. He also appeared in the [[Eleanor Powell]] vehicle ''[[Rosalie (1937 film)|Rosalie]]'' (1937), which also starred Eddy and Frank Morgan.