The Story of Esther Jones, aka Baby Esther, the Inspiration for Betty Boop

Esther Jones (aka Baby Esther), born in Chicago in 1918, was a natural performer who debuted on stage at four years old. Her first managers were her parents, Gertrude and William. Jones made silly expressions, danced, and frequently used the phrase “Boop, boop-a-doop” during her performances.

Jones’s bookings and profile got huge after Lou Bolton took over as her manager in 1924. A 1928 Variety story praised her performance at the Everglades Nightclub in NYC when she was seven and went by stage names such as Baby Esther, Li'l Esther, Little Esther, Young Florence Mills, Second Florence Mills, and Miniature Florence Mills. Esther was paid $750 a week at 11 years old while performing in Europe. She became the highest-paid child performer in the world.

The cartoon character Betty Boop debuted in 1930 at Fleischer Studios in Hollywood. Even though a lawsuit ultimately revealed Betty Boop’s true roots, Esther did not get any credit for it. Ironically, the claim was filed by Helen Kane, a white performer, against Fleischer Studios. Kane began imitating Jones’ scat performance, and during the Fleischer Studios v. Kane trial, it was discovered that she even sang the song “I Want to Be Loved By You” with the “Boop-Boop-a-Doop” reference. Other studios felt bold enough to promote the Betty Boop character after Kane lost the lawsuit, but they did not credit Jones as the creator.

At 16, Esther performed in Philadelphia in 1934 at a late midnight NAACP fundraiser and even performed for the then-ambassador Jefferson Caffery at the American Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the same year.

After the famed Betty Boop trial, not much about Esther Jones’s life or death is known. She sadly passed away in 1984 in New York City due to complications with her liver and kidneys. She is now widely recognized as having influenced the Betty Boop character. Regardless of how she contributed to the creation of the cartoon character Betty Boop, Jones is recognized as a young star who had a successful but brief career in the entertainment industry.