As his star began to rise, he appeared in vaudeville and toured Europe and the United States, even giving a command performance before King Edward VII.

Eltinge appeared in a series of musical comedies written specifically for his talents starting in 1910 with The Fascinating Widow, returning to vaudeville in 1918.

Upon discovering this in 1899, his father beat him and his mother sent him back to Boston, where the 17-year-old worked in dry goods as a salesman while studying dance.

In some versions he was taking cakewalk lessons from a Mrs. Wyman's dance studio when he demonstrated to his teacher a remarkable ability to emulate females.

Eltinge's first appearance on Broadway was in the musical comedy Mr. Wix of Wickham which opened September 19, 1904 at the Bijou Theatre in New York City.

[3] The success of this show led producer A. H. Woods to give Eltinge one of the entertainment industry's highest honors, having a theatre named for him.

The theater is now part of the AMC Empire 25 cineplex having been lifted and moved in its entirety down the block from its original location.

[3] According to Anthony Slide's The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville, he also had a cameo role in a film entitled How Molly Malone Made Good in 1915.

[3] With this group he returned to the vaudeville stage appearing at New York City's Palace Theatre in 1918, where he was paid one of the highest salaries in show business: $3,500 a week.

Despite the graceful femininity he exhibited on stage, Eltinge used a supermasculine facade in public to combat the rumours of his homosexuality.

This sexual duality led to Chicago Tribune drama critic Percy Hammond's using the term "ambisextrous" to describe him.

Crackdowns on cross-dressing in public – an attempt to curb homosexual activity – prevented Eltinge from performing in costume.

[9] On February 25, 1941, Eltinge fell ill while performing at Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe nightclub in New York City.