Virginia Earle
Encyclopedia
Virginia Earle (1873–1937) was an American stage actress remembered for her work in light operas, musical comedies and vaudeville over the decades surrounding the turn of the twentieth century.
.
Earle made her stage debut in 1887 playing Nanki-Poo in Gilbert and Sullivan
's The Mikado
with the Home Juvenile Opera Company. During her time with the Home Juvenile Opera she also played principle roles in The Pirates of Penzance
, H.M.S. Pinafore
and Patience
.
where she was engaged by Frederick Hallen
and Joseph Hart
's vaudeville company. After completing two seasons with Hallen and Hart she became associated with producer Edward E. Rice
and in 1891 traveled to Australia with a troupe of actors that included George Fortescue, his wife and daughter (both named Viola) and actresses Lillian Karl, and Agnes Pearl.
Earle appeared in the comic opera
portion of The Merry World, a review
written by Edgar Smith and Nicholas Biddle. It was staged at the Casino Theatre
in June 1895. She was joined in the burlesque
section by Willard Simms, Wallace Black, and Lee Harrison. As the character, Vaseline, Earle sings along with Marie Laurens.
Leonardo by Gilbert Burgess is a book about a Florentine sculptor who designs a statue of the Duke of Milan. During his work he falls in love with the Duke's daughter. The operetta
of the same name was produced by the Garrick Theatre
in October 1895. Earle plays the role of Cecilia. A critic commented that the production's costumes were tasteful and the operetta was well rehearsed. However the performance itself
was merely tolerable.
The Lady Slavey, at the Casino Theatre, featured Daniel Daly, Marie Dressler
, and Earle in a humorous scene in the first act. After being out of the cast for many nights, Earle returned to play the title role on April 13, 1896. She was forced to leave the cast of In Gay New-York because of throat problems on June 14. She had been singing the leading role and was replaced by Catherine Linyard. When she returned Earle sang a new song in the part, Only a Lump of Sugar for the Bird.
She was identified with the productions of Augustin Daly
for many years. Two of these plays were The Circus Girl and The Runaway Girl. Both Earle and James T. Powers signed contracts with George W. Lederer in July 1899.
A review from 1900 described Earle as being without a rival in the present stage of her artistic development. Specifically, he made mention of her acting in The Belle of New York. In The Casino Girl
she returned to the theater after a long absence and depicted a young man named Percy. The setting of the play was Egypt
and it was performed at the Casino
Theatre. One of the highlights was a duet between Earle and Mabelle Gilman. The New Yorkers with Earle and Daly was put on by the Herald Square Theatre in November 1901.
In April 1903 Earle was signed to be in a musical comedy at the Gaiety Theatre
in London, England by George Edwardes
. It was her second London engagement and was planned for the following season. The play was the Baldwin Sloane opera, Sergeant Kitty. Her services were obtained by Samuel S. Shubert of the Shubert Theatre (Broadway)
in May 1903. She appeared in Sergeant Kitty at Daly's Theatre on Sixty-Third Street, New York City, in January 1904. Earle was summoned to rehearsal at the New Amsterdam Theatre as a member of the Klaw & Erlanger
Comedy Company in October 1904. The troupe included Fay Templeton
. The production, a musical burlesque about fashionable society entitled In Newport, was staged at the Liberty Theatre, 234 West 42nd Street, New York City.
Earle was in vaudeville
for several seasons prior to becoming ill. She was unable to perform on Broadway for several seasons prior to landing a leading role in The Wedding Trip, in November 1911. Music in the play was composed by Reginald De Koven
.
She replaced Lina Abarbanell as Molly Seamore , the heroine, in an April 1913 presentation of The Geisha.
Earle appeared with the Madeline and Marion Fairbanks
in a production of Two Little Girls in Blue
by A.L. Erlanger
in 1921. The Tomsen twins and Edward Begley were also in the cast.
, near Twenty-Eighth Street, when Earle seized her and screamed for help. The cloak was one of a number of thefts at the Casino during the month of September 1895. Baldwin said that the cloak had been found by her brother lying in the street car tracks at Twenty-Eighth Street and Sixth Avenue. She was held in $500 for trial at Special Sessions after Earle made an affidavit. In testimony a day later Baldwin said that she got the cloak from her brother who was employed by the Sixth Avenue elevated railroad. The husband admitted to finding the cloak and several people vouched for Baldwin's character. Earle received the garment back, noticing its worn condition. She offered it to a deputy clerk who declined it. Then she threw
it at the deputy district attorney, exclaiming Take the old cloak there; there! She then smiled at the audience. The cloak was returned to police headquarters.
A diamond pendant
valued at $550 was taken from Earle in the Hotel Bartholdt on New Year's Eve
in 1895. The diamonds were found in a
Ninth Avenue (Manhattan)
pawnshop, where $100 had been advanced on them. A man in charge of the hallboys at the hotel was charged with the crime and
pleaded not guilty to a charge of grand larceny
.
Earle confessed to the superstition of wearing a ring on her thumb for nine years. She thought it brought her good luck. She said the sole occasion she experienced bad luck was when she wore a hat with a peacock feather on it.
, the whistler. Lawton (d. 1914) was an actor, siffluer, and comedian who became known when he played the role of Blinky Bill McGuirk in The Belle of New York. The American musical comedy opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre
in London, England, on April 12, 1899. Earle brought divorce action against Lawton in February 1897.
Early Life and Career
Born Virginia Earl on the sixth of August, 1873 at Cincinnati, Ohio, she was the daughter of Irish immigrants Sara and Nathan Wheeler Earl. Earle’s family later moved to Chicago where her father found employment as a machinist. Her mother and father were both said to have done some theater work as did her younger brother, Wheeler Earl, who performed for a number of years on stage before becoming a salesman for the Hupp Motor CompanyHupmobile
The Hupmobile was an automobile built from 1909 through 1940 by the Hupp Motor Company, which was located at 345 Bellevue Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Its first car, the Model 20, was introduced to the public at the Detroit Auto Show in February 1909...
.
Earle made her stage debut in 1887 playing Nanki-Poo in Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
's The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
with the Home Juvenile Opera Company. During her time with the Home Juvenile Opera she also played principle roles in The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
, H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
and Patience
Patience (opera)
Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed at the Opera Comique, London, on 23 April 1881, it moved to the 1,292-seat Savoy Theatre on 10 October 1881, where it was the first theatrical production in the...
.
Career
Earle next joined the Pike Opera Company on a tour of the American West that eventually brought her to San FranciscoSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
where she was engaged by Frederick Hallen
Frederick Hallen
Frederick Hallen was a Canadian-born vaudeville entertainer who found popularity on the American stage.Born in Montreal, Canada around 1859, Hallen began touring the vaudeville circuit as early as 1880 with his American wife Enid Hart, as Hallen and Hart...
and Joseph Hart
Joseph Hart (entertainer)
Joseph Hart was an American vaudevillian entertainer, manager, producer and songwriter.-Early life:Joseph Hart Boudrow was born in Boston, Massachusetts on June 8, 1861, to James H. and Sarah E. Boudrow. His father, a Boston area junk dealer, was from Nova Scotia, the son of French immigrants who...
's vaudeville company. After completing two seasons with Hallen and Hart she became associated with producer Edward E. Rice
Edward E. Rice
Edward Everett Rice was an American musical composer and theater producer active during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, known primarily for being a pioneer of American musical theater and introducing to Broadway a musical by African-American writers and performers.-Biography:Edward Everett...
and in 1891 traveled to Australia with a troupe of actors that included George Fortescue, his wife and daughter (both named Viola) and actresses Lillian Karl, and Agnes Pearl.
Earle appeared in the comic opera
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
portion of The Merry World, a review
Review
A review is an evaluation of a publication, a product or a service, such as a movie , video game, musical composition , book ; a piece of hardware like a car, home appliance, or computer; or an event or performance, such as a live music concert, a play, musical theater show or dance show...
written by Edgar Smith and Nicholas Biddle. It was staged at the Casino Theatre
Casino Theatre
The Casino Theatre was a Broadway theatre from 1882 to 1930 in New York City. It was located at 1404 Broadway, at W. 39th Street. It originally seated approximately 875 people, but after a fire in 1903 and rebuilding in 1905, it seated 1,300...
in June 1895. She was joined in the burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
section by Willard Simms, Wallace Black, and Lee Harrison. As the character, Vaseline, Earle sings along with Marie Laurens.
Leonardo by Gilbert Burgess is a book about a Florentine sculptor who designs a statue of the Duke of Milan. During his work he falls in love with the Duke's daughter. The operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
of the same name was produced by the Garrick Theatre
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster. It opened on 24 April 1889 with The Profligate, a play by Arthur Wing Pinero. In its early years, it appears to have specialised in the performance of melodrama, and today the theatre is a...
in October 1895. Earle plays the role of Cecilia. A critic commented that the production's costumes were tasteful and the operetta was well rehearsed. However the performance itself
was merely tolerable.
The Lady Slavey, at the Casino Theatre, featured Daniel Daly, Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler was a Canadian-American actress and Depression-era film star. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1930-31 in Min and Bill.-Early life and stage career:...
, and Earle in a humorous scene in the first act. After being out of the cast for many nights, Earle returned to play the title role on April 13, 1896. She was forced to leave the cast of In Gay New-York because of throat problems on June 14. She had been singing the leading role and was replaced by Catherine Linyard. When she returned Earle sang a new song in the part, Only a Lump of Sugar for the Bird.
She was identified with the productions of Augustin Daly
Augustin Daly
John Augustin Daly was an American theatrical manager and playwright active in both the US and UK.-Biography:Daly was born in Plymouth, North Carolina and educated at Norfolk, Va...
for many years. Two of these plays were The Circus Girl and The Runaway Girl. Both Earle and James T. Powers signed contracts with George W. Lederer in July 1899.
A review from 1900 described Earle as being without a rival in the present stage of her artistic development. Specifically, he made mention of her acting in The Belle of New York. In The Casino Girl
she returned to the theater after a long absence and depicted a young man named Percy. The setting of the play was Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and it was performed at the Casino
Theatre. One of the highlights was a duet between Earle and Mabelle Gilman. The New Yorkers with Earle and Daly was put on by the Herald Square Theatre in November 1901.
In April 1903 Earle was signed to be in a musical comedy at the Gaiety Theatre
Gaiety Theatre
The Gaiety Theatre is a theatre on South King Street in Dublin, Ireland, off Grafton Street and close to St. Stephen's Green. It specialises in operatic and musical productions, with occasional dramatic shows.-History:Designed by architect C.J...
in London, England by George Edwardes
George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond....
. It was her second London engagement and was planned for the following season. The play was the Baldwin Sloane opera, Sergeant Kitty. Her services were obtained by Samuel S. Shubert of the Shubert Theatre (Broadway)
Shubert Theatre (Broadway)
The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States.Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family...
in May 1903. She appeared in Sergeant Kitty at Daly's Theatre on Sixty-Third Street, New York City, in January 1904. Earle was summoned to rehearsal at the New Amsterdam Theatre as a member of the Klaw & Erlanger
Klaw & Erlanger
Klaw & Erlanger was the New York City based theatrical production partnership of entrepreneur A.L. Erlanger and lawyer Marcus Klaw. The two began as a theatrical booking agency in 1886 before expanding into producing plays. In 1896, Klaw & Erlanger joined with Al Hayman, Charles Frohman, Samuel F...
Comedy Company in October 1904. The troupe included Fay Templeton
Fay Templeton
Fay Templeton was an American stage actress.Her parents were actors/vaudevillians and she followed in their footsteps, making her Broadway debut in 1900. She continued to appear there until 1934...
. The production, a musical burlesque about fashionable society entitled In Newport, was staged at the Liberty Theatre, 234 West 42nd Street, New York City.
Earle was in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
for several seasons prior to becoming ill. She was unable to perform on Broadway for several seasons prior to landing a leading role in The Wedding Trip, in November 1911. Music in the play was composed by Reginald De Koven
Reginald de Koven
Henry Louis Reginald De Koven was an American music critic and prolific composer, particularly of comic operas.-Biography:...
.
She replaced Lina Abarbanell as Molly Seamore , the heroine, in an April 1913 presentation of The Geisha.
Earle appeared with the Madeline and Marion Fairbanks
Madeline and Marion Fairbanks
Madeline and her twin sister Marion Fairbanks were stage and motion picture actresses active in the silent era. The two sisters were seemingly inseparable...
in a production of Two Little Girls in Blue
Two Little Girls in Blue
Two Little Girls in Blue is a musical theatre work composed by Paul Lannin and Vincent Youmans, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and a libretto by Fred Jackson. The musical premiered at the George M...
by A.L. Erlanger
A.L. Erlanger
Abraham Lincoln Erlanger was an American theatrical producer, director, designer, theatre owner, and a leading figure of the Theatrical Syndicate....
in 1921. The Tomsen twins and Edward Begley were also in the cast.
Robbery Victim
Earle was robbed of valuables on several occasions. She apprehended Jennie Baldwin when she recognized the woman wearing one of the cloaks she wore in a production of The Merry World. Baldwin was walking along Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)
Sixth Avenue – officially Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown"...
, near Twenty-Eighth Street, when Earle seized her and screamed for help. The cloak was one of a number of thefts at the Casino during the month of September 1895. Baldwin said that the cloak had been found by her brother lying in the street car tracks at Twenty-Eighth Street and Sixth Avenue. She was held in $500 for trial at Special Sessions after Earle made an affidavit. In testimony a day later Baldwin said that she got the cloak from her brother who was employed by the Sixth Avenue elevated railroad. The husband admitted to finding the cloak and several people vouched for Baldwin's character. Earle received the garment back, noticing its worn condition. She offered it to a deputy clerk who declined it. Then she threw
it at the deputy district attorney, exclaiming Take the old cloak there; there! She then smiled at the audience. The cloak was returned to police headquarters.
A diamond pendant
Pendant
A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, when the ensemble may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. In modern French "pendant" is the gerund form of “hanging”...
valued at $550 was taken from Earle in the Hotel Bartholdt on New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
in 1895. The diamonds were found in a
Ninth Avenue (Manhattan)
Ninth Avenue (Manhattan)
Ninth Avenue / Columbus Avenue is a southbound thoroughfare on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Traffic runs downtown along its full length...
pawnshop, where $100 had been advanced on them. A man in charge of the hallboys at the hotel was charged with the crime and
pleaded not guilty to a charge of grand larceny
Grand Larceny
Grand Larceny is a 1987 thriller film directed by Jeannot Szwarc and starring Marilu Henner, Ian McShane, Omar Sharif and Louis Jourdan.-Plot summary:...
.
Earle confessed to the superstition of wearing a ring on her thumb for nine years. She thought it brought her good luck. She said the sole occasion she experienced bad luck was when she wore a hat with a peacock feather on it.
Marriage
Her husband was Frank LawtonFrank Lawton (I)
Frank Lawton was an American vaudevillian entertainer whose popularity extended far beyond his country’s borders.-Early life:Like so many 19th and early 20th century actors who made their living traveling from town to town often under assumed stage names, Frank Lawton’s past is difficult to trace...
, the whistler. Lawton (d. 1914) was an actor, siffluer, and comedian who became known when he played the role of Blinky Bill McGuirk in The Belle of New York. The American musical comedy opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre
Shaftesbury Theatre
The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End Theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers, as the New...
in London, England, on April 12, 1899. Earle brought divorce action against Lawton in February 1897.
Death
Virginia Earle died at the age of sixty-four on September 21, 1937 at Englewood, New Jersey .External links
- Virginia Earle postcard
- Virginia Earle postcard
- Virginia Earle at Shakespeare the Players
- Virginia Earle photo at NYP Library collection
- Virginia Earle at Internt Broadway Database