Gertrude Berkeley
Gertrude Berkeley( 24 June 1864 – 15 June 1946) was an American actress of stage and screen. She began her career performing inrepertory theatrein the 1880s, and performed widely in touring road companies and stock theatre during the latter half of the 19th century into the early twentieth century. She appeared with some regularity onBroadwayfrom 1906 through 1917; performing in plays byLouis K. Anspacher,J. M. Barrie,Rachel Crothers,andHenrik Ibsen.As a stage actress she is best remembered for creating the role of Mrs. March in the originalBroadwayand national touring productions ofMarian de Forest'sLittle Women;a play adapted from the novel byLouisa May Alcott.She made several silent films with theFox Film Corporationfrom 1915 to 1921; often portraying motherly figures or comic older women. She was the mother of film director and musical choreographerBusby Berkeley.
Life and career
[edit]Born Nellie Gertrude Berkeley on June 24, 1864, inPlattsburgh, New York,Berkeley was the eighth of twelve children born to Arthur Tisdale Berkeley and Mary Jane Berkeley (née Hooey).[1][2]She was educated at the Potsdam Normal School (now theState University of New York at Potsdam); where she developed her talents as an actress.[3]
Berkeley made her professional stage debut at the age of 17 inPotsdam, New Yorkportraying a much older woman; Mrs. Cregan inDion Boucicault'sThe Colleen Bawn.[3]She performed widely inrepertory theatrewithregional companies in the United Statesin the 1880s, and by 1890 she had become a member of Tim Frawly's Stock Company inSan Francisco.[3]There she met the actor and director Francis Enos (better known by the stage name Wilson Enos) and his son George who had been born from Enos' previous marriage to the actressIda Lewis;a marriage which had ended in divorce. Gertrude and Francis became a couple soon after, and they wed on June 17, 1891.[4]Four years later the couple gave birth to a son, the film director and musical choreographerBusby Berkeley,on November 29, 1895.[5]
In 1906 Berkely made herBroadwaydebut atWallack's Theatreas Mrs. Goodwin inLouis K. Anspacher'sThe Embarrassment of Riches;a play headlined by actorsCharlotte WalkerandBruce McRae.[6]She appeared in several more plays on Broadway over the next decade, including the roles of Aline Solness inHenrik Ibsen'sThe Master Builder(1907),[7]Christine Marshall inRachel Crothers'sMyself -- Bettina(1908),[8]and The Rat-Wife in Ibsen'sLittle Eyolf(1910) among others.[9]She is best remembered for creating the role of Mrs. March in the original production ofMarian de Forest'sLittle Womenin 1912; a role she performed both on Broadway and on national tour.[10]Her final appearance on Broadway was in the original production ofJ. M. Barrie'sOld Friendsin 1917.[11]
Berkeley starred in severalsilent filmsmade with theFox Film Corporationfrom 1915 to 1921; often appearing as motherly figures or comic older women. These includedThe Soul of Broadway(1915, as Stage Actress),The Two Orphans(1915, ) as Mother Frochard),War Brides(1916, as The Mother),Over There(1917),The Iron Heart(1917, as Mrs. Martin),The Song of Songs(1918, as Mrs. Kardos),The Way of a Woman(1919, as Mrs. Lee), andSuspicious Wives(1921, as the Old Woman).[2]
Gertrude Berkeley died on June 15, 1946, at the age of 81 inLos Angeles, California.[2]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^Spivak, p. 4-5
- ^abcTruitt, p. 28
- ^abcSpivak, p. 5
- ^Spivak, p. 6
- ^Spivak, p. 7
- ^"EXCELLENT COMEDY OF NEW YORK LIFE; Mr. Anspacher's" The Embarrassment of Riches "".The New York Times.May 15, 1906. p. 9.
- ^John Ames Mitchell, ed. (July–December 1907). "The Master Builder".Life.L:397.
- ^Lindroth & Lindroth, p. 126
- ^Eaton, p. 175
- ^Clark, Beverly Lyon (2014). "Chapter 2: Wa xing Nostalgic: 1900-1930".The Afterlife of "Little Women".Johns Hopkins University Press.ISBN9781421415598.
- ^Mantle, Sherwood & Chapman, p. 601
Bibliography
[edit]- Eaton, Walter Prichard (1910).At the New Theatre and Others: The American Stage: Its Problems and Performances, 1908-1910.Small, Maynard & Company.
- Lindroth, Colette; Lindroth, James (1995).Rachel Crothers: A Research and Production Sourcebook.Bloomsbury Academic.ISBN9780313278150.
- Mantle, Burns; Sherwood, Garrison P.; Chapman, John Arthur (1933).The Best Plays of 1909-1919.Dodd, Mead & Co.
- Spivak, Jeffrey (2011).Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley.University Press of Kentucky.ISBN9780813126432.
- Truitt, Evelyn Mack (1984). "Berkley, Gertrude".Who was who on Screen.R. R. Bowker.ISBN9780835219068.