Grace La Rue: Difference between revisions

Grace La Rue
Grace La Rue
	La Rue in 1913
Born	Stella Parsons; April 23, 1882; Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Died	March 13, 1956 (aged 73); San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1906–1940
Spouses	William T. Gray (1897 - ?) 2 daughters; Charles Burke (? - ?); ; Byron Chandler (m. 1909; div. 1914); Hale Hamilton (m. 1920; died 1942)

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Grace La Rue (born Stella Parsons; April 23, 1882 – March 13, 1956) was an American actress, singer, and vaudeville headliner.

Early life

Grace La Rue was born Stella Parsons in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 23, 1882, to Lucy L. Parsons.^{[citation needed]}

Career

La Rue began her career as a teenager, working with a traveling tent show. In the meantime, she married a William T. Gray by whom she had two daughters while still in her teens.^[1] Her later performances included being part of the team Burke and La Rue, with her second husband, Charles Burke.^[2] One of their numbers was a minstrel piece titled "Grace La Rue and her Inky Dinks". She soon broke away from the act - and Burke - to appear in musical comedy.

La Rue performed in a number of productions on Broadway debuting in The Tourists in 1906. She also appeared in The Blue Moon (1906), Molly May (1910), Betsy (1911), and the 1907 and 1908 Ziegfeld Follies.^[3] In 1909, she married Byron (The Millionaire Kid) Chandler in Bennington, Vermont.^[4] The marriage broke up in 1914 when La Rue divorced, alleging that Chandler was unfaithful and that he beat her.^[5]

La Rue made her debut as a Vaudeville single act in November 1912 at Poli's in Springfield, Missouri. As part of the act she sang an aria from Madame Butterfly, and a duet with a phonograph recording of Enrico Caruso. Variety gave her a good review commenting that the act gave La Rue the "opportunity to display her Parisian cultivated voice."^[6]

La Rue made her debut at the Palace Theatre on August 4, 1913. Her act featured the song "You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)", from the show Honeymoon Express, a musical she had appeared in with Al Jolson. Later that year, she brought her Vaudeville act to Britain, appearing at the London Palace on August 4, 1913, where she made gramophone recordings of hit songs from her act.

In 1919, La Rue made her screen debut opposite American stage and film actor Hale Hamilton in the melodrama That's Good. She married Hamilton on May 29, 1920, amid a whirl of controversy surrounding a lawsuit filed by Hamilton's second wife, actress Myrtle Tannehill.^[7]

In 1922-1923, La Rue appeared in Irving Berlin's second Music Box Revue at the Music Box Theatre in New York. In 1924, she appeared at the Coliseum in London with Hamilton. For the rest of the decade she worked mainly in the United States alternating between Vaudeville and in musical comedies and revues. One of her last big time appearances was in the 1928 Greenwich Village Follies at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York. She appeared in a 1929 Vitaphone short called Grace La Rue: The International Star of Song. By the early 1930s, she had retired to California, where she made a brief appearance in the 1933 Mae West film She Done Him Wrong.

Grace La Rue died at Peninsula Hospital in Burlingame, California on March 13, 1956.^[8]

References

^ Internet Movie Database: Grace LaRue, trivia and family
^ Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2007). Vaudeville Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performances in America. Psychology Press. p. 654. ISBN 978-0-415-93853-2. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
^ "Grace La Rue". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
^ Vermont Marriage Records, 1909-2008 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
^ "Chandler in Hands of Sheriff's Men," New York Times, April 8, 1914.
^ Variety, November 24, 1912
^ "Grace La Rue Wed To Hale Hamilton. Actress and Her Co-Star of the Play " Dear Me " Married in Chicago Court. JUST SUED FOR $200,000 Myrtle Tannehill, Who Divorced Bridegroom, Charges Alienation. Bride Once Wife of B.D. Chandler". New York Times. June 1, 1920.
^ "Grace La Rue Hamilton". New York Times. March 14, 1956.

External links

Grace La Rue at IMDb
Grace La Rue at the Internet Broadway Database
Grace La Rue, New York Public Library Digital Gallery photo
Grace La Rue in recording from 1910 singing "Does Anybody Here Know Nancy"
1920 passport photo of Grace La Rue and Hale Hamilton
Broadway photographs (University of South Carolina)

[1] Internet Movie Database: Grace LaRue, trivia and family

[v-2] Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2007). Vaudeville Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performances in America. Psychology Press. p. 654. ISBN 978-0-415-93853-2. Retrieved July 12, 2021.

[ibdb-3] "Grace La Rue". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2021.

[4] Vermont Marriage Records, 1909-2008 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

[5] "Chandler in Hands of Sheriff's Men," New York Times, April 8, 1914.

[6] Variety, November 24, 1912

[7] "Grace La Rue Wed To Hale Hamilton. Actress and Her Co-Star of the Play " Dear Me " Married in Chicago Court. JUST SUED FOR $200,000 Myrtle Tannehill, Who Divorced Bridegroom, Charges Alienation. Bride Once Wife of B.D. Chandler". New York Times. June 1, 1920.

[8] "Grace La Rue Hamilton". New York Times. March 14, 1956.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{short description|American actress, singer, and vaudeville headliner}}
-{{Infobox person   <!-- See [[Template:Infobox person]] for more information -->
+{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
-| name        = Grace La Rue
+{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
-| image       = Grace Larue 1913.jpg
+{{Infobox person
-| imagesize   =
-| caption     =
+| name               = Grace La Rue
+| image              = Grace Larue 1913.jpg
-| birthname   = Stella Parsons
+| alt                =
-| birth_date  = {{birth date |1882|4|23|mf=y}}
+| caption            = La Rue in 1913
-| birth_place = [[Kansas City, Missouri]], U.S.
+| birth_name         = Stella Parsons
-| death_date  = {{death date and age|1956|3|13|1880|4|23|mf=y}}
+| birth_date         = {{birth date|1882|04|23|mf=y}}
-| death_place = [[San Francisco, California]], U.S.
+| birth_place        = [[Kansas City, Missouri]], U.S.
-| spouse = {{marriage|Byron Chandler|1909|1914|end=divorce}}<br>{{marriage|[[Hale Hamilton]]|1920|1942|end=his death}}
+| death_date         = {{death date and age|1956|03|13|1882|04|23|mf=y}}
-| yearsactive = 1924-1940
+| death_place        = [[San Francisco, California]], U.S.
+| resting_place      =
+| occupation         = Actress
+| years_active       = 1906–1940
+| spouse = {{plainlist|
+* William T. Gray (1897 - ?) 2 daughters
+* Charles Burke (? - ?)<br />{{marriage|Byron Chandler|1909|1914|end=divorced}}<br />{{marriage|[[Hale Hamilton]]|1920|1942|end=died}}
+}}
+| children           =
 }}
-'''Grace La Rue''' (April 23, 1882 &ndash; March 13, 1956) was an American actress, singer, and [[vaudeville]] headliner.
+'''Grace La Rue''' (born '''Stella Parsons'''; April 23, 1882 &ndash; March 13, 1956) was an American actress, singer, and [[vaudeville]] headliner.
 ==Early life==
+Grace La Rue was born Stella Parsons in [[Kansas City, Missouri]], on April 23, 1882, to Lucy L. Parsons.{{Citation needed |date=April 2022}}
-Stella Grace La Rue was born in [[Kansas City, Missouri]], in 1882 to Mrs. Lucy L. Parsons. La Rue was a stage name, more exotic than her original surname of Parsons.<ref>"Grace La Rue, Kansas City Vaudeville Actress, Weds in London," ''Kansas City Journal''. June 9, 1909</ref> She began her career as part of the team Burke and La Rue, with her first husband Charles Burke. One of their numbers was a minstrel piece entitled "Grace La Rue and her Inky Dinks". She soon broke away from the act - and Burke - to appear in musical comedy.
 ==Career==
+La Rue began her career as a teenager, working with a traveling tent show. In the meantime, she married a William T. Gray by whom she had two daughters while still in her teens.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0357883/bio/?ref_nm__ov_bio_sm Internet Movie Database]: Grace LaRue, ''trivia'' and ''family''</ref> Her later performances included being part of the team Burke and La Rue, with her second husband, Charles Burke.<ref name="v">{{cite book |last1=Cullen |first1=Frank |last2=Hackman |first2=Florence |last3=McNeilly |first3=Donald |title=Vaudeville Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performances in America |date=2007 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-93853-2 |page=654 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XFnfnKg6BcAC&dq=%22Grace+La+Rue%22&pg=PA654 |access-date=July 12, 2021 |language=en}}</ref> One of their numbers was a minstrel piece titled "Grace La Rue and her Inky Dinks". She soon broke away from the act - and Burke - to appear in musical comedy.
-La Rue performed in a number of productions on Broadway debuting in ''The Tourists'' in 1906. She also appeared in ''The Blue Moon'' (1906), ''Molly May'' (1910), ''Betsy'' (1911), and the 1907 and 1908 ''[[Ziegfeld Follies]]''. In 1909, she married Byron (The Millionaire Kid) Chandler in [[Bennington, Vermont]].<ref>Vermont Marriage Records, 1909-2008 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.</ref> The marriage broke up in 1914 when La Rue divorced, alleging that Chandler was unfaithful and that he beat her.<ref>"Chandler in Hands of Sheriff's Men," ''New York Times'', April 8, 1914.</ref>
+La Rue performed in a number of productions on Broadway debuting in ''The Tourists'' in 1906. She also appeared in ''The Blue Moon'' (1906), ''Molly May'' (1910), ''Betsy'' (1911), and the [[The Follies of 1907|1907]] and 1908 ''Ziegfeld Follies''.<ref name="ibdb">{{cite web |title=Grace La Rue |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/grace-la-rue-68008 |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League |access-date=February 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128224330/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/grace-la-rue-68008 |archive-date=January 28, 2020}}</ref> In 1909, she married Byron (The Millionaire Kid) Chandler in [[Bennington, Vermont]].<ref>Vermont Marriage Records, 1909-2008 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.</ref> The marriage broke up in 1914 when La Rue divorced, alleging that Chandler was unfaithful and that he beat her.<ref>"Chandler in Hands of Sheriff's Men," ''New York Times'', April 8, 1914.</ref>
 La Rue made her debut as a Vaudeville single act in November 1912 at Poli's in [[Springfield, Missouri]]. As part of the act she sang an aria from ''[[Madama Butterfly|Madame Butterfly]]'', and a duet with a phonograph recording of [[Enrico Caruso]]. ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' gave her a good review commenting that the act gave La Rue the "opportunity to display her Parisian cultivated voice."<ref>''Variety'', November 24, 1912</ref>
-La Rue made her debut at the [[Palace Theatre (Broadway)|Palace Theatre]] on August 4, 1913. Her act featured the song "[[You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)]]", from the show ''Honeymoon Express'', a musical she had appeared in with [[Al Jolson]]. Later that year, she brought her Vaudeville act to Britain, appearing at the London Palace on August 4, 1913.
+La Rue made her debut at the [[Palace Theatre, London|Palace Theatre]] on August 4, 1913. Her act featured the song "[[You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)]]", from the show ''Honeymoon Express'', a musical she had appeared in with [[Al Jolson]]. Later that year, she brought her Vaudeville act to Britain, appearing at the London Palace on August 4, 1913, where she made [[gramophone]] recordings of hit songs from her act.
-In 1919, La Rue made her screen debut opposite American stage and film actor [[Hale Hamilton]] in the melodrama ''That's Good''. She married Hamilton on May 29, 1920, amid a whirl of controversy surrounding a lawsuit filed by Hamilton's second wife, actress Myrtle Tannehill.<ref>{{cite news |author= |title=Grace La Rue Wed To Hale Hamilton. Actress and Her Co-Star of the Play " Dear Me " Married in Chicago Court. JUST SUED FOR $200,000 Myrtle Tannehill, Who Divorced Bridegroom, Charges Alienation. Bride Once Wife of B.D. Chandler  |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D02E6D9143AEE32A25752C0A9609C946195D6CF&legacy=true |quote= |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=June 1, 1920 }}</ref>
+In 1919, La Rue made her screen debut opposite American stage and film actor [[Hale Hamilton]] in the melodrama ''That's Good''. She married Hamilton on May 29, 1920, amid a whirl of controversy surrounding a lawsuit filed by Hamilton's second wife, actress [[Myrtle Tannehill]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Grace La Rue Wed To Hale Hamilton. Actress and Her Co-Star of the Play " Dear Me " Married in Chicago Court. JUST SUED FOR $200,000 Myrtle Tannehill, Who Divorced Bridegroom, Charges Alienation. Bride Once Wife of B.D. Chandler |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D02E6D9143AEE32A25752C0A9609C946195D6CF&legacy=true |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=June 1, 1920}}</ref>
-In 1922-1923, La Rue appeared in Irving Berlin's second ''Music Box Revue'' at the [[Music Box Theatre]] in New York. In 1924, she appeared at the [[London Coliseum|Coliseum]] in London with Hamilton. For the rest of the decade she worked mainly in the United States alternating between Vaudeville and in musical comedies and revues. One of her last big time appearances was in the 1928 ''Greenwich Village Follies'' at the [[Winter Garden Theatre]] in New York. She appeared in a 1929 [[Vitaphone]] short called ''Grace La Rue: The International Star of Song''. By the early 1930s, she had retired to California, where she made a brief appearance in the 1933 Mae West film ''[[She Done Him Wrong]].'' Grace La Rue died in [[Burlingame, California]] on March 13, 1956.
+In 1922-1923, La Rue appeared in Irving Berlin's second ''Music Box Revue'' at the [[Music Box Theatre]] in New York. In 1924, she appeared at the [[London Coliseum|Coliseum]] in London with Hamilton. For the rest of the decade she worked mainly in the United States alternating between Vaudeville and in musical comedies and revues. One of her last big time appearances was in the 1928 ''Greenwich Village Follies'' at the [[Winter Garden Theatre]] in New York. She appeared in a 1929 [[Vitaphone]] short called ''Grace La Rue: The International Star of Song''. By the early 1930s, she had retired to California, where she made a brief appearance in the 1933 Mae West film ''[[She Done Him Wrong]].''
+[[File:Signed sketch of Grace La Rue and Hale Hamilton by Manuel Rosenberg.jpg|thumb|Signed drawing by [[Manuel Rosenberg]] 1919]]
+Grace La Rue died at Peninsula Hospital in [[Burlingame, California]] on March 13, 1956.<ref>{{cite news |title=Grace La Rue Hamilton |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/03/14/archives/obituary-2-no-title.html |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=March 14, 1956}}</ref>
 ==References==
+{{Reflist}}
-<references/>
 ==External links==
-{{commons category|Grace La Rue}}
+{{Commons category|Grace La Rue}}
 * {{IMDb name|0479010}}
 * {{IBDB name|68008}}
-* [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=535168&imageID=TH-28233&word=%20Grace%20La%20Rue&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=0&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&total=2&num=0&imgs=20&pNum=&pos=1 Grace LaRue], New York Public Library Digital Gallery photo
+* [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?utf8=%E2%9C%93&keywords=grace+la+rue Grace La Rue], New York Public Library Digital Gallery photo
 *[https://archive.org/details/GraceLaRue Grace La Rue in recording from 1910 singing "Does Anybody Here Know Nancy"]
 *[https://www.flickr.com/photos/puzzlemaster/3741812996/in/set-72157605223652067 1920 passport photo of Grace La Rue and Hale Hamilton]
-*[http://broadway.cas.sc.edu/content/grace-larue Broadway photographs] (University of South Carolina)
+*[https://broadway.cas.sc.edu/content/grace-larue Broadway photographs] (University of South Carolina)
+{{Authority control}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:La Rue, Grace}}
 [[Category:1882 births]]
 [[Category:1956 deaths]]
-[[Category:Vaudeville performers]]
+[[Category:American vaudeville performers]]
-[[Category:American female singers]]
 [[Category:American stage actresses]]
 [[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
 [[Category:Ziegfeld girls]]
+[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
+[[Category:20th-century American women singers]]

Authority control databases
International	VIAF FAST WorldCat
National	United States
Artists	Discography of American Historical Recordings