Today is the birthday of actress Amelia Bingham (1869-1927). Originally from Ohio, Bingham was considered one of the great actresses of her age. After debuting at the People’s Theatre in the Bowery in 1893, she appeared in Boucicault plays like The Shaughran and Colleen Bawn. The great producer Charles Frohman was managing her by 1897. After the turn of the century, she managed her own company, which produced her own starring plays on Broadway. Among her notable Broadway turns was a role in The New Henrietta (1913-1914), co-starring Douglas Fairbanks and William H. Crane. Like many of the great stars of the day, she also toured big time vaudeville in one act plays, and she appeared at the Palace Theatre more than once over the years. She died of a heart attack following a long illness at age 58.
To learn more about vaudeville, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.
(Travalanche) 