May Irwin (born Georgina May Campbell; June 27, 1862 – October 22, 1938) was an actress, singer and star of

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

. Originally from Canada, she and her sister Flo Irwin found theater work after their father died. She was known for her performances as a coon shouter and recordings.

Early life and career

Born on June 27, 1862, in

Whitby, Ontario Whitby is a town in Durham Region. Whitby is located in Southern Ontario east of Ajax and west of Oshawa, on the north shore of Lake Ontario and is home to the headquarters of Durham Region. It had a population of 138,501 at the 2021 census. It ...

, as Georgina May Campbell, her father, Robert E. Campbell, died when she was 13 years old; her stage-minded mother, Sophoria Jane Draper, in need of money, encouraged May and her older sister Adeline Flora ("Flo" or "Addie") to perform. They created a singing act, billed as the "Irwin Sisters," that debuted at the Adelphi Theatre in nearby

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

in December 1874. By late 1877, their careers had progressed and they were booked to appear at New York's Metropolitan Theater, then at the

Tony Pastor Antonio Pastor (May 28, 1837 – August 26, 1908) was an American impresario, variety performer and theatre owner who became one of the founding forces behind American vaudeville in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. He was sometimes referr ...

Theatre, a popular New York City music hall. Miss May Irwin of The Irwin Sisters

The sisters proved popular enough to earn regular spots for the ensuing six years, after which 21-year-old May set out on her own. She joined

Augustin Daly John Augustin Daly (July 20, 1838June 7, 1899) was one of the most influential men in American theatre during his lifetime. Drama critic, theatre manager, playwright, and adapter, he became the first recognized stage director in America. He exer ...

's stock company from 1883 to 1887, where she made her first appearance on the theatrical stage. This comedian was known for her improvisation skills. An immediate success, she went on to make her

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

stage debut at

Toole's Theatre Toole's Theatre, was a 19th-century West End theatre, West End building in William IV Street, near Charing Cross, in the City of Westminster. A succession of auditoria had occupied the site since 1832, serving a variety of functions, including ...

in August 1884. By the age of 25, she was earning $2,500 a week. In 1886, her husband of eight years, Frederick W. Keller, died unexpectedly. Her sister Flora married New York State Senator

Thomas F. Grady Thomas Francis Grady (November 29, 1853 – February 3, 1912) was an American lawyer and politician from New York (state), New York. Life Thomas F. Grady was born in New York City on November 29, 1853. He attended St. James Parochial School fro ...

. By the early 1890s, Irwin had married a second time and developed her career into that of a leading

performer with an act known at the time as "Coon Shouting", in which she performed

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

-influenced songs. In the 1895

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

show ''

The Widow Jones ''The Widow Jones'' was an 1895 New York City stage musical comedy. Thomas Edison hired the play's stars, May Irwin and John Rice, to recreate the kiss seen in act 1 of the play for the 1896 short film, '' The Kiss'', made in Edison's Kinetoscope ...

'', she introduced "The Bully Song", which became her signature number. The performance also featured a lingering kiss, which was seen by

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

, who hired Irwin and her co-star

John C. Rice John C. Rice (April 7, 1857, Sullivan County, New York – June 5, 1915, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American born Broadway stage actor and vaudevillian who is credited with performing the first onscreen kiss with May Irwin in 1896 fo ...

to repeat the scene on film. In 1896, Edison's

Kinetoscope The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device, designed for films to be viewed by one person at a time through a peephole viewer window. The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector, but it introduced the basic approach that woul ...

production, '' The Kiss'', became the first screen kiss in cinematic history. Her own pieces included " The Widow Jones", " The Swell Miss Fitzswell", " Courted Into Court", "Kate Kip-Buyer", and "Sister Mary". All coons look alike to me (NYPL Hades-1929688-1990770)

All coons look alike to me (NYPL Hades-1929688-1990770)

In addition to her performing and singing, Irwin also wrote the lyrics to several songs, including "Hot Tamale Alley", with music written by George M. Cohan. In 1907 she married her manager, Kurt Eisfeldt, and began making records for Berliner/Victor. Several of these recordings survive and give a notion of the actress's appeal. Irwin's buxom figure was much in vogue at the time and, combined with her charming personality, made her one of America's most beloved performers for more than thirty years. In 1914, she made her second

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

appearance, this time in the feature-length adaptation of

George V. Hobart George Vere Hobart (1867 – 1926) was a Canadian-American humorist who authored more than 50 musical comedy librettos and plays as well as novels and songs. At the time of his death, Hobart was "one of America's most popular humorists and playwri ...

's play, ''Mrs. Black is Back'', produced by Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company and filmed for the most part at her own sprawling home in New York. Still pictures showing May survive from this movie. A highly paid performer, Irwin was a shrewd investor and became a very wealthy woman. She spent a great deal of time at a summer home on secluded Club Island, a small island off of

Grindstone Island Grindstone Island is the fourth largest of the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River and the second largest of the American islands in the St. Lawrence. The island lies near Lake Ontario and is part of the United States of America. In part ...

of the

Thousand Islands The Thousand Islands (french: Mille-Îles) constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for abo ...

, and at her winter home on

Merritt Island, Florida Merritt Island is a peninsula, commonly referred to as an island, in Brevard County, Florida, United States, located on the eastern Floridian coast, along the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the name of an unincorporated town in the central and so ...

, before retiring to a farm near

Clayton, New York Clayton is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 5,153 at the 2010 census. The town is named after John M. Clayton, a federal political leader from Delaware. The town contains a village also named Clayton. Bo ...

, where a street would eventually be named in her honor. Irwin retired in 1925.

Personal life

May Irwin was married twice. Her first marriage was to Frederick W. Keller, of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, from 1878 until his death in 1886. From 1907 to the end of her life, she was married to Kurt Eisfeldt. The couple lived at West 44th Street, New York. Irwin had two sons by her first marriage, Walter Keller (born ca. 1879 - when she was 17) and Harry Keller (b. 1882 - when she was 20).

Death

May Irwin died in New York City on October 22, 1938, aged 76. She is interred at

Kensico Cemetery Kensico Cemetery, located in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York was founded in 1889, when many New York City cemeteries were becoming full, and rural cemeteries were being created near the railroads that served the city. Initially , it ...

in Valhalla, NY.

Filmography

*'' The Kiss'' *''

Mrs. Black Is Back ''Mrs. Black Is Back'' is a 1914 American silent comedy film directed by Thomas N. Heffron and written by George V. Hobart and Eve Unsell. The film stars May Irwin, Charles Lane, Clara Blandick, Wellington A. Playter, Elmer Booth and James Hes ...

Early life and career

Personal life

Death

Filmography

References

Works cited

Further reading

External links