Ada Clare (
pen name
A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen na ...
s, Clare and Ada Clare; July 1834 – March 4, 1874) was an American actress and writer.
[Kenneth T. Jackson: ''The Encyclopedia of New York City'': The New York Historical Society; Yale University Press; 1995. P. 238.]
Life and career
Ada Agnes Jane McElhenney was born in
Charleston, South Carolina in 1834. She grew up under the care of her maternal grandfather as part of an aristocratic Southern family,
but started her career as a writer around age 18, writing under the pseudonyms Clare and later Ada Clare.
She moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
in 1854, took up acting, engaged in a widely publicized liaison with pianist and composer
Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Louis Moreau Gottschalk (May 8, 1829 – December 18, 1869) was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works. He spent most of his working career outside the United States.
Life and care ...
, and bore a son out of wedlock.
During the height of her acting career, she frequented
Pfaff's Cellar, where she became known as the "Queen of Bohemia". She also wrote for the ''Saturday Press'', an iconoclastic weekly magazine of the arts.
Her only novel, entitled ''Only a Woman's Heart'', was poorly received by reviewers, who criticized the author for her lack of skill with plot and dialogue. Clare was devastated, and returned to acting in a provincial stock company.
On September 9, 1868, Clare married actor Frank Noyes in Houston, Texas.
Clare suffered a dog bite in her theatrical agent's office and died from
rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, vio ...
in 1874.
See also
*
Pfaff's beer cellar
Pfaff's was a drinking establishment in Manhattan, New York City, known for its literary and artistic clientele.
Description
Opened in 1855 by Charles Ignatious Pfaff, the original Pfaff’s was modeled after the German Rathskellers that were po ...
*
Fatal dog attacks in the United States
References
External links
''Ada Clare, Queen of Bohemia'' by
Charles Warren Stoddard
Charles Warren Stoddard (August 7, 1843 April 23, 1909) was an American author and editor best known for his travel books about Polynesian life.
Biography
Charles Warren Stoddard was born in Rochester, New York on August 7, 1843. He was descen ...
, ''National Magazine'', September 1905
''Obituary'' Brief Chronicles, William Winter
*
ttp://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101072962564?urlappend=%3Bseq=7 ''Only a Woman's Heart'' by Ada Clare. New York: M. Doolady, 1866.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clare, Ada
Actresses from Charleston, South Carolina
1836 births
1874 deaths
Deaths from rabies
Deaths due to animal attacks in the United States
American columnists
19th-century American actresses
Accidental deaths in New York (state)
Infectious disease deaths in New York (state)
Neurological disease deaths in New York (state)
American stage actresses
Writers from Charleston, South Carolina
American women columnists
19th-century American journalists
19th-century American women writers
American women non-fiction writers