Alexandra Carlisle (born Alexandra Elizabeth Swift, 15 January 1886 – 21 April 1936) was an English actress and suffragist who settled in the United States. She was also known in the U.S. as Alexandra Carlisle Pfeiffer, adding the name of her third husband.

Life

Born in 1886 at Hackney,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, Carlisle was the daughter of Henry Swift, a

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

, and his wife Alexandra.Alexandra Carlisle
at stagebeauty.net, accessed 31 July 2016 In 1903, she was Audrey in a stage production of ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

'' and Maria in ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

''. In March 1907, she played the lead in Gladys Buchanan Unger's play ''Mr. Sheridan'' at the

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, ...

. In September 1908, at the

, she played the title role in

Hubert Henry Davies Hubert Henry Davies (17 March 1869 – 17 August 1917) was a leading British playwright and dramatist of the early 20th century, following in the tradition of Arthur Wing Pinero and Henry Arthur Jones, but influenced profoundly by Thomas Will ...

's play ''The Mollusc'', with

Joseph Coyne Joseph Coyne (27 March 1867 – 17 February 1941) was an American-born vaudevillian and musical comedy actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years, from 1883-1931. A popular performer in the U.S., he achieved major stardom in the role of Prince Dan ...

. Also in 1908, she appeared in two Shakespeare productions by

Herbert Beerbohm Tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and Actor-manager, theatre manager. Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End theatre, West End, winning ...

: as

Olivia Olivia may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olivia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Olivia (singer), American singer Olivia Longott (born 1981) * Olívia (basketball), Brazilian basketball playe ...

in ''

'' and as

Portia Portia may refer to: Biology * ''Portia'' (spider), a genus of jumping spiders *Portia tree, a plant native to Polynesia *''Anaea troglodyta'' or Portia, a brush-footed butterfly Other uses *Portia (given name), the history and usage of the give ...

in ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

''. In 1905, Carlisle had married Victor Herbert Miller at

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...

. In 1907, she petitioned for divorce, and in 1908 she married

, her leading man in ''The Mollusc''. This marriage also ended in divorce. On 17 May 1911, Carlisle played the part of Georgina Vesey in a

royal command performance A Royal Command Performance is any performance by actors or musicians that occurs at the direction or request of a reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Although English monarchs have long sponsored their own theatrical companies and commis ...

of the play ''

Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: m ...

'' at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

for

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

, and the

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

and Empress of Germany. In 1912, in Marylebone, London, Carlisle married Albert Pfeiffer, a dental surgeon from the U.S. from

Bedford, Massachusetts Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Bedford was 14,161 at th2022 United States census History ''The following compilation comes from Ellen Abrams (1999) based on information from Abram Engl ...

. In 1914, Carlisle's mother died, and in 1915 she settled in the U.S., becoming a notable speaker for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

and for the Republican Party. By her third marriage, she had one daughter, Elizabeth Ann Pfeiffer. During 1917 she starred in ''

The Country Cousin ''The Country Cousin'' is a Walt Disney animated short film released on October 31, 1936, by United Artists. The winner of an Oscar at the 9th Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film, the film was produced by Walt Disney, directed by Wilfred ...

'' on Broadway. In the Spring 1920, Carlisle directed the show ''Barnum Was Right'' for Harvard's

Hasty Pudding Club The Hasty Pudding Club, often referred to simply as the Pudding, is a social club at Harvard University, and one of three sub-organizations that comprise the Hasty Pudding - Institute of 1770. The current clubhouse was designed by Peabody and ...

. At the Republican National Convention of 1920, she was the main speaker for Massachusetts and seconded the nomination of

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...

as the party's candidate for vice president.Alethea A. Yates, ''Bedford'' (Arcadia Publishing, 2013)
p. 117
/ref> In 1926, Carlisle directed a production of ''The Tragedy of Nan'' at Chicago's Goodman Theatre that ran from 25 March to 10 April. In 1923, Carlisle's third marriage was dissolved, and she then married J. Elliot Jenkins, an American engineer. In 1934, Jenkins committed suicide. As well as taking occasional film roles, Carlisle continued to work on Broadway, including playing the role of Lady Macduff in a production of ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' in October 1935. She died of a heart attack on 21 April 1936 in the

Hotel Astor Hotel Astor was a hotel on Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Built in 1905 and expanded in 1909–1910 for the Astor family, the hotel occupied a site bounded by Broadway, Shubert Alley, and 4 ...

in New York City,"Alexandra Carlisle Dead" in ''

Motion Picture Herald The ''Motion Picture Herald'' (MPH) was an American film industry trade paper first published as the ''Exhibitors Herald'' in 1915, and MPH from 1931 to December 1972.Anthony Slide, ed. (1985)''International Film, Radio, and Television Journals ...

'' dated 2 May 1936 and was buried in Shawsheen Cemetery.

Filmography

* 1917: ''The Tides of Fate'' as Fanny Lawson * 1934: '' Half a Sinner'' as Mrs. Mary Clarke

Notes

External links

Alexandra Carlisle (1886-1936), Actress
at the National Portrait Gallery
Alexandra Carlisle
at the

Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade asso ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlisle, Alexandra 1886 births 1936 deaths English film actresses English stage actresses English suffragists Actors from the London Borough of Hackney English emigrants to the United States Burials at Shawsheen Cemetery Actresses from London People from Hackney Central