Blanche Bates (August 25, 1873 – December 25, 1941) was an American actress.

Early years

Bates was born in Portland, Oregon, while her parents (both of whom were actors) were on a road tour. As an infant, she traveled with them on a tour of Australia before they returned to live in San Francisco. When Bates was a girl, she wanted to be a teacher, a goal that she achieved by becoming a kindergarten teacher in San Francisco. Her career changed, however, after she took a small part in a Stockwell Stock Company production in which her mother was appearing in San Francisco.

Career

Bates made her début in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in a benefit performance of

Brander Matthews James Brander Matthews (February 21, 1852 – March 31, 1929) was an American academic, writer and literary critic. He was the first full-time professor of dramatic literature at Columbia University in New York and played a significant role in est ...

's ''This Picture and That''. Among her early successes were her Mrs. Hillary in ''The Senator'', Phyllis in ''The Charity Ball'', and Nora in ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' (Danish language, Danish and ; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act Play (theatre), play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 De ...

''. She joined Daly's company in 1898 and, the next year at

Daly's Theatre Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937. The theatre was built for and named after the American impresa ...

in New York, played Mirtza in ''The Great Ruby''. For the summer of 1900 Bates did a special engagement at the

Elitch Theatre The Historic Elitch Theatre is located at the original Elitch Gardens site in northwest Denver, Colorado. Opened in 1890, it was centerpiece of the park that was the first zoo west of Chicago. The theatre was Denver's first professional thea ...

, in Denver, Colorado. Mary Elitch stated that "Very special inducements were made to tempt the star from the attractions of New York, and she came to me with ten trunks full of beautiful gowns and gorgeous costumes for the characters she was to portray." Her first performance was in ''The Dancing Girl'', which was followed by

Augustin Daly John Augustin Daly (July 20, 1838 – June 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 ...

's ''The Last Word.'' Later in the summer she performed as Rosalind in ''

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 ...

.'' For this production "the back of the building was removed so that the stage extended out beneath the trees." In 1901 she appeared as Cigarette in '' Under Two Flags'' at the

Garden Theatre The Garden Theatre was a major theater on Madison Avenue and 27th Street in Manhattan, New York City. The theatre opened on September 27, 1890, and closed in 1925. Part of the Madison Square Garden (1890), second Madison Square Garden complex, t ...

in New York. Thereafter devoting herself to the productions of

David Belasco David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of ...

, she won great success in ''The Darling of the Gods'' (1902), ''The Girl of the Golden West'' (1905), ''Nobody's Widow'' (1910) by

Avery Hopwood James Avery Hopwood (May 28, 1882 – July 1, 1928) was an American playwright of the Jazz Age. He had four plays running simultaneously on Broadway in 1920, namely "The Gold Diggers," "The Bat" and "Spanish Love" and "Ladies' Night (In a ...

, and after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in ''The Famous Mrs. Fair'' (1919). Bates retired in 1926, settling with her husband in San Francisco, but she returned to the stage in 1933 in a supporting role in ''The Lake''. Blanche-Bates-by-Manuel-Rosenberg

In 1902, H.M. Caldwell Company, New York and Boston, published a lavish souvenir book, ''Blanche Bates Edition of "Under Two Flags"'' by

Ouida Maria Louise Ramé (1 January 1839 – 25 January 1908), going by the name Marie Louise de la Ramée and known by the pseudonym Ouida ( ), was an English novelist. Ouida wrote more than 40 novels, as well as short stories, children's boo ...

, with handsome illustrated covers, and numerous photographs from the play version (written by Paul M. Potter) starring Bates.

Family and death

Born in Portland, Oregon, the daughter of F. M. Bates, Bates was educated in the public schools of San Francisco. In 1894 Bates married Milton F. Davis, at the time a cavalry lieutenant in the U.S. Army, but they divorced four weeks later. On November 28, 1912 she married

George Creel George Edward Creel (December 1, 1876 – October 2, 1953) was an American investigative journalist and writer, a politician and government official. He served as the head of the United States Committee on Public Information, a propaganda organ ...

, a journalist and politician, and they had two children, a son George Jr. and a daughter Frances. On December 25, 1941, Bates died in San Francisco. She had had a stroke six months earlier.

Publications

*"Other Holiday Gift-Books", ''The Publishers' Weekly'', Nov. 29, 1902, v.LXII, n.22, whole no. 1609, p. 102. *Strang, ''Famous Actresses of the Day in America'' (Boston, 1899)

References

External links

* * *
Blanche Bates
portrait gallery from NYP Library Billy Rose Collection
Blanche Bates
University of Washington, Sayre collection
Blanche Bates with her children, portraitchildren, Frances Creel and George Creel Jr. with a dog
Wayback Machine)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Blanche 1873 births 1941 deaths American film actresses Actresses from Portland, Oregon 19th-century American actresses 20th-century American actresses American stage actresses Burials at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park