Blanche Lillian Deyo (née Pixley, June 6, 1878 – August 29, 1933)
[ was an American dancer, actress, and singer who performed in multiple theatrical venues -- ]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 Stre ...
, vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
, burlesque, ballet, and international variety theaters—throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.[Walter Jones Marries Again, ''The New York Times'', April 8, 1908, pg. 7.]
Family
Deyo's mother was Lillian Scott and her father was Robert "Bob" Franklin Pixley, a mining engineer from Canada, who died in San Francisco, California
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 ...
on February 24, 1908. She had two sisters, Pearl (1873–1950) and the actress Grace (sometimes Grayce) Scott Pixley (1877–1970), who married theater producer and literary agent R. L. "Larry" Giffen (ca. 1873–1946). Deyo's paternal aunt and uncle were successful in show business. Annie Pixley (1856-1893) was a well-known actress; Gus Pixley, a stage comedian.
Stage career
Deyo first appeared on stage in New York in 1895, billed as a discovery of producer Edward E. Rice. She was first known only as "the Beautiful Deyo" or, in Europe, "Mademoiselle Deyo," doing a solo dance act. Beginning in May 1897 she danced in London theaters and thereafter traveled the world. She began using her full name by 1903, having had success in several plays.
Deyo appeared as Miss Carruthers in ''A Country Girl'', September–December 1902.
She also appeared as Peggy Sabine in the musical play ''The Cingalee'' 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 ...
on Broadway, in October 1904. The
musical featured chorus girls with extravagant costumes and splendorous settings with oriental motifs. After appearing as Ozma in '' The Woggle-Bug'' (1905), she was signed by Frank L. Perley (agent to Mabel Hite
Mabel Hite (May 30, 1883 – October 22, 1912) was a vaudeville comedian and Musical theatre, musical comedy actress.
Life and career
Hite was born in Ashland, Kentucky, on May 30, 1883, the daughter of Lewis and Elsie Hite. Her family relocate ...
, who also appeared in the show) for a part in ''The Winning Girl''. The play was staged at the Shubert Park Theatre in Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
. Deyo was in a company that presented ''Mexicana'' at the Lyric Theatre (New York) in February 1906.
The show was produced by Sam S. Shubert.
In April she participated in a benefit at the Casino Theatre for victims of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...
.
In October 1908, Deyo starred in Joe Weber's version of ''Salome
Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...
'' at the Duquesne Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
. The religious subject matter and revealing costumes led to complaints to the Pittsburgh Police Department
The Pittsburgh Police (PBP), officially the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, is the largest law enforcement agency in Western Pennsylvania and the third largest in Pennsylvania. The modern force of salaried and professional officers was founded in 1 ...
, and the department's Director of Public Safety unsuccessfully attempted to halt the October 13th performance. Mayor George W. Guthrie intervened, ordering the Chief of Police to inspect Deyo's costume before allowing the October 14th performance to start.
Blanche Ring
Blanche Ring (April 24, 1871 – January 13, 1961) was an American singer and actress in Broadway theatre productions, musicals, and Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood motion pictures. She was best known for her rendition of "In the Good ...
was the leading lady
A leading actor, leading actress, or leading man or lady or simply lead (), plays a main role in a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person w ...
of ''The Merry Widow and the Devil'' which played the Grand Opera House,[''Brooklyn Amusements'', ''New York Times'', November 22, 1908, pg. X7.] 23rd Street (Manhattan)
23rd Street is a broad thoroughfare in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan, one of the major two-way, east-west streets in the borough's Commissioner's Plan of 1811, grid. As with Manhattan's other "crosstown" street ...
(8th Avenue (Manhattan)
Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of the original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan, ...
, in November 1908.[ It was staged by ]Julian Mitchell
Charles Julian Humphrey Mitchell, FRSL (born 1 May 1935) is an English playwright, screenwriter and occasional novelist. He is best known as the writer of the play and film '' Another Country'', and as a screenwriter for TV, producing many origi ...
with music by Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár ( ; ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is '' The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe'').
Life and career
L ...
. The cast included Deyo and her husband Walter Jones, as well as Grace Griswold and Joe Weber.
Deyo and comedian Franker Woods toured in ''The Echo'' in 1911 after the play had a successful run at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, originally the Globe Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 205 West 46th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1910, the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre was designed by C ...
(Globe Theatre). The season prior to this she appeared as Paulette Devine in ''The Blue Mouse''.
Theatrical manager Edwin A. Weil owed Deyo $1,692 when he filed for bankruptcy in November 1913.
Deyo was among the actors in ''All Over Town'', the last theatrical production of the 1914-1915 season in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
staged at the
Belasco Theatre, when she teamed with Roy Atwell
John Leroy Atwell (May 2, 1878 – February 6, 1962) was an American actor. He was known for playing characters that mis-deliver their lines or stammer, most notably Doc from Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''.
Early life
Atwell, ...
in a "diamond robbery motion picture specialty" in the opening act. Her Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
number, performed with eight members of the chorus, earned her the most applause.
Private life
She married tramp impersonator
An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone:
*Living history: After close study of some historical figure, a performer may dress and speak "as" that ...
Walter Newton Jones
Walter Newton Jones (1874-1922) or Walter Jones was an American actor and singer who appeared in several popular plays in the first two decades of the 20th century. He first appeared on Broadway in 1893 in a musical play about Columbus, ''1492''. ...
in Crown Point, Indiana
Crown Point is a city in and the county seat of Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,884 per the 2023 American Community Survey. The city was incorporated in 1868. On October 31, 1834, Solon Robinson and his family became ...
in April 1908. It was her second marriage.[ Jones had divorced his previous wife, Beatrice, two months earlier, and the divorce decree implied his infidelity with Deyo.] Jones and Deyo had a daughter in December 1913, also named Blanche Deyo.
Her hobby was collecting dancing slippers. She began her collection by accident when she obtained a pair owned by Marie Taglion. Deyo filled two glass display cases in her Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
home with slippers worn by famous dancers.["Amusements", ]Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 67,314, making it the List of cities in Iowa, eighth-most populous city in the st ...
''Evening Courier'', May 16, 1910, pg. 6.
Death
Blanche Deyo Jones died on August 29, 1933.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deyo, Blanche
20th-century American actresses
American stage actresses
American vaudeville performers
American female dancers
American musical theatre actresses
1878 births
1933 deaths
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
20th-century American dancers