Christie MacDonald (February 28, 1875 – July 25, 1962) was a Canadian-born American musical comedy actress and opera singer. She was perhaps best remembered as the Princess of Bozena in the 1910 operetta ''Spring Maid''. The 1913 musical '' Sweethearts'' specifically was written for MacDonald by composer

Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is bes ...

. She retired from the stage after appearing in a 1920 revival of the musical comedy ''

Florodora ''Florodora'' is an Edwardian musical comedy. After its long run in London, it became one of the first successful Broadway musicals of the 20th century. The book was written by Jimmy Davis under the pseudonym Owen Hall, the music was by Lesli ...

''.Christie MacDonald Dies at 87. ''New York Times,'' July 27, 1962, p. 25

Early life

MacDonald was born in

Pictou, Nova Scotia Pictou ( ; Canadian Gaelic: ''Baile Phiogto'') is a town in Pictou County, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Located on the north shore of Pictou Harbour, the town is approximately 10 km (6 miles) north of the larger town of New Gla ...

, the daughter of John MacClean MacDonald, a shipbuilder, mariner and inn-keeper in the coastal town of Pictou and Jessie (née MacKenzie). When she was about nine her family relocated to Boston, Massachusetts where she attended Bowdoin and later Boston High School.

Career

MacDonald began in theatre in 1893 in New York when she was cast in Francis Wilson's popular play ''Erminie''. She thereafter found success in the operetta brand of musical theater. MacDonald's first starring role came in 1900 when she assumed the title role in the

Kirke La Shelle Kirke La Shelle (September 23, 1862 – May 16, 1905) was an American journalist, playwright and theatrical producer. He was known for his association with such successful productions as ''The Wizard of the Nile'', ''The Princess Chic'', ''Besid ...

and Julian Edwards comic opera ''The Princess Chic''. MacDonald starred or co-starred in ''The Belle of Mayfair'' (1906) with Valeska Suratt, ''Miss Hook of Holland'' (1908) with

Bertram Wallis Bertram Wallis (22 February 1874 – 11 April 1952) was an English actor and singer known for his performances in plays, musical comedies and operettas in the early 20th century, first as leading men and then in character roles. He also later ...

and ''The Mikado'' (1910) with

Fritzi Scheff Fritzi Scheff (born Friederike Scheff; August 30, 1879 – April 8, 1954) was an American actress and singer. Biography Born Friederike Scheff in Vienna to Dr. Gottfried Scheff and Anna Yeager, she studied at the Hoch Conservatory in Frank ...

. In 1910 she starred in one of her best-known musicals, ''The Spring Maid'' by

Heinrich Reinhardt Enrique Alfredo Kurt (born Heinrich Alfred Kurt) Reinhardt (29 March 1903, Stettin,Zabelsdorf, according tPassengers of the Piriápolis/ref> German Empire – 14 June 1990, Ciudad Jardín Lomas del Palomar, Argentina) was a German–Argentine ches ...

's ''Sweethearts'' (1913) was written especially for her. MacDonald made several

gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

records before retiring in 1920. She was married first to William W. Jefferson, a son of the famous actor

Joseph Jefferson Joseph Jefferson III, commonly known as Joe Jefferson (February 20, 1829 – April 23, 1905), was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous 19th century American comedi ...

, in 1901 and ended in divorce several years thereafter. In 1903 she conceived a child with prominent theatrical promoter and New York State Senator

Timothy Sullivan Timothy Daniel Sullivan (July 23, 1862 – August 31, 1913) was a New York politician who controlled Manhattan's Bowery and Lower East Side districts as a prominent leader within Tammany Hall. He was known euphemistically as "Dry Dollar", as the ...

, who was soon placed in the New York Foundling Hospital. MacDonald did not return to the stage until 1904. In 1911 MacDonald married Henry L. Gillespie, the scion of a wealthy Pittsburgh contracting family and had one daughter, Christie. As of 1950 MacDonald was living with her daughter and grandchildren in Westport, Connecticut.''Great Stars of the American Stage'' Profile #42 by Daniel Blum c.1952 Christie MacDonald died in Fairfield, Connecticut on July 25, 1962.

Selected musicals

* ''

Erminie ''Erminie'' is a comic opera in two acts composed by Edward Jakobowski with a libretto by Claxson Bellamy and Harry Paulton, based loosely on Charles Selby's 1834 English translation of the French melodrama, ''Robert Macaire''. The piece first pla ...

'' (1893) * '' The Bride Elect'' (1898) * ''

The Toreador ''The Toreador'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Harry Nicholls, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. It opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London, man ...

'' (1902) * '' The Sho-Gun'' (1904) * ''

The Belle of Mayfair ''The Belle of Mayfair'' is a musical comedy composed by Leslie Stuart with a book by Basil Hood, Charles Brookfield and Cosmo Hamilton and lyrics by George Arthurs. The story is inspired by the Shakespeare play ''Romeo and Juliet''. The orig ...

'' (1906) * '' Miss Hook of Holland'' (1908) * '' The Spring Maid'' (1910) * ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, where it ran at the Sa ...

'' (1910) (revival) * '' Sweethearts'' (1913) * ''

'' (1920) (revival)

References

External links

*
Christie MacDonald portrait NY Public Library Billy Rose CollectionChristie MacDonald portrait at the University of Louisville, Macauley Theatre CollectionChristie MacDonald recordings 1911, 1913Collected Recordings of Christie MacDonald and Reinald WerrenrathComplete Victor label discography of Christie MacDonald
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Christie 1875 births 1962 deaths People from Pictou County Canadian emigrants to the United States American musical theatre actresses Musicians from Boston Actresses from Boston Singers from Massachusetts 19th-century American actresses American stage actresses 19th-century American women opera singers 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American women opera singers