Edna May
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Edna May Pettie (September 2, 1878 – January 1, 1948), known on stage as Edna May, was an American actress and singer. A popular postcard beauty, May was famous for her leading roles in
Edwardian musical comedies Edwardian musical comedy is a genre of British musical theatre that thrived from 1892 into the 1920s, extending beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions. It began to dominate the English musical stage, and even the American musical ...
.


Life and career

May was born in
Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...
, New York, to Edgar and Cora Petty. The family later changed the surname to "Pettie". Her siblings were Adelbert, Jennie and Marguerite.Pascoe, Charles L
"Edna May"
Edna May website
At the age of 5, she played Little Willie Allen in a production of ''Dora''. The next year, her performances "charmed a number of audiences lately with her child voice". By the age of 7, she had joined a children's opera company and performed
Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...
productions in Syracuse. She studied music at the New York Conservatoire as a teenager. May made her professional debut in 1895 in ''Si Stebbings'' in Syracuse. She then moved to New York to take the small role of Clairette in
Oscar Hammerstein Oscar Hammerstein may refer to: *Oscar Hammerstein I (1846–1919), cigar manufacturer, opera impresario and theatre builder *Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an ...
's Broadway show, '' Santa Maria''. That year, she married Fred Titus, who held a world record for cycling. They had no children and divorced in 1904. In 1897, May played Violet Grey in '' The Belle of New York'' with only moderate success. The following year, the production played in London, becoming a hit and running for 697 performances, making May a star. After that, among others, she played Gabrielle Dalmonte in '' An American Beauty'' in London (1900), Olga in ''The Girl from Up There'' (1901) in New York and then London, Edna Branscombe in ''
Three Little Maids ''Three Little Maids'' is an Edwardian musical comedy by Paul Rubens (composer), Paul Rubens, with additional songs by Percy Greenbank and Howard Talbot. The story concerns three simple curate#Anglican Communion, curate's daughters who go to L ...
'' (1902), Lillian Leigh in ''
The School Girl ''The School Girl'' is an Edwardian musical comedy, in two acts, composed by Leslie Stuart (with additional songs by Paul Rubens (composer), Paul Rubens) with a book by Henry Hamilton (playwright), Henry Hamilton and Paul M. Potter, and lyrics b ...
'' (1903–1904) in London and New York, Say-So-San in ''The Darling of the Guards'' (1904) in London, Alesia in ''
La Poupée LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...
'' (1904) in London, and Angela in ''
The Catch of the Season ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
'' (1905) in New York. ''
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, Hood and William Caine. The story is inspired by the Shakespeare play ''Ro ...
'' followed in London in 1906. May played the title character in ''Nelly Neil'' in London in 1907. May was known for her beauty and received tremendous attention from male admirers. In 1907, she married millionaire Oscar Lewisohn and retired from the stage. The couple settled in England. They had no children, and Lewisohn died in 1917. May lived at
Winkfield Winkfield is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest unitary authority of Berkshire, England. Geography According to the 2011 census, the parish had a population of 14,998. The parish includes the hamlets of Winkfield, Maidens Gre ...
in
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during her retirement, but made brief returns to the stage in 1911 benefit performances of ''The Belle of New York'' at the
Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy ...
in London and 1915's ''The Masque of Peace and War'' in London. Also in 1911, she appeared in the film ''Forgotten; or An Answered Prayer''. She starred in a 1916 film called ''
Salvation Joan ''Salvation Joan'' is a lost 1916 silent film directed by Wilfrid North and starring Edna May. It was produced by the Vitagraph Company of America and released by V-L-S-E(Vitagraph, Lubin, Selig, Essanay). Though an original screen story, it bear ...
'', donating the proceeds to charity."Edna May Returns as a Movie Star"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', 10 April 1916, accessed 13 October 2010
She died in
Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, at the age of 69.


References


Further reading

*Pascoe, Charles. ''Edna May – Superstar: 1878-1948: Stage Actress of the Edwardian Era'' (2011; self-published, Montreal) *Nicholson, Shirley. ''An Edwardian Bachelor, Roy Sambourne 1878–1946'' (1991), The Victorian Society.


External links

* *
Site dedicated to Edna May
* ttp://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp51473 Photographsbr>Edna May
University of Washington, Sayre collection
portrait gallery
NY Public Library)
Edna May in ''The Belle of New York''Collected Works
of Edna May available for download a
Internet Archiveportrait
{{DEFAULTSORT:May, Edna 1878 births 1948 deaths Musicians from Syracuse, New York 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Syracuse, New York