Eleanor Painter Strong ( Painter; September 12, 1885 – November 3, 1947) was an American opera singer.

Early years and education

Strong was born in Walkerville, Iowa, as Eleanor Painter on September 12, 1885, to Mary Ellen and John Painter. She grew up in Colorado and later moved to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

in New York City to pursue a singing career. In 1912, she studied singing in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany.

Career

Strong debuted at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

in London in 1913. She sang for five seasons with the Charlottenburg Opera in Berlin, interrupted by her roles in musicals. In New York City, between seasons in 1914, she starred in ''

The Lilac Domino ''Der lila Domino'' (''The Lilac Domino'') is an operetta in three acts composed by Charles Cuvillier. The original German libretto is by Emmerich von Gatti and Bela Jenbach, about a gambling count who falls in love at a masquerade ball with a n ...

'', and from 1915 to 1917, she starred as the title character in the operetta '' The Princess Pat'', a role written for her by composer

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

. Her operatic repertory included ''

Madame Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lut ...

'' and ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'', in New York City,

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 ...

, and Berlin. She also played in dramatic productions as well as musicals and operas. While in New York, she gave solo recitals accompanied by pianist Alice Marion Shaw.

Marriages and death

She married English actor and singer Wilfred Douthitt, also known as

Louis Graveure Louis Graveure (18 March 1888 – 27 April 1965) was an English actor and baritone singer known as "The Mystery Man". Biography He was born on March 18, 1888, in London, England, as Wilfrid Douthitt. He trained under Clara Novello Davies. He m ...

, a

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

, around 1916. In 1931 she married Major Charles Henry Strong, a businessman from

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, and settled there with him. Strong died on November 3, 1947, in

References

External links

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Portrait
(New York Public Library, Billy Rose collection) {{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Eleanor American operatic sopranos 1885 births 1947 deaths Singers from Cleveland Singers from Iowa 20th-century American women opera singers Classical musicians from Ohio Classical musicians from Iowa Classical musicians from Colorado Singers from Colorado