Heloise McCeney (January 19, 1876 – after 1920), stage name La Belle Titcomb, was an American
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 ...
performer known as ''The Parisian Dancer on Horseback''. Her act usually had her riding upon a white horse while singing operatic arias.
Biography
Heloise McCeney
[1880 US Census Records] was born on January 19, 1876, 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 ...
, the daughter of Robert and Anna (née Broom) McCeney.
[1880 US Census Records] Robert McCeney, a native of Washington D.C., served as secretary for the National Fair Association in Washington.
[1880 US Census Records] He died in
San Leandro, California
San Leandro (Spanish language, Spanish for "Leander of Seville, St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland, California, Oakland to the northwe ...
, on December 9, 1898, after a short bout with
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
.
McCeney had a
diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...
tooth and her act was described by the ''
El Paso Herald
The ''El Paso Herald-Post'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in El Paso, Texas, United States. It was the successor to the El Paso Herald, first published in 1881, and the El Paso Post, founded by the E. W. Scripps Company in 1922. The papers merg ...
'' in 1909 as "an equestrian act of such a thrilling nature that a reporter couldn't put it all on paper."
Marriages
Heloise McCeney's first marriage was to a San Francisco dentist, Charles B. Titcomb. Her second marriage, to Waine Weinerbet (his last name was given as "McEinbett" in a contemporary New York Times article) ended in divorce on May 13, 1910, in Chicago on the grounds of "extreme cruelty."
Her third marriage was to fellow vaudeville performer
Nat M. Wills
Nat M. Wills (born Louis McGrath Wills; July 11, 1873 – December 9, 1917) was a popular American stage star, vaudeville entertainer, and recording artist at the beginning of the 20th century. He is best known for his "tramp" persona and for per ...
on May 23, 1910.
It was a
civil ceremony A civil, or registrar, ceremony is a non-religious legal marriage ceremony performed by a government official or functionary. In the United Kingdom, this person is typically called a registrar. In the United States, civil ceremonies may be performe ...
, where New York Alderman, Hannon, performed the service.
The couple honeymooned in Europe after the wedding.
Upon their divorce four years later, she received a substantial alimony settlement which led to a legal battle to have the amount reduced after Wills married actress
May Day (actress).
Titcomb kept her married name after their divorce and listed herself as a widow after Wills died in 1917.
La Belle Titcomb continued to perform all over the world, though scant record of her exists after 1920.
Gallery
File:La-Belle-Titcomb01.JPG, La Belle Titcomb
(ca. 1900)
File:La-Belle-Titcomb03.JPG, La Belle Titcomb
(ca. 1900)
NYPL Digital Collection
File:Diamond_tooth_titcomb.png, La Belle Titcomb in 1909
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Titcomb, La Belle
American vaudeville performers
1876 births
Entertainers from Washington, D.C.
Year of death missing