Elizabeth "Kitty" Blanchard ( – December 14, 1911) was an American stage actress from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. A popular actress in 1870s and 1880s, she married actor

McKee Rankin Arthur McKee Rankin (1841–1914) was a Canadian born American stage actor and manager. He was the son of a member of the Canadian Parliament. After a dispute with his father he left home to become an actor. He made his stage debut in Rochester, N ...

(1841–1914). Their children married into several other famous stage families, such as the Barrymores, Drews, and Davenports. In the 1870s she costarred along with Kate Claxton in the popular hit play '' The Two Orphans''. In 1894 she was a member of the cast in the New York production of ''

Arms and the Man ''Arms and the Man'' is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's ''Aeneid'', in Latin: ''Arma virumque cano'' ("Of arms and the man I sing"). The play was first produced on 21 April 1894 at the Av ...

'', one of the earliest American appearances of a

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

play. Towards the end of her life, she and McKee Rankin came out of retirement in October 1911 and performed in a play called ''Peace on Earth''.

Death

Rankin died December 14, 1911, in her bathtub in her hotel suite at the Belleclaire Hotel in New York City. She was using the name Mrs. Oliver Rankin and was listed in newspapers as being 70 years old.The Barre Daily Times
December 15, 1911 "KITTY BLANCHARD DEAD, Was Mrs. McKee Rankin, an Old Time Actress First buried at

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope, Brooklyn, South Slope/Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn, Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, Win ...

in Brooklyn, she was moved on June 20, 1913, to the Rankin-Davenport family plot (which bears no individual markers) at

Kensico Cemetery Kensico Cemetery, located in Valhalla, New York, Valhalla, Westchester County, New York was founded in 1889, when many New York City cemeteries were becoming full, and rural cemeteries were being created near the railroads that served the city ...

Valhalla, New York Valhalla ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the New York City metropolitan area. Its population was 3,162 at the 2010 U.S. Census. The name wa ...

Family

She and McKee had two daughters, Gladys Rankin and

Phyllis Rankin Phyllis McKee Rankin''M'Kee Rankin's House On Fire'', New York Times, April 2, 1891, pg. 8. (August 31, 1874 – November 17, 1934) was a Broadway actress and singer from the 1880s to the 1920s. Early life Phyllis McKee Rankin was the second da ...

. A third child Doris appears to have been born from McKee's extramarital affair with actress Mabel Bert. Gladys married Sidney Drew in the early 1890s (together they were known as Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew). They were the parents of S. Rankin Drew. Phyllis became the second wife of Harry Davenport, whose sister was

Fanny Davenport Fanny Lily Gipsey Davenport (April 10, 1850 – September 26, 1898) was an American stage actress. Life The eldest child of Edward Loomis Davenport and Fanny Elizabeth (Vining) Gill Davenport, Fanny Lily Gypsey Davenport was born on April 10 ...

, a reigning actress of the late Victorian era. Harry had a daughter from a previous marriage,

Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Dorothy'' (TV series), 1979 American TV series * Dorothy Mills, a 2008 French movie, sometimes titled simply ''Dorot ...

who later married matinee idol Wallace Reid. Phyllis had a son out of wedlock, Arthur Rankin, who was adopted by Harry when he married Phyllis. Arthur Rankin Jr. was Phyllis's grandson. He is the Rankin in

Rankin/Bass Productions Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City. It was known for its seasonal television specials, ...

References

External links

*
Kitty Blanchard photo gallery
(NewYorkPublicLibrary)
portraits
(University of Louisville)

(University of South Carolina) {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard, Kitty 1840s births 1911 deaths 19th-century American actresses American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Philadelphia