Mabel Hite (May 30, 1883 – October 22, 1912) was a

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 ...

comedian and

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

comedy actress.

Life and career

Hite was born in

Ashland, Kentucky Ashland is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon the southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West ...

, on May 30, 1883, the daughter of Lewis and Elsie Hite. Her family relocated to

Pocatello, Idaho Pocatello () is the county seat of and the largest city in Bannock County, Idaho, Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, Idaho, Power County, containing the city's airport. It is t ...

, in the late 1880s and then

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, in the mid-1890s, where her father found employment at the Owl Drug Store. A native of Michigan, he later became the first vice-president of the newly formed Kansas City local of the National Association of Drug Clerks. Elsie Hite, originally from Illinois, would accompany her daughter throughout her early career which began at about age eleven in amateur theater as the 'Lord Chancellor' in

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 ...

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

Iolanthe ''Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri'' () is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert ...

''.Married in a Hurry - Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah); Sunday, March 03, 1901; pg. 5; col. 3 Browne, Walter, De Roy, E. Koch - Who's Who on the Stage, 1908; pg. 238
accessed September 3, 2012 Mabel Hite 01

By the late 1890s Hite was a performer with the Fairmont Stock Company of Kansas City and in 1898 toured as 'Adele Ray' in James M. Martin's ragtime farce-comedy ''The Late Mr. Early''. The following year she appeared with the Dunne and Ryley Company as the orphan 'Pony Luce' in Charles Hale Hoyt's ''A Milk White Flag''. In the late summer of 1900 Hite was a soloist with Boston's ''The Howard's Own Show Company'' before embarking on a two-season tour as 'Estelle Coocoo' in the Morton-Kerker musical comedy '' The Telephone Girl''. In 1902 she played the 'waif' in road productions of the

Charles Dazey Charles Turner Dazey (August 13, 1855 – February 9, 1938) was an American writer and playwright. He was born in Lima, Illinois; attended the Kentucky State University, state university in Lexington, Kentucky; and graduated from Harvard Unive ...

melodrama ''The Burglar and the Waif'' and the following year toured in the musical ''The Chaperons'', as Phrosia. Hite made her Broadway debut at the Knickerbocker Theatre on May 2, 1904, as 'Nerissa' in the musical comedy ''A Venetian Romance'', and the following year at Chicago's Garrick Theatre she played 'Captain Prissy Ping' in L. Frank Baum's '' The Woggle-Bug''. In 1905 it was rumored that she was to marry the athlete

Arthur Duffey Arthur Francis Duffey (June 14, 1879 – January 23, 1955) was an American track and field athlete who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. Biography Duffey won four consecutive 100 yards British AAA Championships titles in ...

, and as she was a divorcee he would meet

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

in order to attain special dispensation to wed. The rumor proved false. Later that year she toured with the Frank L. Perley Opera Company opposite Viola Gillette in ''The Girl and the Bandit''. For the following season Hite joined forces with vaudevillian Walter Jones to form an act that met with success at vaudeville venues in and around New York City. On March 30, 1907, Hite starred as 'Tillie Day' in B. C. Whitney's production of '' A Knight for a Day'' at Chicago's Whitney Opera House and the next spring she came back to Broadway to play 'Martha Scraggs' at the Circle Theatre (Broadway at 60th St.) in ''The Merry-Go-Round''. Hite returned to vaudeville with her husband, professional baseball player

Mike Donlin Michael Joseph Donlin (May 30, 1878 – September 24, 1933) was an American professional baseball outfielder and actor. His Major League Baseball (MLB) career spanned from 1899 to 1914 in which he played mainly in the National League for seven te ...

, in a series of comedic baseball skits. She last appeared in vaudeville in the spring of 1912 in a skit entitled ''Mabel Hite and Her Clowns''. Her last Broadway appearance came the year before at

Wallack's Theatre Three New York City playhouses named Wallack's Theatre played an important part in the history of American theater as the successive homes of the stock company managed by actors James W. Wallack and his son, Lester Wallack. During its 35-year ...

playing 'Norah' in the musical farce ''A Certain Party''. Hite died after a long struggle with

intestinal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

on October 22, 1912, at her mother's residence in New York City. She was survived by Donlin, her husband for six years. Hite had married once before, to Edward Ellis Hamlin, the son of a wealthy

Marshall Field's Marshall Field & Company (colloquially Marshall Field's) was an American department store chain founded in 1852 by Potter Palmer. It was based in Chicago, Illinois and founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, ...

executive, after a whirlwind courtship in 1901. Their union ended in 1905 after two years of divorce proceedings.Mabel Hite Divorced - Decatur Daily Review (Decatur, Illinois); Thursday, April 06, 1905; pg. 6

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hite, Mabel 1883 births 1912 deaths 19th-century American actresses American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Idaho Actresses from Kansas City, Missouri American vaudeville performers People from Ashland, Kentucky Musicians from Ashland, Kentucky Actresses from Kentucky Women musicians from Kentucky Deaths from colorectal cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in New York (state) People from Pocatello, Idaho