Mabelle Gilman Corey (December 4, 1874 – November 14, 1960) was an American

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. She had an affair with

William Ellis Corey William Ellis Corey (May 4, 1866 – May 11, 1934) was president of the Carnegie Steel Company from 1901 to 1903, and was president of the U.S. Steel from 1903 to 1911. Biography He was born in Braddock, Pennsylvania in 1866. In 1883, he marr ...

which led to the dissolution of his marriage, and they later married.

Biography

She was born Mabelle Gilman to Charles Henry Gilman and Jeannette R. Curtis in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

.She gave different birth years at different times in her life, making herself appear younger as she aged. In the

1880 United States Census The 1880 United States census, conducted by the Census Office during June 1880, was the tenth United States census.1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...

. Mabelle consistently gave her birthday as December 4th on all her passport applications. By 1906 she had shaved a decade off her age in her United States passport application and listed her birth as December 4, 1884. By October 7, 1915, she was using December 4, 1887, in her United States passport application. Gilman attended

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. She studied voice under Julie Rosenwald. She would later make her forte in

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

Broadway

She first appeared on the stage in London at the Comedy Theatre on July 11, 1896, as Rosa in '' The Countess Gucki''. In September 1896 she made her Broadway debut at Daly's playing O Kinkoto San in ''

The Geisha ''The Geisha, a story of a tea house'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts. The score was composed by Sidney Jones to a libretto by Owen Hall, with lyrics by Harry Greenbank. Additional songs were written by Lionel Monckton and Jame ...

'' (opened September 9, 1896). She played Lucille in ''

The Circus Girl ''The Circus Girl'' is a Edwardian musical comedy in two acts with a book by James T. Tanner and Walter Apllant (Palings), lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross, music by Ivan Caryll, and additional music by Lionel Monckton.

'', Juno in ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'', Alice in ''The Runaway Girl'' (opened August 25, 1898) with James T. Powers and parts in ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...

'' and ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

''. Gilman was in "In Gay Paree" (opened March 20, 1899), "The Rounders" (opened July 12, 1899), ''

The Casino Girl ''The Casino Girl'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts with music by Ludwig Engländer, Will Marion Cook, Will Accooe, Harry Truman MacConnell and Arthur Nevin, lyrics by Engländer, Cook and MacConnell, and a book by Harry B. Smith and ...

'' (opened March 19, 1900) and '' The King's Carnival'' (opened September 9, 1901). She went to London to the

Shaftesbury Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. It opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, with a capacity of 2,500. The current capacity is 1,416. The title "Shaftesbury Theat ...

and opened ''The Casino Girl'' in London on July 11, 1900. Back in New York for the 1902 season she starred in ''The Hall of Fame'' (opened February 5, 1902) which had a great run. She closed out 1902 in ''The Mocking Bird'' (opened November 10, 1902). In 1903 Gilman was the heroine in '' Dolly'' which she also performed at the Avenue Theatre in London on October 1, 1903. At the

Comedy Theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,

(the first London theatre she appeared at in 1896) she was seen in a comic opera playing the title role in '' Amorelle''.

Marriage

Gilman in 1905 was one of the top musical comedy stars on Broadway. In this year she first met

during an engagement of ''The Mocking Bird'' in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. Corey was a millionaire, having made his fortune in steel. He was president of United States Steel. Corey had a wife Laura and a son Allan. His wife Laura, unable to divorce William in Pennsylvania and retain custody of her son or receive a settlement to support herself and her son, traveled to

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, to be granted a divorce from William. After satisfying the six-month residency requirement Laura filed for divorce, resulting in full custody of Allan and an unprecedented $3,000,000 (approximately $ today) settlement. Pittsburgh society threatened to shun Corey if he married Mabelle. Mabelle and William Corey married on May 14, 1907. Corey had bought his new wife a chateau in France, valuable jewels and had given her one million dollars all as a wedding present. Corey's Reno divorce from his first wife Laura and subsequent marriage to Mabelle help put Reno on the map as a destination for quickie divorces. 1929 Mabelle Gilman Corey

Europe

Mabelle and her sisters Eunice and Pearl had all studied voice from

Jean de Reszke Jean de Reszke (born Jan Mieczysław Reszke; 14 January 18503 April 1925) was a Polish dramatic tenor and opera star. Reszke came from a wealthy Polish family with classical and operatic musical traditions. His mother gave him his first singing ...

, a noted tenor. Mabelle entertained high-profile guests to the Corey chateau in the years before World War I. She had plans for grand opera but her new duties as matron took up time for her preparations. She developed a dislike for her home country the United States, complaining of ''too much noise''. Mabelle also said American men are more worried about accounts receivable, stocks, and bonds rather than their wives. The marriage to William Corey deteriorated and divorce came in 1923. While living in France, she was taken captive by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s in 1940 and was placed in an

internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

near

Vittel Vittel (; archaic ) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Mineral water is bottled and sold here by Nestlé Waters France, under the '' Vittel'' brand. A series of negotiations involving Nestlé, local agr ...

, but was released in 1942 after all female prisoners over 60 years of age were freed.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Corey, Mabelle Gilman 1874 births Mills College alumni 19th-century American actresses American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses Singers from California Actresses from San Francisco 1960 deaths