Elizabeth Lee Kirkland (September 26, 1869 – December 8, 1936) was an American actress, writer and arts patron known professionally as Odette Tyler.

Early life and education

Elizabeth Lee Kirkland was born in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

in 1869 (some sources give 1872), the daughter of

William Whedbee Kirkland William Whedbee Kirkland (February 13, 1833 – May 12, 1915) was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was the only former US Marine to serve as a Confederate general. Early life Kirkland was b ...

and Susan Ann Hardee Kirkland. Her father was a Confederate general in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

."Odette Tyler"
''Opera Glass'' (March 1897): 108–109. Her maternal uncle William J. Hardee was also a Confederate general. Her older brother,

Hardee Kirkland Hardee Kirkland (May 23, 1868 – February 18, 1929) was an American film actor and film director, director of the silent film, silent era who appeared on stage. Biography Kirkland was born in Savannah, Georgia, Savannah, Georgia (U.S. st ...

, was an actor and director in silent films.

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

was her godfather. Her education included time at a convent school in Georgetown and at the Loretto Convent in

Guelph, Ontario Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

.Jack Peyrouse
"Rezin David Shepherd III (R. D. MacLean): He Loved His Shakespeare as his Life"
''The Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society'' (1991): 30–31.

Career

Odette Tyler started her New York stage career in 1884, in ''Sieba'', a spectacle. Her other theatrical appearances included roles in the shows ''The Private Secretary'', ''In Spite of All'', ''Featherbrain'' (1889), ''Men and Women'' (1890), ''Lost Paradise'', ''The Councillor's Wife'' (1892), ''Shenandoah'' (1892), ''The Girl I Left Behind Me'' (1893), ''The Younger Son'' (1893), ''Poor Girls'' (1894), ''The Man Upstairs'' (1895), ''The Gay Parisians'' (1895),"'The Gay Parisians' Leading Woman"
''Munsey's Magazine'' (January 1896): 492.

William Hooker Gillette William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 1916 ...

's ''Secret Service'' (1896, in London 1897), ''Phroso'' (1899), '' The Heart of Maryland'' (1905), ''The Love Route'' (1906), ''It Happened in Dixie'' (1914). She acted in several Shakespearean roles, including

Desdemona Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venice, Italy, Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello (char ...

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist Ro ...

, and

Portia Portia may refer to: Biology * ''Portia'' (spider), a genus of jumping spiders *Portia tree, a plant native to Polynesia *''Anaea troglodyta'' or Portia, a brush-footed butterfly Other uses *Portia (given name), the history and usage of the give ...

, and roles in ''

Coriolanus ''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same ...

'' and '' King John''.Lewis Clinton Strang
''Famous Actresses of the Day in America''
(L. C. Page 1899): 285–290.''Who's Who in Theatre''
(Pitman 1922): 819. In 1906, she headed her own stock company. She appeared in one silent film, '' The Saphead'' (1920). Tyler wrote a novel, ''Boss: A Story of Virginia Life'', published in 1895. "It is quite as good as most novels that are printed," noted the ''New York Times'' reviewer. She later adapted ''Boss'' for the screen. She also wrote a play, ''Red Carnation'', which she starred in with her second husband in 1905. Months before she died in 1936, she directed a play in Los Angeles. As Elizabeth Lee Shepherd, she was a patron of the arts in Los Angeles. She was one of the organizers of the

Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

, and of the women's wing of the Los Angeles Grand Opera Association. She also chaired the city's Shakespeare Foundation, and worked toward the building of a theatre dedicated to productions of Shakespeare plays.

Personal life

In 1883, when she was age 14, Odette Tyler married Edgar P. Crissman; they divorced. In 1894, she was engaged to marry wealthy

Howard Gould Howard Gould (June 8, 1871 – September 13, 1959) was an American financier and the son of Jay Gould. Early life Gould was born in Manhattan on June 8, 1871 to railroad financier Jay Gould (1836–1892) and Helen Day Miller (1838–1889). He w ...

, but both of their families objected, and the engagement was broken. She married fellow actor R.D. MacLean (also known as Rezin Davis Shepherd, and Donald MacLean Shepherd) in 1897. The couple moved to California in 1919 for R.D. MacLean's film career. Odette Tyler died of heart attack in 1936 in Los Angeles."Odette Tyler Dies; A Former Actress" ''New York Times'' (December 9, 1936): 27.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyler, Odette 1869 births 1936 deaths Actresses from Savannah, Georgia 19th-century American actresses American stage actresses 19th-century American women writers 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American women writers American patrons of the arts Writers from Savannah, Georgia