Una Abell-Brinker (August 16, 1874 – November 12, 1952) was an American actress, billed as "First Lady of the Newark Theatre."

Early life

Una Abell was born in

Wayne, Michigan Wayne is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A western suburb of Detroit, Wayne is located about southwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,713. Wayne has a long history of autom ...

, the daughter of Oliver Clinton Abell and Mary E. Chase Abell. Her father served in the Michigan State Senate in 1867; her mother worked as a fraternity matron at the University of Michigan. As a girl she recited to entertain a reunion of Civil War veterans in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

Career

Abell began her professional stage career by 1892, as an ingenue in the Hortense Rhéa company.Johnson Briscoe
''The Actors' Birthday Book''
(Moffatt, Yard 1907): 185. She appeared in shows with

Helena Modjeska Helena Modrzejewska (; born Jadwiga Helena Mizel; October 12, 1840 – April 8, 1909), known professionally in the United States as Helena Modjeska, was a Polish-American actress who specialized in Shakespearean and tragic roles. She was success ...

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...

, and

Maurice Barrymore Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blyth (21 September 1849 – 25 March 1905), known professionally by his stage name Maurice Barrymore, was an Indian-born British stage actor. He is the patriarch of the Barrymore acting family, and the father of Jo ...

, before launching her own repertory company at the New Century Theater in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

."Deaths"
''Billboard'' (November 22, 1952): 52. She took a few years away from the stage, and returned to

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 ...

in 1909, in Edward Weitzel's ''The Fifth Act''. In 1910 she presented

Ullie Akerstrom Ulrika "Ullie" Akerstrom (born Ulrica Regina Akerstrom;

's ''The Eleventh Hour'' in Newark, where a reviewer noted, "The part deprives Mrs. Brinker of displaying some of her beautiful gowns, but gives her every opportunity for acting, which she does in a most artistic manner." She was billed as "the First Lady of Newark Theatre."Una Abell Brinker papers, 1895-1952
New York Public Library. Abell-Brinker adapted and translated ''The Typhoon'', a sketch by

Melchior Lengyel Melchior Lengyel (born Menyhért Lebovics; ; 12 January 1880 – 23 October 1974) was a Jewish Hungarian writer, dramatist, and film screenwriter. Biography Lengyel was born Menyhért Lebovics in 1880, the second of six children in a Jewish ...

, in 1912, but another playwright, Emil Nyitray, claimed that her version was his own, and she was arrested to prevent its performance. She was also founder of the Junior League of

Pleasantville, New York Pleasantville is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located 30 miles north of Manhattan. The village population was 7,513 at the 2020 census. Pleasantville is home to the secondary c ...

."Deaths"
''New York Times'' (November 19, 1944): 49.

Personal life

Una Abell married H. Coulter Brinker, a fellow actor, in 1899; she was widowed in 1900, when Brinker died in an accidental fall from a hotel window. Her mother died a few months later. Her second husband was theatrical producer Jacob H. Kahn. She had two daughters, Joan Goldberg and Holly Becker. She was widowed again in 1944. Una Abell Brinker died in 1952, aged 78 years."Una Abell Brinker"
''New York Times'' (November 13, 1952): 31. Her papers are archived at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

References

External links

Una Abell's listing at IBDB.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abell-Brinker, Una 1874 births 1952 deaths American vaudeville performers People from Wayne, Michigan Actresses from Michigan