Anna Laughlin (October 11, 1883 – April 5, 1937[1]) was an American actress on stage and in silent films. In 1902, she became the first actress to play Dorothy Gale.
Anna Laughlin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | October 11, 1883 Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Died | April 5, 1937 (aged 53) New York City, U.S. |
| Resting place | Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, NY) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Spouse |
Dwight V. Monroe
(m. 1904; died 1921) |
| Children | Lucy Monroe |
Early life
editAnna Laughlin was born in Sacramento, California. She began appearing on stage as a "child elocutionist",[2] and then in vaudeville and touring companies.[3]
Career
editLaughlin went to New York as a young teenager, and was in Broadway shows by 1900's The Belle of Bohemia. In 1902, at age 16, she played Dorothy Gale in a musical production of The Wizard of Oz that started in Chicago and ran on Broadway through 1904.[4] Other shows featuring Laughlin included His Majesty (1906), The Top o' th' World (1907),[5] Mama's Boy (1912), When Claudia Smiles (1914). She also had a solo variety show in 1909. "Miss Laughlin is such a demure, pretty, and winsome little body that her appearance alone is sufficient to please the most hardened playgoer or vaudeville attendant," commented a New York reviewer, "but when combined with her truly artistic singing, it is a treat that none can fail to enjoy.[6] In widowhood she had a brief comeback on Broadway in 1925, in The Fall Guy.[7]
Laughlin appeared in more than a dozen silent films, all made between 1913 and 1915, including The Rebellious Pupil (1913, a short), Northern Lights (1914), The Greyhound (1914), The Amazing Mr. Fellman (1915), and What Happened to Father (1915), Crooky Scruggs (1915) and The Crown Prince's Double (1916).[8]
Personal life
editLaughlin married Dwight "Van" Monroe (1874-1921), a jeweler, in 1904.[9] They had a daughter, Lucy Monroe,[10] who became a noted singer.[11] Laughlin was widowed by 1925 and died by suicide from gas poisoning in 1937, in New York. She was 51 years old.[12]
In 2011, Anna Laughlin's personal copy of The Wizard of Oz was auctioned on eBay.[13]
References
edit- ^ "Anna Laughlin Kills Herself; Actress of Old," Chicago Tribune, April 6, 1937, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81482233/
- ^ "Benefit Entertainment Given to Little Anna Laughlin, the Child Elocutionist" Sacramento Record-Union (August 5, 1892): 4. via Newspapers.com
- ^ Briscoe, Johnson (1907). The Actors' Birthday Book. Moffat, Yard. p. 226.
- ^ Everett, William A.; Laird, Paul R. (2015). Historical Dictionary of the Broadway Musical. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 380. ISBN 9781442256699.
- ^ Klein, Manuel; Swan, Mark; O'Dea, James J.; Caldwell, Anne (1907). The Top O' Th' World: A Musical Extravaganza in Two Acts. M. Witmark & Sons. p. 3.
- ^ "New Vaudeville Acts: Anna Laughlin" New York Dramatic Mirror (November 6, 1909): 18.
- ^ "Anna Laughlin Has No Illusions About the Stage" New York Times (September 6, 1925): 54.
- ^ "Anna Laughlin Joins Reliance" The Moving Picture World (October 11, 1913): 134.
- ^ "Wizard of Oz Player Weds" New York Times (July 13, 1904).
- ^ Gertrude Marks, "Anna Laughlin's Little Girl" Daily Boston Globe (January 19, 1936): 8.
- ^ Burt A. Folkart, "Obituaries: Lucy Monroe; Singer Noted for 'Star-Spangled Banner'" Los Angeles Times (October 17, 1987).
- ^ "Anna Laughlin, Broadway Idol Of 1900s Ends Her Life in N.Y." The Washington Post (April 6, 1937): 14.
- ^ Maxine, David. "Dorothy's Oz book". Hungry Tiger Talk. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
External links
edit- Anna Laughlin at IMDb
- Anna Laughlin at the Internet Broadway Database
- Images of Anna Laughlin in the Billy Rose Theatre Collection, New York Public Library Digital Collections.
- Trav S. D., "Anna Laughlin: Oz’s First Dorothy and Her Sad Suicide" Travalanche (October 11, 2017). Blog post on Anna Laughlin's life and career.
- Anna Laughlin at Find a Grave