Alexandra Carlisle (born Alexandra Elizabeth Swift, 15 January 1886 – 21 April 1936) was an English actress and suffragist who settled in the United States. She was also known in the U.S. as Alexandra Carlisle Pfeiffer, adding the name of her third husband.

Life

Born in 1886 at Hackney,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, Carlisle was the daughter of Henry Swift, a

schoolmaster The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled afte ...

, and his wife Alexandra.Alexandra Carlisle
at stagebeauty.net, accessed 31 July 2016 In 1903, she was Audrey in a stage production of '' As You Like It'' and Maria in ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...

''. In March 1907, she played the lead in

Gladys Buchanan Unger Gladys Buchanan Unger (September 16, 1884 or 1885 – May 25, 1940) was an American author who also lived in England, and who wrote plays for Broadway and the West End, as well as screenplays for Hollywood. She was the author of well over a doze ...

's play ''Mr. Sheridan'' at the

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, ' ...

. In September 1908, at the

, she played the title role in Hubert Henry Davies's play ''The Mollusc'', with

Joseph Coyne Joseph Coyne (27 March 1867 – 17 February 1941), sometimes billed as Joe Coyne, was an American-born vaudevillian and musical comedy actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years, from 1883-1931. A popular performer in the U.S., he achieved major s ...

. Also in 1908, she appeared in two Shakespeare productions by

Herbert Beerbohm Tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager. Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progr ...

: as

Olivia Olivia may refer to: People * Olivia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Olivia (singer) (Olivia Longott, born 1981), American singer * Olívia (basketball) (Carlos Henrique Rodrigues do Nascimento, born 19 ...

in ''

'' and as Portia in ''

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 provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

''. In 1905, Carlisle had married Victor Herbert Miller at Maidenhead. In 1907, she petitioned for divorce, and in 1908 she married

, her leading man in ''The Mollusc''. This marriage also ended in divorce. On 17 May 1911, Carlisle played the part of Georgina Vesey in a

royal command performance A Royal Command Performance is any performance by actors or musicians that occurs at the direction or request of a reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Although English monarchs have long sponsored their own theatrical companies and commis ...

of the play ''

Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...

'' at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...

for

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

, and the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

and Empress of Germany. In 1912, in Marylebone, London, Carlisle married Albert Pfeiffer, a dental surgeon from the U.S. from

Bedford, Massachusetts Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Bedford was 14,383 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. History ''The following compilation comes from Ellen Abrams (1999) based on information ...

. In 1914, Carlisle's mother died, and in 1915 she settled in the U.S., becoming a notable speaker for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

and for the Republican Party. By her third marriage, she had one daughter, Elizabeth Ann Pfeiffer. In the Spring 1920, Carlisle directed the show ''Barnum Was Right'' for Harvard's

Hasty Pudding Club The Hasty Pudding Club, often referred to simply as the Pudding, is a social club at Harvard University, and one of three sub-organizations that comprise the Hasty Pudding - Institute of 1770. The club's motto, ''Concordia Discors'' (discordant h ...

. At the Republican National Convention of 1920, she was the main speaker for Massachusetts and seconded the nomination of Calvin Coolidge as the party's candidate for vice president.Alethea A. Yates, ''Bedford'' (Arcadia Publishing, 2013)
p. 117
/ref> In 1923, Carlisle's third marriage was dissolved, and she then married J. Elliot Jenkins, an American engineer. In 1934, Jenkins committed suicide. As well as taking occasional film roles, Carlisle continued to work on Broadway, including playing the role of Lady Macduff in a production of '' Macbeth'' in October 1935. She died of a heart attack on 21 April 1936 in the

Hotel Astor Hotel Astor was a hotel on Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built in 1905 and expanded in 1909–1910 for the Astor family, the hotel occupied a site bounded by Broadway, Shubert Alley, and 44th and 45th Str ...

in New York City,"Alexandra Carlisle Dead" in ''

Motion Picture Herald The ''Motion Picture Herald'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1931 to December 1972.Anthony Slide, ed. (1985)''International Film, Radio, and Television Journals'' Greenwood Press. p. 242. It was replaced by the ''QP Heral ...

'' dated 2 May 1936 and was buried in

Shawsheen Cemetery Shawsheen Cemetery is a historic cemetery on Great Road and Shawsheen Road in Bedford, Massachusetts. The cemetery is Bedford's second, opened in 1849 as its Old Burying Ground was filling up. The original ten acres, and a number of smaller ad ...

Filmography

* 1917: ''The Tides of Fate'' as Fanny Lawson * 1934: '' Half a Sinner'' as Mrs. Mary Clarke

Notes

External links

Alexandra Carlisle (1886-1936), Actress
at the National Portrait Gallery
Alexandra Carlisle
at the Internet Broadway Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlisle, Alexandra 1886 births 1936 deaths English film actresses English stage actresses English suffragists People from the London Borough of Hackney British emigrants to the United States