Betty Callish (August 24, 1886 – after 1941) was a Dutch-born actress, singer, and violinist who performed in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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, French and

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. In 1941, as Roxo Betty Weingartner, she became a postulant of the Third Order Regular CSMV, a cloistered religious community at the Convent of St Thomas the Martyr in Oxford.

Early life

Babette Calisch was born in

Baarn Baarn () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, near Hilversum in the province of Utrecht. The municipality of Baarn The municipality of Baarn consists of the following towns: Baarn, Eembrugge, Lage Vuursche. The town of Baarn ...

, the daughter of Salomon Oreste Calisch and Aleida Oppenheim. Her parents were Jewish; her mother was a first cousin to Dutch feminist

Aletta Jacobs Aletta Henriëtte Jacobs (; 9 February 1854 – 10 August 1929) was a Dutch physician and women's suffrage activist. As the first woman officially to attend a Dutch university, she became one of the first female physicians in the Netherlands. I ...

. She knew Sarah Bernhardt from childhood, and on her advice studied acting, learned to play the violin, and trained as a singer in Berlin.

Career

She started acting in London, as a student at

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 ...

's academy, now known as the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

. In England, Callish appeared ''Lady Ben'' (1905)'','' ''

Leah Kleschna ''Leah Kleschna'' is a drama in five acts by C.M.S. McLellan produced for the first time on Broadway by Minnie Maddern Fiske, Harrison Grey Fiske and the Manhattan Company with set design provided by Frank E. Gates and E. A. Morange. The play o ...

'' (1905), ''The Little Stranger'' (1906), ''A Waltz Dream'' (1911) and ''Orpheus in the Underground'' (1912). She was also seen in London productions of ''The Laughing Husband'' and ''

Sadie Love ''Sadie Love'' is a lost 1919 American silent comedy film distributed by Paramount Pictures (as Famous Players-Lasky Corporation) and directed by John S. Robertson. It is based on a 1915 stage play of the same name by Avery Hopwood and s ...

''; she appeared in both these shows on Broadway, as well, in 1914 and 1915. She starred in ''The Great Lover'' (1916) in Chicago. and in ''The King'' (1917-1918)''.'' "She is a pretty

soubrette A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice ''fach'', often cast as a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy". Theatre In theatre, a soubrette is a ...

," commented American critic

Burns Mantle Robert Burns Mantle (December 23, 1873February 9, 1948) was an American theater critic. He founded the ''Best Plays'' annual publication in 1920.Chansky, Dorothy (2011)"Burns Mantle and the American Theatregoing Public" in ''Theatre History Stu ...

, "who both sings and plays violin – pleasantly but neither with surpassing skill." In 1941, after a divorce and a time in treatment for

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...

, Betty Weingartner became a postulant at the Third Order Regular CSMV, a cloistered religious community at the Convent of St Thomas the Martyr in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. There, she was known as "Marica".

Personal life

Betty Callish married (in 1922) and divorced (by 1931) Austrian conductor

Felix Weingartner Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg (2 June 1863 – 7 May 1942) was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist. Life and career Weingartner was born in Zara, Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary (now Zadar, Croatia), to Austrian parents. ...

; she was his fourth wife. He dedicated a symphony to her during their marriage. She was a confidante of Queen Marie of Romania. She died after 1941.

References

External links

* *
A cigarette card featuring Betty Callish
in the George Arents Collection, New York Public Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Callish, Betty 1886 births Year of death missing People from Baarn Jewish actresses Dutch violinists 20th-century Dutch women singers Dutch stage actresses 20th-century Dutch actresses