Clara Lipman (December 6, 1864 – June 22, 1952) was an American musical comedy actress and playwright whose career began in 1885 and continued on until her retirement in 1927. She was the wife of comedian

Louis Mann Louis Mann (20 April 1865 – 15 February 1931) was an American theatre actor and sometime director, who in his later life made a few appearances in motion pictures. He was married to actress and playwright Clara Lipman. History Mann was bor ...

and the sister of popular Lieder singer Mattie Lipman Marum.

Biography

Clara Lipman was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on December 6, 1864, the second of five children raised by Abram and Josephine (née Brumer) Lipman. Her father‘s income as a loan broker was such that she was able to attend college and receive private tutoring in the classics, music and languages. Lipman started in

amateur theatre Amateur theatre, also known as amateur dramatics, is theatre performed by amateur actors and singers. Amateur theatre groups may stage plays, revues, musicals, light opera, pantomime or variety shows, and do so for the social activity as well as f ...

productions in Chicago before making her professional stage début at

Niblo's Garden Niblo's Garden was a theater on Broadway and Crosby Street, near Prince Street, in SoHo, Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1823 as "Columbia Garden" which in 1828 gained the name of the ''Sans Souci'' and was later the property of ...

in New York City on November 30, 1885, as Nettie in the Kiralfy Brothers spectacular, ''The Rat Catcher'' (an adaptation of ''

The Pied Piper of Hamelin The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to ...

''). The following January she joined Helena Modjeska’s company as Bérangère in Sardou’s ''Odette'', and the next season in Modjeska’s productions of the

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

play, ''Camille'', the comedy ''Frou Frou'' by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy and Shakespeare's ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...

''. Lipman spent the subsequent season or two in Chicago performing with Friedrich Mitterwurzer on the German-language stage before joining Charles Dickson's company in the early 1890s. There her success in playing Molly Summers in ''Incog'' would open the door for her to later play such principal roles as Madge Tippett in ''Little Tippett'', Gertrude Sanders in'' The Laughing Girl'', Clara Loveridge in ''The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown'', Julie Bon-Bon in ''

The Girl from Paris ''The Girl from Paris'' (french: Une hirondelle a fait le printemps) is a 2001 French film directed by Christian Carion. Plot Sandrine (Mathilde Seigner) gets tired of her life as an IT instructor in Paris and decides to leave her work and d ...

'' Liane Tourbillion in ''The Girl in the Barracks'', Estelle Coocoo in ''

The Telephone Girl ''The Telephone Girl'' is a farce musical comedy by C. M. S. McLellan (as Hugh Morton), with music by composer Gustave Kerker. The play made its New York debut at the Casino Theatre under the direction of George W. Lederer on December 27, 1897. ...

'', Jane Anderson in ''Master and Pupil'' and Elizabeth Carter in ''All on Account of Eliza''. Clara Lipman 2

Lipman married Louis Mann not long after the two appeared together in ''Incog''. In his 1912 memoir, ''Fifty Years in Theatrical Management'', Michael Leavitt described his involvement in the couple’s eventual marriage as follows:

''The year following the tour of the “Ineog” company, Mr. Mann came to me and entreated that I should tour Miss Lipman and himself, as co-stars in a new piece which he submitted to me. I was inclined to refuse, stating that I did not think the venture would be a financial success. “You’ve given others a chance, why don’t you give me one ?” urged Mann. When I still remained obdurate, he confided to me that he was anxious to marry Miss Lipman, and that he had been given hope of winning her providing he could make her a star. At last I yielded, and the piece was a success. At the close of the season, Mr. Mann was happily wedded to the girl of his choice, who has since been justified in his confidence in her by her becoming one of the favorite stars of legitimate drama. Mann, himself, is to-day among the first comedians of the American stage, and has frequently remarked to me that he owes, not alone his stellar honors, but his domestic happiness as well, to my generosity and good will.''

Lipman and her husband were probably best remembered by audiences of the day for their performances in ''The Laughing Girl'', ''The Strange Adventures of Mrs. Brown'', ''The Girl from Paris'', ''The Telephone Girl'' and ''All on Account of Eliza''. She also found success as the author of some twenty-two plays, twelve in collaboration with the playwright

Samuel Shipman Samuel Shipman (1883 – February 9, 1937) was an American playwright. Several of his plays were adapted to film. He was Jewish. He visited the Lakewood Theater (Madison, Maine), Lakewood Theater in Maine with John B. Hymer. Theater *''East is W ...

. Several of her plays were produced on Broadway with ''Elevating a Husband'' achieving the most success in 1912 with a run of 120 performances. Lipman and Mann’s last appearance on Broadway came in 1927 playing Madame Nina de Poulet and Karl Kraft in the dramatic comedy, ''That French Lady''. Clara Lipman Mann, Actress, Playwright; NYT June 23, 1952; pg. 19Clara Lipman
Internet Broadway Database accessed June 21, 2012 Lipman died on June 22, 1952, at her residence in New York City. She lost her husband in 1931 and at the time of her death the only surviving close relative mentioned in her ''New York Times'' obituary was the daughter of a sister.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lipman, Clara 1864 births 1952 deaths 19th-century American actresses American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses American dramatists and playwrights Actresses from Chicago American women dramatists and playwrights