Elsie Leslie (August 14, 1881 – October 31, 1966) was an American actress. She was America's first child star and the highest paid and most popular

child actress The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated ...

of her era.

Life and career

Elsie Leslie as Little Lord Fauntleroy cph

Leslie's first role in 1884 was Little Meenie in Joseph Jefferson's production of ''

Rip Van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their liquor and falls aslee ...

''. In 1887, she was recognized as a star with her performance in ''Editha's Burglar'' opposite E.H. Sothern at the Lyceum Theatre in New York. She achieved further fame with her roles in ''

Little Lord Fauntleroy ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was published as a serial in ''St. Nicholas Magazine'' from November 1885 to October 1886, then as a book by Scribner's (the publisher of ''St. Nicholas'') in 1886. The ill ...

'' in 1888 and ''

The Prince and the Pauper ''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547 ...

'' in 1890. The most enduring image of Leslie is the portrait of her, posing as Little Lord Fauntleroy, painted by

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...

. Leslie had pen pals everywhere with whom she maintained a lively correspondence, including leading actors, actresses and statesmen. "I like to write letters," she once said, "but I like to get the answers still better." Two of her correspondents were young girls nearer her own age, one younger, the other a year older:

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

and Helen Keller. Keller and Leslie met in 1890 when the latter was starring in Mark Twain's ''

''. Both girls shared a friendship with Leslie's patron, John Spaulding, and he called them his "two darlings". Leslie took a break from acting, but returned to the stage in 1898 to play parts in ''

The Rivals ''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 episode of the T ...

'', ''

The Cricket on the Hearth ''The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home'' is a novella by Charles Dickens, published by Bradbury and Evans, and released 20 December 1845 with illustrations by Daniel Maclise, John Leech, Richard Doyle, Clarkson Stanfield and Edwin ...

'', ''The Christian'', ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...

'', ''The Man on the Case'' in 1907, and Louis N. Parker's ''

Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a centr ...

'' with

George Arliss George Arliss (born Augustus George Andrews; 10 April 1868 – 5 February 1946) was an English actor, author, playwright, and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award – which he ...

in 1911; but after years away from the stage she could not recapture the old magic as an adult. She had married Jefferson Winter, son of drama critic William Winter, but this marriage ended in divorce, after which Leslie married Edwin J. Millikin in 1918. She and her husband traveled the world until they returned to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where she lived until her death in 1966. Elsie Leslie (1899) by Zaida Ben-Yusuf

Leslie carried on correspondence with her friends from her acting days until her death. Photographs of Leslie, parts of her diary, along with letters and cards from Mark Twain, Helen Keller, Edwin Booth,

William Gillette William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage-manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 1916 ...

, Elliott Roosevelt and Joseph Jefferson, are recorded in ''Trustable & Preshus Friends''. She is remembered by the Elsie Leslie doll by Madame Alexander, No. 1560 in the series.Zecher, Henry, ''William Gillette, America's Sherlock Holmes'', p. 166.

References

* The papers o
Elsie Leslie
at Harvard University Library

External links

*
Elsie Leslie papers, 1889-1972
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

Elsie Leslie photographs and memorabilia, 1884-1900
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leslie, Elsie 1881 births 1966 deaths 19th-century American actresses American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses American child actresses Place of birth missing