Elita Proctor Otis (1851 or 1860 – August 10, 1927) was an American actress.
She had a long distinguished stage career before her foray into early silent films. In 1909 she may have been the first actress to play
Nancy Sikes on screen in a
Vitagraph
Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907, ...
produced version of ''
Oliver Twist''.
Early years and career
She was born around 1860 in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. Her father, William Henry Otis,
was a banker.
Redfield Proctor
Redfield Proctor (June 1, 1831March 4, 1908) was a U.S. politician of the Republican Party. He served as the 37th governor of Vermont from 1878 to 1880, as Secretary of War from 1889 to 1891, and as a United States Senator for Vermont from 189 ...
, who was a senator from Vermont, was her great-uncle.
Otis's stage debut came with the Kemble Dramatic Society. She made her professional debut as Ernestine Echo in ''Crust of Society'' at the Globe Theatre in Boston.
Broadway plays in which Otis performed included ''The House of Bondage'' (1914), ''Potash and Perlmutter'' (1913), ''Are You a Crook?'' (1913), ''The Purple Road'' (1913), ''The Greyhound'' (1912), ''The Three Romeos'' (1911), ''The Girl from Rector's'' (1909), ''Mary's Lamb'' (1908), ''Society and the Bulldog'' (1908), ''The Little Michus'' (1907), ''About Town'' (1906), ''The Two Orphans'' (1904), ''In the Midst of Life'' (1902), ''The Brixton Burglary'' (1901), ''Quo Vadis'' (1900), ''Woman and Wine'' (1900), and ''A Ward of France'' (1897).
Later years and death
Otis was married to William C. Camp.
For the last 12 years of her life she was an invalid. She died on August 10, 1927, in
Pelham, New York
Pelham is a suburban town in Westchester County, approximately 10 miles northeast of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 13,078, an increase from the 2010 census. Historically, Pelham was composed of five villages ...
.
Her funeral was held at the Church of the Transfiguration on August 17, 1927, and she was buried in
Woodlawn Cemetery.
Filmography
* ''
Adventures of a Drummer Boy'' (1909) (credited as Elita Otis)
* ''
Oliver Twist'' (1909) as Nancy Sykes
* ''Les Misérables'' (Part I) (1909) aka ''The Galley Slave''
* ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1909) as
Hippolyta
In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Gr ...
* ''
The Great Diamond Robbery
''The Great Diamond Robbery'' is a 1954 American comedy film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Red Skelton, James Whitmore, Cara Williams and Reginald Owen. It was produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Plot
A diamond potential ...
'' (1914) as Mother Rosenbaum
* ''
The Greyhound'' (1914) as 'Deep Sea Kitty' Doyle
* ''
The Triflers'' (1920) (as Olita Otis) as. Effie Stilwell
* ''
Under Northern Lights'' (1920) (credited as Oleta Ottis) as Madge Carson
* ''
The Torrent
Torrent or torrents may refer to:
* A fast flowing stream
Animals
* Torrent duck, a species of the family Anatidae
* Torrent fish
* Torrent frog, various unrelated frogs
* Torrent robin, a bird species
* Torrent salamander, a family of sala ...
'' (1921) (credited as Oleta Ottis) as Anne Mayhew
* ''
While the Devil Laughs'' (1921) (credited as Oleta Ottis) as Pearl De La Marr
* ''
The Secret of the Hills'' (1921) (credited as Oleta Otis) as Mrs. Miltimore
* ''
The Infidel'' (1922) (credited as Oleta Otis) as Miss Parliss
* ''
Refuge'' (1923) (credited as Olita Otis) as The Princess
* ''
Miss Nobody'' (1926) (credited as Oleta Otis) as Miriam Arnold
* ''
The Lost Express'' (1926) as Mrs. Arthur Standish
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otis, Elita Proctor
1851 births
1927 deaths
19th-century American actresses
20th-century American actresses
Actresses from Cleveland
American stage actresses