Faith Dane (October 3, 1923 – April 7, 2020), sometimes known since her second marriage as Faith Crannitch but legally simply Faith since 1983, was an actress, musician, artist, and

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

for elected office in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Dane was a resident of

, but grew up and spent much of her life in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

; she also lived in the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

for much of the 1960s. She was married twice; first, in the 1960s, to attorney Russell Johnson, a former attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands, who first encouraged her to run for office, and second, in 1983, to Jude Crannitch, an artist originally from New Zealand. Dane played the bugle-tooting

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

stripper Mazeppa ("Once I was a schlepper, now I'm Miss Mazeppa") in both the original

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and film versions of ''

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

''. When ''Gypsy'' was revived on Broadway without her, she sued, claiming she'd created much of the characterization of Mazeppa herself; though the suit was unsuccessful, producers developed a “Faith Dane clause” in actors' contracts granting rights in any creative work actors do developing their character to the production. Dane was a candidate for the

Virgin Islands Legislature The Legislature of the Virgin Islands is the territorial legislature of the United States Virgin Islands. The legislative branch of the unincorporated U.S. territory is unicameral, with a single house consisting of 15 senators, elected to two- ...

in 1964 on an arts support-based platform. She raised funds for various school art programs there, including

St. Dunstan's Episcopal High School St. Dunstan's Episcopal High School was a K-12 on St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands. St. Dunstan's was founded as a K-12 in 1959 by a committee of parishioners from St. John's Episcopal Church, among them a church layreader Dr. Richard Ma ...

. After moving to Washington in the 1980s, she was a candidate for

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

as an independent in 1990, 1994, and 1998, garnering 110, 423, and 430 votes, respectively. In 2002, she ran in the Democratic primary for mayor and received 1,084 votes. On each occasion, she ran on an arts-based platform. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the

D.C. Statehood Green Party The Statehood Green Party, known as DC Statehood Party prior to 1999, is the progressive political party in the District of Columbia. The party is the D.C. affiliate of the national Green Party but has traditionally elevated issues of District ...

nomination for Shadow Representative in 1992, receiving 34% of the vote to Paul McCallister's 52%, and was an independent candidate for Delegate to Congress from the District of Columbia in 1996, receiving 2,119 votes. In 2010, she ran for mayor in the Statehood Green primary, winning with 40% of the vote in the face of only write-in opposition. In the general election, she received 1,476 votes. She ran for mayor again in 2014, winning the Statehood Green primary with 47%, again with only write-in opposition. In the general election, she received about one percent of the vote. Dane died at a nursing home in Washington on April 7, 2020, at 96.

References

External links

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Political Graveyard: Faith Dane

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dane, Faith 1923 births 2020 deaths Actresses from New York City African-American female comedians African-American musicians American film actresses American people of United States Virgin Islands descent American women comedians Comedians from New York City D.C. Statehood Green Party politicians American LGBT rights activists Washington, D.C., Independents 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women