Gilda Varesi (September 28, 1887 – May 27, 1965), also known as Gilda Varesi Archibald, was an Italian-born actress and playwright.

Early life

Gilda Varesi was born in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, and adopted as the daughter of opera singer Elena Boccabadati Varesi. Her maternal grandparents

Felice Varesi Felice Varesi (born Calais, 1813 – died Milan, 13 March 1889) was a French-born Italian baritone with an illustrious singing career that began in the 1830s and extended into the 1860s. He is best remembered today for his close association with ...

and Cecilia Boccabadati Gazzudo were also opera singers.

Luigia Boccabadati Luigia Boccabadati (1800-12 Oct 1850) was an Italian operatic soprano. Elizabeth Forbes. ''The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2001. Born in Modena, Boccabadati made her professional opera debut at the Teatro Regio di Parma in 1817. She ...

was Gilda's great-grandmother. Gilda Varesi, who was named for a character in Verdi's ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play ''Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had cont ...

'', moved to Chicago as a child, with her family.

Career

Varesi started on stage in Chicago, with the Ben Greet Players, before joining

Helena Modjeska Helena Modrzejewska (; born Jadwiga Benda; 12 October 1840 – 8 April 1909), known professionally as Helena Modjeska, was a Polish actress who specialized in Shakespearean and tragic roles. She was successful first on the Polish stage. After e ...

's troupe, then working with

Minnie Maddern Fiske Minnie Maddern Fiske (born Marie Augusta Davey; December 19, 1865 – February 15, 1932), but often billed simply as Mrs. Fiske, was one of the leading American actresses of the late 19th and early 20th century. She also spearheaded the fig ...

in ''Salvation Nell'' (1908) and ''Little Italy''. She toured as the lead in ''

War Brides War brides are women who married military personnel from other countries in times of war or during military occupations, a practice that occurred in great frequency during World War I and World War II. Among the largest and best documented examp ...

'' in 1915. She covered

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

's role for ten performances of ''The Jest'' when he was ill in 1920. She recalled her days as an understudy in her later work, saying, "No one ever lost a position by giving a lift to someone else. Remembering how helpful understudying was to me, I always try to give my own understudy at least one chance to appear publicly." Varesi co-wrote (with Dolly Byrne) and starred in '' Enter Madame'', a comedy about an opera singer based on her mother, who died months before the show opened on Broadway in 1920. Based on this performance, critic Maude Sperry Turner called Varesi, "the most gifted actress on Broadway," and

Alexander Woollcott Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (January 19, 1887 – January 23, 1943) was an American drama critic and commentator for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, a member of the Algonquin Round Table, an occasional actor and playwright, and a prominent radio p ...

declared her "a first-rate actress, with a distinct tragic power and an inborn capacity to send chills up and down your spine." ''Enter Madame'' was adapted for the screen twice, as

a silent film A Silent Film are an English alternative rock band from Oxford. The band consists of Robert Stevenson (vocals/piano/guitar) and Spencer Walker (drums). Their first album, ''The City That Sleeps'', was released on 6 October 2008, with one reviewe ...

in 1922, starring

Clara Kimball Young Clara Kimball Young (born Edith Matilda Clara Kimball; September 6, 1890 – October 15, 1960) was an American film actress who was popular in the early silent film era. Early life Edith Matilda Clara Kimball was born in Chicago on Septembe ...

and

Elliott Dexter Elliott Dexter (March 29, 1870 – June 21, 1941) was an American film and stage actor. Dexter started his career in vaudeville and did not move to films until he was 45. He retired from acting in 1925. Biography Dexter was born in Galves ...

, and as a sound picture in 1935, with

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

and

Elissa Landi Elissa Landi (born Elisabeth Marie Christine Kühnelt; December 6, 1904 – October 21, 1948) was an Austrian-American actress born in Venice, who was popular as a performer in Hollywood films of the 1920s and 1930s. She was noted for her a ...

. It was also included in ''The Best Plays of 1920-1921'' (1921). She appeared in two silent films, ''The Man of Mystery'' (1917) and ''

Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

'' (1920, now lost).

Personal life

Gilda Varesi was introduced to English lawyer John Gordon Archibald by actress

Doris Keane Doris Keane (December 12, 1881 – November 25, 1945) was an American actress, primarily in live theatre. Early life and family Keane was born in Michigan to Joseph Keane and Florence Winter. She was educated privately in Chicago, New York, Pa ...

and playwright

Alfred Sutro Alfred Sutro OBE (7 August 1863 – 11 September 1933) was an English author, dramatist and translator. In addition to a succession of successful plays of his own in the first quarter of the 20th century, Sutro made the first English translation ...

in London. They married in 1922."Gilda Varesi to Marry"
''New York Times'' (March 11, 1922): 18. She died in 1965, aged 77 years, in London.

References

External links

*
Gilda Varesi
on IBDB. {{DEFAULTSORT:Varesi, Gilda 1887 births 1965 deaths American women dramatists and playwrights American stage actresses 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Milan Italian emigrants to the United States