Heloise McCeney (January 19, 1876 – after 1920), stage name La Belle Titcomb, was an American

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

performer known as ''The Parisian Dancer on Horseback''. Her act usually had her riding upon a white horse while singing operatic arias.

Biography

Heloise McCeney 1880 US Census Records was born on January 19, 1876, 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, ...

, the daughter of Robert and Anna (née Broom) McCeney.1880 US Census Records Robert McCeney, a native of Washington D.C., served as secretary for the National Fair Association in Washington.1880 US Census Records He died in

San Leandro, California San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the sou ...

, on December 9, 1898, after a short bout with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. Her mother died five years later on February 27, 1903, and was interred at

Rock Creek Cemetery Rock Creek Cemetery is an cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. It is across the stree ...

in Washington D.C., as was her father and a younger brother, Robert, who died in 1884. McCeney also had a half-brother, Charles, from her mother's previous marriage. McCeney had a

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

tooth and her act was described by the ''

El Paso Herald The ''El Paso Herald-Post'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in El Paso, Texas, USA. It was the successor to the El Paso Herald, first published in 1881, and the El Paso Post, founded by the E. W. Scripps Company in 1922. The papers merged in 19 ...

'' in 1909 as "an equestrian act of such a thrilling nature that a reporter couldn't put it all on paper."

Marriages

Heloise McCeney's first marriage was to a San Francisco dentist, Charles B. Titcomb. Her second marriage, to Waine Weinerbet (his last name was given as "McEinbett" in a contemporary New York Times article) ended in divorce on May 13, 1910, in Chicago on the grounds of "extreme cruelty." Her third marriage was to fellow vaudeville performer

Nat M. Wills Nat M. Wills (born Louis McGrath Wills; July 11, 1873 – December 9, 1917) was a popular American stage star, vaudeville entertainer, and recording artist at the beginning of the 20th century. He is best known for his "tramp" persona and for per ...

on May 23, 1910. It was a

civil ceremony A civil, or registrar, ceremony is a non-religious legal marriage ceremony performed by a government official or functionary. In the United Kingdom, this person is typically called a registrar. In the United States, civil ceremonies may be performed ...

, where New York Alderman, Hannon, performed the service. The couple honeymooned in Europe after the wedding. Upon their divorce four years later, she received a substantial alimony settlement which led to a legal battle to have the amount reduced after Wills married actress May Day (actress). Titcomb kept her married name after their divorce and listed herself as a widow after Wills died in 1917. La Belle Titcomb continued to perform all over the world, though scant record of her exists after 1920.

Gallery

File:La-Belle-Titcomb01.JPG, La Belle Titcomb
(ca. 1900) File:La-Belle-Titcomb03.JPG, La Belle Titcomb
(ca. 1900)
NYPL Digital Collection File:Diamond_tooth_titcomb.png, La Belle Titcomb in 1909

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Titcomb, La Belle Vaudeville performers 1876 births Entertainers from Washington, D.C. Year of death missing