Jennie Yeamans (born Eugenia Marguerite Yeamans; 1862 – 28 November 1906) was a child actress and singer popular in the 1870s and 1880s, and later a famous adult singer and actress. She was the younger sister of early silent film character actress
Lydia Yeamans Titus
Lydia Yeamans Titus (12 December 1857 – 30 December 1929) was an Australian-born American singer, dancer, comedienne, and actress who had a lengthy career in vaudeville and cinema. She was remembered on stage for her ''Baby-Talk'' act and a ...
and had another sister, Emily Yeamans, who died young.
Of the three, Jennie was the most famous and successful right up to her death. Their mother was
Annie Yeamans
Annie Griffiths Yeamans (November 19, 1835 – March 3, 1912) was a 19th-century character actress, appearing in many Harrigan and Hart productions.(4 March 1912)Annie Yeamans Dies; Acted for 66 Years ''The New York Times''
Biography
Yeamans was ...
(1835–1912), a character actress in the Victorian era stage. Her father was Edward Yeamans (died 1866 or 1868), a circus clown. The Yeamans family came from Australia and toured China, Japan and Java in traveling shows before arriving in San Francisco in 1865. After arriving in America, Edward Yeamans died in 1866 or 1868.
As an adult, Jennie appeared in a popular stage melodramas or musicals; one musical being ''
Blue Jeans
Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and paten ...
'' in 1890, which was later made into a 1917 silent film ''
Blue Jeans
Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and paten ...
'', starring
Viola Dana
Viola Dana (born Virginia Flugrath; June 26, 1897 – July 3, 1987) was an American film actress who was successful during the era of silent films. She appeared in over 100 films, but was unable to make the transition to sound films.
Early lif ...
.
[''Pictorial History of the American Theatre 1860–1985'', pg. 38 originally by Daniel Blum, revised version c. 1985] For a time Yeamans was married to impresario
Charles B. Dillingham
Charles Bancroft Dillingham (May 30, 1868 – August 30, 1934) was an American theatre manager and producer of over 200 Broadway theatre, Broadway shows.
Biography
Charles Bancroft Dillingham was born on May 30, 1868 in Hartford, Connecticut to ...
.
[
Yeamans died of tuberculosis on 28 November 1906 at the ]Hotel Gerard
The Hotel Gerard, currently known as aka Times Square, is a historic hotel located in New York, New York. It had also operated at the Hotel Langwell and Hotel 1-2-3. The building was designed by George Keister and built in 1893. It is a 13-stor ...
in New York City where she and her mother Annie lived. Just before her death, Jennie and her mother Annie appeared at a benefit show in San Francisco to provide aid for survivors of the San Francisco Earthquake
At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...
[New York Times]
29 November 1906; JENNIE YEAMANS DEAD.;Actress and Singer Popular a Decade Ago a Victim of Tuberculosis.
PDF version of 1906 NY Times obituary
References
External links
*Jennie Yeamans at IBDb.com; some roles played by Jennie Yeamans as
child
...and as a
adult
portraits of Jennie Yeamans
(New York Public Library, Billy Rose Collection)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeamans, Jennie
1862 births
1906 deaths
Australian child actresses
Australian stage actresses
20th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state)
19th-century Australian actresses
Actresses from Sydney
Australian emigrants to the United States
Actresses from New York City
Date of birth unknown