Lillian Lee playing 1st base at charity event

Lillian Lee was a stage actress in New York City beginning in the early 1880s. She was in the cast of the original Ziegfeld Follies in 1907.

Acting career

Lee was only a child when she was assigned the part of ''Meenie'' in '' Rip Van Winkle'', in a company led by

Joseph Jefferson Joseph Jefferson III, commonly known as Joe Jefferson (February 20, 1829 – April 23, 1905), was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous 19th century American comedia ...

. The troupe was then touring in

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. She proved a skilled juvenile actress. She grew into a very competent adult theatrical performer. Her first character of importance came when she replaced an ailing Rosa Rand in a play during the 1884 season. Myra Goodwin played the leading lady in ''Sis'', an 1885 production of the

14th Street (Manhattan) 14th Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, traveling between Eleventh Avenue on Manhattan's West Side and Avenue C on Manhattan's East Side. It forms a boundary between several neighborhoods and is som ...

Theatre. The company of

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also took seven plays on the road that year. One of them, ''Niagara'', was scheduled to arrive in New York City at the beginning of 1886. Lee was engaged for the production as were Mattie Ferguson,

Rose Eytinge Rose Eytinge (November 21, 1835 – December 20, 1911) was a Jewish American actress and author. She is thought to be the first American actor to earn a three figure salary. Biography Eytinge was born November 21, 1835 in Philadelphia, ...

, Harry Dalton, and others. The ''Irish Minstrel'' by Frederick Marsden was staged at Poole's Theatre, 8th Street near Broadway (Manhattan), in October 1886. W.J. Scanlan played the leading man with Lee being the primary female player. She was in a cast of actors who presented ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' at

Manchester, Massachusetts Manchester-by-the-Sea (also known simply as Manchester, its name prior to 1989) is a coastal town on Cape Ann, in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is known for scenic beaches and vista points. According to the 2020 population ...

, in July 1888. The outdoor play was performed evenings with electric light effects. As ''Mrs. Jennings'' in ''Lover's Lane'' (1901), she was involved in a production which deals with rural life. The venue was the Manhattan Theatre on 102 West 33rd Street. In 1907 the building was demolished and replaced by a

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department store in 1909. ''Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch'' had its New York City debut at the Savoy Theatre, 112 West 34th Street, in the late summer of 1904. The stage of the theatre had been recently expanded to enable the staging of the most detailed productions. The play was an adaptation of both ''Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch'' and ''Lovey Mary'', written by

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. Lee acted the character of ''Mrs. Eichorn''. Joe Weber headed a cast of actors who staged ''Dream City'' and ''The Magic Knight'' at Shubert Park in Brooklyn, in April 1907. Lee was one of the supporting players as were Lillian Blauvelt,

Cecilia Loftus Cecilia Loftus (born Marie Cecilia Loftus Brown; 22 October 1876 – 12 July 1943) was a Scottish actress, singer, mimic, vaudevillian, and music hall performer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life Loftus was born in Glasgow, ...

, and William Hodge. The ''Follies of 1907'' were described as a "satirical musical review" when they opened at the ''

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''. The venue was atop the New York Theatre and Criterion Theatre. Entertainment included twenty musical numbers and many vaudeville acts. The chorus was composed primarily of Anna Held singers, who had played the Broadway Theatre only a week earlier. In addition to Lee, Emma Carus and

Grace Larue Grace La Rue (born Stella Parsons; April 23, 1882 – March 13, 1956) was an American actress, singer, and vaudeville headliner. Early life Grace La Rue was born Stella Parsons in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 23, 1882, to Lucy L. Parson ...

were featured. She was a part of ''The Deluge'', a play given at

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in the summer of 1908. Dress rehearsals were first held in May 1906, with an audience of 1,000 invited guests. The show began with the building of a model of Noah's Ark, followed by a simulation of the deluge, and finally, a depiction of the millennium. Lee played ''Dollbabia'' in ''The Lady Of The Slipper'', a musical fantasy in three acts, written by Anne Caldwell and Lawrence McCarthy. Presented by the Globe Theatre ( Lunt-Fontanne Theatre), in October 1912, a newspaper critic commented about the ''dull lines'' given both Lee and Queenie Vassar, the two wicked stepsisters of '' Cinderella''. Lee appeared in ''Cinders'' at the Dresden Theatre, atop the New Amsterdam Theatre, in April 1923. The musical comedy was written by Edward Clark with music by Rudolf Friml. An ''intimate'' theatre had been constructed from a thorough remodeling. ''Cinders'' was the first show held on the New Amsterdam Roof after the ''Midnight Frolics'' ceased production, when

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became law in 1920.

Silent film role

She appeared in the 1923 silent film ''No Mother to Guide Her'' in the role of Donald Walling's Sister.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Lillian American child actresses American film actresses American silent film actresses 19th-century American actresses American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses American musical theatre actresses Actresses from New York City Vaudeville performers Music hall performers Year of birth missing Year of death missing