Mabel Withee (c. 1897 – November 3, 1952) was an American actress on stage and in silent film.

Early life

Withee was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, the daughter of Leonard Withee.

Career

Withee's Broadway appearances were mainly in musical comedies and revues, including roles in ''Sinbad'' (1918-1919, with

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jews, Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-bi ...

and Kitty Doner), ''

George White's Scandals ''George White's Scandals'' were a long-running string of Broadway revues produced by George White that ran from 1919–1939, modeled after the ''Ziegfeld Follies''. The "Scandals" launched the careers of many entertainers, including W. C. Fie ...

'' (1919), ''Just a Minute'' (1919), ''The Rose Girl'' (1921, the first show at the Ambassador Theatre), ''Sonny'' (1921), ''The Rose of Stanboul'' (1922), ''The World We Live In'' (1922-1923), ''Lady Butterfly'' (1923), ''

Dew Drop Inn Dew Drop Inn may refer to: *Dew Drop Inn (New Orleans, Louisiana) *Dew Drop Inn (Mountain View, Arkansas) *Dew Drop Inn (musical), 1923 Broadway musical {{disambiguation ...

'' (1923), ''Artists and Models'' (1924-1925), ''

The Cocoanuts ''The Cocoanuts'' is a 1929 pre-Code Musical film, musical comedy film starring the Marx Brothers (Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, and Zeppo Marx in his first starring role). Produced for Paramount Pictures by Walter Wanger, who is not cre ...

'' (1925-1926, with

the Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

). She also starred in ''Mary Ann'' (1927) on

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 ...

. She acted in one silent film, ''Once to Every Man'' (1918). Theatre critic

George Jean Nathan George Jean Nathan (February 14, 1882 – April 8, 1958) was an American drama critic and magazine editor. He worked closely with H. L. Mencken, bringing the literary magazine ''The Smart Set'' to prominence as an editor, and co-founding and ...

considered Withee to have "the most beautiful legs in the world". She retired from show business in 1928, when she married her second husband.

Personal life

Withee was "wooed" by Egyptian prince Mohammed Ali Ibrahim in 1922, but rejected his proposal of marriage. She married real estate broker Herman Leon Sarshik in 1926. She asked for the marriage to be annulled on the basis of fraud in 1928. She married again, to producer Larry Puck, later that year, and through him was the sister-in-law of actress

Eva Puck Eva Puck (November 25, 1892 – October 25, 1979) was an American entertainer, a vaudeville headliner who later found success performing in Broadway musical comedies and film. Early life She was born in New York City, the middle of three ...

. She had one son, Emmett Puck. She died in 1952, in her mid-fifties, in

Bayside, Queens Bayside is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Whitestone to the northwest, the Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay to the northeast, Douglaston to the east, Oakland Gardens to the south, and Fresh Meadows ...

References

External links

* *
A photograph of Mabel Withee
in the George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress. {{DEFAULTSORT:Withee, Mabel 1952 deaths Vaudeville performers Actresses from Detroit 20th-century American actresses American musical theatre actresses American silent film actresses Year of birth uncertain