Minna Gale (September 26, 1869 – March 4, 1944), also credited as Minna K. Gale and Minna Gale Haynes, was an American actress.

Early life

Minna Kathalina Gale was born in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a city and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New J ...

, the daughter of C. K. Gale; after her father's death, she lived in Europe and studied music and theatre in Paris and Frankfort. "She speaks two languages besides English sufficiently well to play in either of them," noted one reviewer in 1886.

Career

Minna Gale was known for Shakespearean roles in her early career. In 1885, at age fifteen, Gale was cast as Queen Gertrude, in Lawrence Barrett's production of '' Hamlet'' (Barrett, playing her son in the title role, was 47 years old). She stayed with Barrett's company for six seasons, sometimes as a rival to

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 ...

. Later, she played Ophelia to

Edwin Booth Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 – June 7, 1893) was an American actor who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Theatre in New York. Some theatri ...

's last performance as Hamlet. Her beauty was often mentioned in reviews. "If there is a young lady in this land who wishes to look bewitching when mad, she must assiduously cultivate the Minna Gale pout," remarked one theatre writer in 1892. She formed her own company after Barrett's death, and briefly retired from the stage in 1893, after her marriage. In 1903 Gale-Haynes returned to acting as Rosalind in a production of ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...

'', given as a benefit for Vassar College on Shakepeare's birthday. Broadway appearances by Gale included roles in ''The Triumph of Love'' (1904), ''The White Sister'' (1909, written by Francis Marion Crawford and starring Viola Allen), ''A Celebrated Case'' (1915), ''The Pride of Race'' (1916), '' A Tailor-Made Man'' (1917), ''The Outrageous Mrs. Palmer'' (1920), ''Tarzan of the Apes'' (1921), and ''The Rubicon'' (1922). Gale appeared in several silent films, including '' The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1913), ''

Clothes Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials ...

'' (1914), '' The Port of Missing Men'' (1914), '' The Unwelcome Mrs. Hatch'' (1914), '' The Dancing Girl'' (1915), and ''

A Fool There Was A Fool There Was may refer to: * ''A Fool There Was'' (1914 film) or ''She Wanted a Car'', a comedy directed by Frank Griffin and featuring Oliver Hardy * ''A Fool There Was'' (1915 film), a melodrama directed by Frank Powell and starring Theda B ...

'' (1915, with Theda Bara).

Personal life

Minna K. Gale married insurance executive Archibald Cushman Haynes in 1892, as his second wife; she was widowed when he died in 1912. She died at home in Riverside, Connecticut in 1944, aged 74 years, survived by a daughter, Dorothy Haynes Vollmer."The Final Curtain"
''Billboard'' (March 18, 1944): 33.

References

External links

* *
An undated photograph of Minna Gale
from scrapbook "Edwin Booth and Lawrence Barrett, 1887-1888 Season", in the Owen Fawcett Theatre Collection, University of Tennessee Knoxville.
An 1892 photograph of Minna Gale in costume
in the Macauley's Theatre Collection, University of Louisville Photographic Archives. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gale, Minna 1869 births 1944 deaths American stage actresses People from Elizabeth, New Jersey Actresses from New Jersey American silent film actresses 19th-century American actresses 20th-century American actresses