Paula A. Edwardes (1878 – after 1926) was an American stage performer in musical comedies and
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 ...
.
Early life
Edwardes was born in New York City
[Helen Arthur]
"Beauties of the American Stage"
''National Magazine'' (December 1904): 327–329. or possibly
Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Boston, where she began her stage work as a chorus girl.
Career
She had a part in ''
The Belle of New York'' (1897), which traveled to London; her sister Peggy Edwardes was also in the company. She was also in ''The Great Ruby''.
[ Her Broadway appearances included roles in '']A Runaway Girl
''A Runaway Girl'' is a musical comedy in two acts written in 1898 by Seymour Hicks and Harry Nicholls. The composer was Ivan Caryll, with additional music by Lionel Monckton and lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and Harry Greenbank. It was produced by ...
'' (1898–1899); ''The Show Girl'' (1902); ''The Defender'' (1902); ''Winsome Winnie'' (1903); ''The Man from Now'' (1906); and ''The Princess Beggar'' (1907). Edwardes was known for performing soubrette
A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice ''fach'', often cast as a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy".
Theatre
In theatre, a soubrette is a c ...
parts using an exaggerated accent called "Americanized Cockney" by one reviewer.
In 1906, ragtime composer Cora Folsom Salisbury
Cora May Folsom Salisbury Aulmann (February 12, 1868 — April 16, 1916), sometimes billed as C. Folsom Salisbury, was an American musician and composer of piano music, including works in the ragtime genre. She was also the first vaudeville partne ...
wrote a ''valse caprice'' for piano named "Paula" and dedicated it to Edwardes. In 1907, she contracted to provide "electric music" (recordings) in theatre lobbies before her live performances, one of the first musical theatre stars to be recorded for such purposes. At the end of 1907, there were rumors that she was engaged to marry steel magnate Joseph E. Schwab, rumors that both parties denied. In 1910 she was headlining a variety show in New York.
Later life
As Edwardes grew older, she was no longer suited to soubrette parts and did not win other roles. "Thus Paula Edwardes, when her youth faded, faded simultaneously from view," explained 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 ...
; he told of an encounter with the older Edwardes, dressed girlishly and claiming to be her own teenaged niece, in hopes of reclaiming the fame of her earlier days. In 1926, a police officer found Edwardes, holding a crucifix and praying in the rain, on a street corner in New York City. She said that a dream had instructed her to do so, and she was escorted to Bellevue Hospital
Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States b ...
for care."Find Noted Actress Praying in Storm"
''New York Times'' (August 14, 1926): 3.
References
External links
Paula Edwardes on IBDBPaula Edwardes
1890s
Paula Edwardes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwardes, Paula
American actresses
Vaudeville performers
1878 births
20th-century deaths