PRETTY ACTRESS NETTIE LYFORD GOES PRODUCE SHOPPING IN NEW YORK CITY (PORTRAIT BY BENJAMIN FALK)

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This cabinet card portrait features pretty theater actress Nettie Lyford doing her produce shopping at the Whole Foods grocery store in New York City. She was such a fan of the store that she appeared in their advertising for free. Actually, this photograph is a celebrity portrait that was probably taken by famed celebrity photographer Benjamin Falk. The image was likely produced at Falk’s studio in New York City. Miss Lyford is wearing a costume that she probably wore in a stage production. In fact, this very same image appears in Epoch (1892) as part of an article by Morris Bacheller entitled “Favorite Figures of the Stage”. The article reports that the young Miss Lyford “has established herself as one of the comic opera favorites of the Metropolis”. She had made her debut in Charles Hoyt’s farce comedy company in “Rag Baby”. While she was appearing in another Hoyt production, “Lunch Counter Girl” she was seen by Francis Wilson (1854-1935)  who hired her to appear in “Oolah” which was a comic opera appearing in New York City in 1887. This cabinet card image was taken during her tenure with Wilson’s opera company. To learn more about Francis Wilson and the play “Oolah”, search for the image of Marie Jansen which appears in the Cabinet Card Gallery. To view more celebrity photographs by Falk, click on the category “Photographer: Falk”.

 

Published in: on November 27, 2014 at 4:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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STAGE ACTRESS MARIE JANSEN IN FOUR IMAGES (1887,1888, AND 1892 PHOTOGRAPHS BY FALK)

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Marie Jansen (1857-1914) was an American actress and vocalist. She was a well known star of comic operas. She was born in Boston and her birth name was Hattie Johnson. Jansen made her theatrical debut in Boston at the Park Theatre in 1881. Her first major success occurred in 1883 with her appearance in “The Beggar Student”. In 1884 she was engaged by Charles Wyndham to create the title role in “Featherbrain” which ran in London, England. She then appeared  in the United States for several years as the leading woman in Francis Wilson’s comic opera company. In 1901, Jansen formed her own company that she took on tour. The top  image was photographed by famed celebrity photographer Falk of New York City. This image shows Jansen in costume for the play, “The Oolah”. “The Oolah” was a comic opera produced by the Francis Wilson Company in 1887. The music was written by Charles Le Cocq and the libretto was written by Sydney Rosenfeld.  The second image of Jansen was also photographed by Falk. This cabinet card is dated 1888 and is a bit risque for that time in history. The third image of Jansen also captures her in a bit risque costume. It was photographed by  Falk in 1892 and the cabinet card was used as a premium for Newsboy tobacco products. The fourth image of Jansen features her in costume and sitting on a wicker chair. She is holding a cane and wearing gloves. This undated photograph is also by Falk. To view other photographs by Falk, click on the Cabinet Card Gallery category “Photographer: Falk”.

Published in: on May 12, 2013 at 12:01 am  Leave a Comment  
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FRANCIS WILSON: EARLY AMERICAN THEATRE STAR, PLAYWRIGHT, AND AUTHOR

Francis Wilson (1854-1935) was an American actor born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began his career in minstrel shows but by the time he was 24 year-old he was playing in Philadelphia’s Chestnut Theatre. He worked several years in regular comedy and later took up opera, most successfully in “Eminie” (1886). He later starred in “The Oolah” (1889), The Lion Tamer (1891), The Little Corporal (1898), and then in a play that he authored, “The Bachelor’s Baby (1909). Wilson authored additional plays as well as books. He wrote  books about fellow actors Joseph Jefferson and John Wilkes Booth. He also penned an autobiography. The photographer of this cabinet card portrait of the handsome Wilson, is Falk, a photographer known for his celebrity portraits. To view other images by Falk, click on this site’s category “Photographer: Falk”. To see other cabinet card images of actors, click on the category “Actors”.

Published in: on January 1, 2011 at 12:01 am  Comments (1)  
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