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Entertaining Women:
Actresses, Dancers, and Singers in the Old West
Long before actors were vying for an Oscar nomination and world wide fame thespians were trying to carve out a modest living entertaining prospectors and settlers of the Old West. Today the curtain goes up on a woman entertainer who captured the hearts of the western pioneers.
Ladies and gentlemen, Lillie Langtry, the Jersey Lillie
At 23 years-old Lillie Langtry’s striking looks were inspiring poets to write sonnets about her grace and pen and ink artists to sketch her elegant profile. She was known as a “Professional Beauty,” one of a handful of women in England with such arresting features they were invited to the finest soirées just so guests could admire them. Langtry was a tall, curvaceous lady with Titian red hair and portraits of her sold in shops for a penny.
Emile Charlotte LeBrenton was born to William Corbet and Emile Martin LeBreton in October of 1853 on the Isle of Jersey, a few miles off the coast of Saint-Malo, France. She was the only daughter in a family of six children. Her mother called her “Lillie,” which fit the beautiful child with lily-white skin.
Her education included studies in history, the classics and early theatre. By the time she turned 20 she had developed a love for theatre and a strong desire to leave her birthplace and see the world she had read so much about.
She married Edward Langtry on March 9, 1874, not long after watching his yacht sail into the Jersey harbor. He took her away from her home to England where they met and mingled with the country’s most renowned aristocrats. Their marriage would not survive the attention Lillie received from male admirers and friends who persuaded her to pursue a career on stage. The two separated after the birth of their daughter in April 1881.
Theatre owners looking for a chance to capitalize on the well-known siren’s popularity, invited her to join their acting troupe. Knowing that they were attracted only by her beauty, she refused all offers, deciding instead to take acting lessons. For months she trained with the critically acclaimed actress Henrietta Hodson Labouchere and on December 15, 1881, made her acting debut at the Theatre Royal in Westminster.
Lillie’s performance was stunning and audiences filled the house nightly. Labouchere became her manager and arranged for her pupil to appear at the most prestigious playhouses in England and Scotland. New York theatre owner and producer Henry Abbey saw Lillie in a show in Edinburgh and was instantly captivated by her talent. He wrote Henrietta with a generous proposal for Lillie, including an offer of 50 percent of the gross proceeds from her shows. Henrietta encourage her student to accept, but Lillie held out for 65 percent of the gross and payment of all her travel expenses.
To learn more about how Lillie Langtry’s singing career began and about the other talented performers of the Old West read
Entertaining Women: Actresses, Dancers, and Singers in the Old West.
