Lucille La Verne(1872-1945)
- Actress
A legendary stage actress and character player in early films, Lucille
La Verne is one of those forgotten legends who seem to fade as the
years go on. However, at her prime she was one of the most acclaimed
actresses of her generation.
Lucille La Verne Mitchum was born in
Nashville, Tennessee, on November 7, 1872. Little is known about her
family. She made her stage debut at the local summer stock theater in
1876. The production was called "Centennial" in honor of America's
100th birthday, and the three-year old Lucille was among a handful of
child extras in the play. In 1878 she returned to play another child
part. She continued to return every summer, sort of becoming the
playhouse's resident child star. She quickly proved herself a talented
actress, and as she got older she was given better parts. She won
great acclaim when during the summer of 1887 she played both Juliet
and Lady Macbeth--at only 14 years of age.
On the night of her 16th birthday in 1888,
made her Broadway debut with a supporting role in "La Tosca". The play
closed after four weeks. In the fall of 1889 she performed with a
stock company in Washington, DC, where she played May in "May Blossom"
and Chrissy Rogers in "The Governess". She also toured as Ethel in
"Judge Not". Her breakthrough performance was a limited-run Broadway
revival of "As You Like It" with an all-female cast in March 1894, and she won much acclaim for her performance as "Corin". In the 1894-95
season, she played Patsy in Frank Mayo's Broadway production of Mark Twain's "Pudd'nhead Wilson". She also scored great success by playing the female lead roles in three
different acclaimed touring productions over the next three years:
"Notre Dame" (1895-96), "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1897-98) and "Lady
Windermere's Fan" (1897-98). In 1898 La Verne was made manager and director of the newly built
Empire Theater in Richmond, VA. She staged five shows every
season, and received mostly rave reviews. She played everything from leading roles in "Hedda Gabbler" and "Antigone" to character parts such as "Ma Frochard" in "The Two Orphans." She also wrote an adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", which she first
staged in 1900, and her version was used by several other theaters in the
early 1900s. She received much acclaim for her work at the Empire,
and even received the Woman of the Year Award from the Virginia
Women's Society in 1901.
She stepped down from the Empire Theater at the end of the 1903-04
season to make her London debut in a comic supporting role in the play
"Clarice". She again received acclaim and repeated her success in the
Broadway production three months later. She remained a staple of
the Broadway stage for the next several years, specializing in
character parts. She also returned on occasion to stock theaters to act
and direct. She made her film debut in 1914 in Butterflies and Orange Blossoms (1914). From then on she would divide her
time between film and the stage. She was used in film frequently by
D.W. Griffith for various
character parts. While she was a versatile actress, her most memorable
parts in film were always those of vengeful women.
Her greatest stage triumph was the creation of the Widow Caggle role in
the original Broadway production of "Sun Up". After the Broadway
engagement she directed, as well as continued to perform, in the
US and European tours of the play. She also recreated her role
for the film version (Sun-Up (1925)). In 1927 Broadway's Princess Theater was renamed
the Lucille La Verne Theater in her honor, and she was named manager and
director. For her first outing as a Broadway producer and director she
chose an original play called "Hot Water", giving herself the role of
Jessica Dale. The play received mixed reviews and closed rather
quickly. Later that same season she launched a revival of "Sun Up"
repeating her Widow Caggle role, but it also closed quickly. Since the
theater had lost money, she was let go as manager and the name reverted
to being the Princess Theater. Upset, she moved to California for the
time being to make more movies.
By 1928 she had already established herself as a good character
actress in silent films and made the transition easily to talkies. As
with her stage career, however, she tended to get typecast as unlikable women, despite her
acclaim on Broadway for being able to play almost any character type.
She did not abandon the stage entirely, however, and appeared frequently
in regional productions in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 1936 she
returned to Broadway in the lead role of the thriller "Black Widow".
Despite the rave reviews she received, the play itself got mixed reviews
and closed after just a few performances. It would be her last stage
production. La Verne quickly returned to Hollywood to take on her most
famous role. She voiced both the Wicked Queen and her alter ego, the
Old Hag in Walt Disney's first animated feature film,
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
She also worked as a live-action model for the artists.
After working on "Snow White", Lucille La Verne retired from acting and
became co-owner of a successful nightclub. She died at age 72 of cancer
on March 4, 1945, in Culver City, CA.
La Verne is one of those forgotten legends who seem to fade as the
years go on. However, at her prime she was one of the most acclaimed
actresses of her generation.
Lucille La Verne Mitchum was born in
Nashville, Tennessee, on November 7, 1872. Little is known about her
family. She made her stage debut at the local summer stock theater in
1876. The production was called "Centennial" in honor of America's
100th birthday, and the three-year old Lucille was among a handful of
child extras in the play. In 1878 she returned to play another child
part. She continued to return every summer, sort of becoming the
playhouse's resident child star. She quickly proved herself a talented
actress, and as she got older she was given better parts. She won
great acclaim when during the summer of 1887 she played both Juliet
and Lady Macbeth--at only 14 years of age.
On the night of her 16th birthday in 1888,
made her Broadway debut with a supporting role in "La Tosca". The play
closed after four weeks. In the fall of 1889 she performed with a
stock company in Washington, DC, where she played May in "May Blossom"
and Chrissy Rogers in "The Governess". She also toured as Ethel in
"Judge Not". Her breakthrough performance was a limited-run Broadway
revival of "As You Like It" with an all-female cast in March 1894, and she won much acclaim for her performance as "Corin". In the 1894-95
season, she played Patsy in Frank Mayo's Broadway production of Mark Twain's "Pudd'nhead Wilson". She also scored great success by playing the female lead roles in three
different acclaimed touring productions over the next three years:
"Notre Dame" (1895-96), "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1897-98) and "Lady
Windermere's Fan" (1897-98). In 1898 La Verne was made manager and director of the newly built
Empire Theater in Richmond, VA. She staged five shows every
season, and received mostly rave reviews. She played everything from leading roles in "Hedda Gabbler" and "Antigone" to character parts such as "Ma Frochard" in "The Two Orphans." She also wrote an adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", which she first
staged in 1900, and her version was used by several other theaters in the
early 1900s. She received much acclaim for her work at the Empire,
and even received the Woman of the Year Award from the Virginia
Women's Society in 1901.
She stepped down from the Empire Theater at the end of the 1903-04
season to make her London debut in a comic supporting role in the play
"Clarice". She again received acclaim and repeated her success in the
Broadway production three months later. She remained a staple of
the Broadway stage for the next several years, specializing in
character parts. She also returned on occasion to stock theaters to act
and direct. She made her film debut in 1914 in Butterflies and Orange Blossoms (1914). From then on she would divide her
time between film and the stage. She was used in film frequently by
D.W. Griffith for various
character parts. While she was a versatile actress, her most memorable
parts in film were always those of vengeful women.
Her greatest stage triumph was the creation of the Widow Caggle role in
the original Broadway production of "Sun Up". After the Broadway
engagement she directed, as well as continued to perform, in the
US and European tours of the play. She also recreated her role
for the film version (Sun-Up (1925)). In 1927 Broadway's Princess Theater was renamed
the Lucille La Verne Theater in her honor, and she was named manager and
director. For her first outing as a Broadway producer and director she
chose an original play called "Hot Water", giving herself the role of
Jessica Dale. The play received mixed reviews and closed rather
quickly. Later that same season she launched a revival of "Sun Up"
repeating her Widow Caggle role, but it also closed quickly. Since the
theater had lost money, she was let go as manager and the name reverted
to being the Princess Theater. Upset, she moved to California for the
time being to make more movies.
By 1928 she had already established herself as a good character
actress in silent films and made the transition easily to talkies. As
with her stage career, however, she tended to get typecast as unlikable women, despite her
acclaim on Broadway for being able to play almost any character type.
She did not abandon the stage entirely, however, and appeared frequently
in regional productions in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 1936 she
returned to Broadway in the lead role of the thriller "Black Widow".
Despite the rave reviews she received, the play itself got mixed reviews
and closed after just a few performances. It would be her last stage
production. La Verne quickly returned to Hollywood to take on her most
famous role. She voiced both the Wicked Queen and her alter ego, the
Old Hag in Walt Disney's first animated feature film,
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
She also worked as a live-action model for the artists.
After working on "Snow White", Lucille La Verne retired from acting and
became co-owner of a successful nightclub. She died at age 72 of cancer
on March 4, 1945, in Culver City, CA.