Vaudeville Entertainer. She and her sisters Jessie, Effie and Lizzie were forced to turn to show business after the death of their parents. From 1893 until 1917, they toured regularily on the Vaudeville circuit, singing songs they wrote, reciting poetry and performing an original operetta. They were so bad, they were good. Audiences enjoyed hissing, booing and throwing fruit at them. Yet, they persevered. In 1896 they played to sold out houses at the Olympia Theater on Broadway for four weeks. When a critic in Iowa wrote a scathing review of their performance, they sued for libel. The Iowa supreme Court ruled against their appeal establishing the "fair comment and ctiticism" principle of libel law. When World War I broke out, they retired to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they opened a bakery that specialized in cherry pies. They died penniless.
Vaudeville Entertainer. She and her sisters Jessie, Effie and Lizzie were forced to turn to show business after the death of their parents. From 1893 until 1917, they toured regularily on the Vaudeville circuit, singing songs they wrote, reciting poetry and performing an original operetta. They were so bad, they were good. Audiences enjoyed hissing, booing and throwing fruit at them. Yet, they persevered. In 1896 they played to sold out houses at the Olympia Theater on Broadway for four weeks. When a critic in Iowa wrote a scathing review of their performance, they sued for libel. The Iowa supreme Court ruled against their appeal establishing the "fair comment and ctiticism" principle of libel law. When World War I broke out, they retired to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they opened a bakery that specialized in cherry pies. They died penniless.
Bio by: Gary Thelen
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