Celie Ellis Turner (born Celia Flanagan; 1864/1865 – October 2, 1924) was an American actress, singer, and playwright. Her early upbringing in a wealthy family included extensive musical education before she chose to join operatic and comic theatre. She transferred to multiple different stock companies during her career in the late 1800s, performing a number of major roles and having singing performances that exercised her talent as a soubrette.
Celie Ellis Turner | |
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_issued_by_Duke_Sons_%26_Co._to_promote_Duke_Cigarettes_MET_DP840401.jpg) Ellis c. 1880s | |
| Born | Celia Flanagan 1864/1865 |
| Died | October 2, 1924 New York City, New York |
| Other names |
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| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1886–1917 |
Life and career
editShe was born Celia Flanagan in 1864/1865 in New York City.[1] She was one of eight children born to Richard R. Flannagan, a Tammany Hall politician, who was elected a Coroner of New York County from 1876 to 1879,[2] and a wealthy mother related to Governor Horatio Seymour.[3] She attended the Villa Maria school in Montreal, Canada, in her childhood and also learned music under Madame Kartel. She then went on to complete a post graduate musical course at the Metropolitan College of Music.[4] She had conflicts with her family over pursuing a career on the stage, but still found success in the field.[3] She became known as "the little mother" to those close to her because she helped raise her multiple siblings after the loss of their mother.[5]
Choosing the stage name Celie Ellis,[6] she was a part of comic opera and farce theatre performances from the 1880s through the 1890s,[7] frequently seen in performances at Broadway's Casino Theatre.[3] She also performed as a member of the McCaull Comic Opera Company in the 1880s[8] before then acting as the soubrette for the Blue Jeans company.[9] Ellis was noted by the Chicago Inter Ocean for her performance in the Black Hussar, especially her "piquant, saucy air" in her acting and her "pleasant singing voice" for the song "Ohe Mamma" that received several requests for encores.[10]
Ellis married Henry S. Blake on November 15, 1887,[11] and temporarily retired from theatre shortly afterwards,[11] but returned in the middle of 1888 as a part of Heinrich Conried's English Opera Company and its performances at Uhrig's Cave.[3] Joining the Duff Opera Company in 1889, she began taking roles playing as the ingénue character.[12] She later joined as the leading lady of a stock company and was noted for being the long-term star of the 1892 play Dr. Bill in the United States.[7][13] In 1894, Ellis moved stock companies again to join Eugene O'Rourke's The Wicklow Postman touring company.[14] Several years after, in the early 1900s, she chose to leave acting and became a playwright.[15] She died on October 2, 1924, at the reported age of 50 when she suffered a heart attack while visiting her theatrical manager's office to sell a new play she had written.[16][15]
Works
editAs performer
edit_issued_by_Duke_Sons_%26_Co._to_promote_Duke_Cigarettes_MET_DP840402.jpg)
- The Mikado (1886) as Pitti-Sing[17]
- Black Hussar (1886) as Rosetta[18]
- The Arabian Nights (1887) as the Princess[19]
- Jacquette (1888)[20]
- Paola (1889) as Chilina[21]
- The Gondoliers (1890)[12] as Tessa[22]
- The Brigands (1890)[23]
- The Man About Town (1891)[24]
- Dr. Bill (1892) as Mrs. Horton[7]
- May Blossom (1893) as May Blossom[25]
- H.M.S. Pinafore (1893) as Buttercup[26]
- Yetiva (1895) as Yetiva[27]
- A Night's Frolic (1896)[4]
As playwright
editReferences
edit- ^ Celia Flanagan, United States census, 1880; New York City; page 9, line 22, enumeration district 341. Retrieved on November 30, 2024.
- ^ "Obituary Notes - Richard R. Flannagan". The Sun. March 7, 1895. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d "At The Gardens". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 3, 1888. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Celie Ellis". The Sentinel. February 21, 1896. Retrieved October 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Celie Ellis". The Times-Plain Dealer. June 23, 1887. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Dench, Ernest A. (1916). "Motion Picture Photography". Camera: A Practical Magazine for Photographers. Vol. 20. Columbia Photographic Society. p. 123.
- ^ a b c "Dramatic". Minneapolis Daily Times. December 20, 1896. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The M'Caull Opera Company". Emporia Daily News. December 20, 1886. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Motto And Monogram". Chicago Tribune. April 2, 1893. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Chicago Opera House". Chicago Inter Ocean. April 19, 1887. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Greenroom Gossip - Celie Ellis". The Brooklyn Daily Times. November 12, 1887. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b ""The Gondoliers" In Brooklyn". The Brooklyn Daily Times. January 15, 1890. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Local Stage". Minneapolis Daily Times. December 20, 1896. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Coulisse Chat - Celie Ellis". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. February 4, 1894. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Mrs. Cecilia Turner". Variety. Vol. 76, no. 8. Penske Media Corporation. October 8, 1924. Retrieved November 26, 2024 – via Archive.org.
- ^ "Cecilia Turner, Ex-Actress, Drops Dead". The Omaha Daily News. October 3, 1924. Retrieved November 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Weekly Theatrical Announcements". Buffalo Courier Express. April 4, 1886. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The "Black Hussar" Well Presented - The "Rag Baby's" Visit". The Kansas City Times. December 28, 1886. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Chicago Opera-House - Third Edition of "The Arabian Nights"". Chicago Tribune. August 23, 1887. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Fiske, Harrison Grey (1888). "The New York Mirror Annual and Directory of the Theatrical Profession for 1888".
- ^ "Musical Melange - Paola". Chicago Inter Ocean. May 5, 1889. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Plays and Players". The Topeka State Journal. January 17, 1890. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Brigands". The Baltimore Sun. May 29, 1890. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Theatrical Doings". The Philadelphia Inquirer. January 22, 1891. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Forepaugh's". The Philadelphia Times. April 9, 1893. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ ""Pinafore" Tonight". The Gazette. June 19, 1893. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "At The Grand". Asheville Citizen-Times. October 28, 1895. Retrieved October 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Dramatic Compositions Copyrighted in the United States, 1870 to 1916". 1918.
- ^ "Catalogue of Copyright Entries: New series". 1906.
- ^ Office, Copyright (1908). "Catalogue of Copyright Entries: Books, Dramatic Compositions, Maps and Charts".
- ^ Sturgis, Granville Forbes (1913). "The Influence of the Drama".
- ^ "Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [B] Group 2. Pamphlets, Etc. New Series". 1912.
- ^ "Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions". 1917.