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Celie Ellis Turner

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Celie Ellis Turner
Ellis from a Duke Cigarettes advertisement
Ellis c. 1880s
Born
Celie G. Turner
Other namesCelie Ellis
Occupation(s)Actress
Playwright
Years active1886-1917

Celie Ellis Turner was an actress and playwright in the United States. Born Celie G. Turner, she used the stage name Celie Ellis. 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 1800's, performing a number of major roles and having singing performances that exercised her talent as a soubrette.

Childhood and education

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Born Celie G. Turner[1] to a New York Congressman father, Richard R. Flannagan,[2] and a wealthy mother related to Governor Horatio Seymour,[3] Ellis attended the Villa Maria school 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] Because of her classical musical training, she had conflicts with her family over her becoming a stage actress.[3] Her success in the industry, however, was able to convince them to support her.[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]

Career

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Choosing the stage name Celie Ellis,[1] she was a part of comic opera and farce theatre performances from the 1880s through the 1890s,[6] frequently seen in performances at the New York Casino.[3] She also performed as a member of the McCaull opera company in the 1880s[7] before then acting as the soubrette for the Blue Jeans company.[8] 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.[9]

Ellis temporarily retired from theatre in late 1887 after getting married,[10] 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.[11] 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.[6][12] In 1894, Ellis moved stock companies again to join the Wicklow Postman Company run by Eugene O'Rourke.[13]

Works

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As performer

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Duke Cigarettes photo card
  • The Mikado (1886) as Pitti-Sing[14]
  • Black Hussar (1886) as Rosetta[15]
  • The Arabian Nights (1887) as the Princess[16]
  • Jacquette (1888)[17]
  • Paola (1889) as Chilina[18]
  • The Gondoliers (1890)[11] as Tessa[19]
  • The Brigands (1890)[20]
  • The Man About Town (1891)[21]
  • Dr. Bill (1892) as Mrs. Horton[6]
  • May Blossom (1893) as May Blossom[22]
  • Pinafore (1893) as Buttercup[23]
  • Yetiva (1895) as Yetiva[24]
  • A Night's Frolic (1896)[4]

As playwright

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  • What the Ship Brought (1904)[25]
  • Society Island (1906)[26]
  • A Flower (1908)[27]
  • Who's Safe (1911)[28]
  • La Vespa (The Wasp) (1912)[29]
  • Equality of Men (1917)[30]

Personal life

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Ellis was married to Henry S. Blake on November 15, 1887.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b Dench, Ernest A. (1916). "Motion Picture Photography". Camera: A Practical Magazine for Photographers. Vol. 20. Columbia Photographic Society. p. 123.
  2. ^ "Obituary Notes - Richard R. Flannagan". The Sun. March 7, 1895. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e "At The Gardens". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 3, 1888. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b "Celie Ellis". The Sentinel. February 21, 1896. Retrieved October 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Celie Ellis". The Times-Plain Dealer. June 23, 1887. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b c "Dramatic". Minneapolis Daily Times. December 20, 1896. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "The M'Caull Opera Company". Emporia Daily News. December 20, 1886. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Motto And Monogram". Chicago Tribune. April 2, 1893. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Chicago Opera House". Chicago Inter Ocean. April 19, 1887. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b "Greenroom Gossip - Celie Ellis". The Brooklyn Daily Times. November 12, 1887. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b ""The Gondoliers" In Brooklyn". The Brooklyn Daily Times. January 15, 1890. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "The Local Stage". Minneapolis Daily Times. December 20, 1896. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Coulisse Chat - Celie Ellis". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. February 4, 1894. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Weekly Theatrical Announcements". Buffalo Courier Express. April 4, 1886. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "The "Black Hussar" Well Presented - The "Rag Baby's" Visit". The Kansas City Times. December 28, 1886. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Chicago Opera-House - Third Edition of "The Arabian Nights"". Chicago Tribune. August 23, 1887. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Fiske, Harrison Grey (1888). "The New York Mirror Annual and Directory of the Theatrical Profession for 1888".
  18. ^ "Musical Melange - Paola". Chicago Inter Ocean. May 5, 1889. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Plays and Players". The Topeka State Journal. January 17, 1890. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "The Brigands". The Baltimore Sun. May 29, 1890. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Theatrical Doings". The Philadelphia Inquirer. January 22, 1891. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Forepaugh's". The Philadelphia Times. April 9, 1893. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ ""Pinafore" Tonight". The Gazette. June 19, 1893. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "At The Grand". Asheville Citizen-Times. October 28, 1895. Retrieved October 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Dramatic Compositions Copyrighted in the United States, 1870 to 1916". 1918.
  26. ^ "Catalogue of Copyright Entries: New series". 1906.
  27. ^ Office, Copyright (1908). "Catalogue of Copyright Entries: Books, Dramatic Compositions, Maps and Charts".
  28. ^ Sturgis, Granville Forbes (1913). "The Influence of the Drama".
  29. ^ "Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [B] Group 2. Pamphlets, Etc. New Series". 1912.
  30. ^ "Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions". 1917.
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