Singer, Actress. A star of both the Broadway and West End stage, she is remembered for creating the title role in the 1919 musical hit "Irene". Though little is recorded of her early years it is known that she first appeared on Broadway in the 1916 "Pom Pom" then made her silver screen debut in 1918's "The Grain of Dust". Edith was seen in two more silent flicks then on November 18, 1919, appeared in the world premiere of James Montgomery's "Irene" in which she got to sing the piece's best known song "Alice Blue Gown", a number written in homage to society beauty of the day Alice Roosevelt Longworth. Though she received rave reviews she left the show five months into its run to take her role to London; Edith was to remain in England for the rest of her life, along the way becoming a leading light of the West End. A part of the original casts of "Orange Blossoms" (1922) and 1924's "Wildflower", she was to star in the London productions of such standards as "Rose Marie", "The Desert Song", and "Show Boat". Married at least three times, Edith lost her only son in World War II and was retired from the theatre from about 1930 on. In the early 1960s she was to make a limited comeback in two of Noel Coward's works, "Waiting in the Wings" (1960) and "Sail Away" (1962). Edith lived out her days in her adopted city, is memorialized via a gin-based cocktail, and was portrayed in "Boardwalk Empire" by Erin McGrath. Some of her records have been preserved and in 2005 her rendition of "Alice Blue Gown" was heard on the soundtrack of Dame Agatha Christie's Poirot mystery "Five Little Pigs".
Singer, Actress. A star of both the Broadway and West End stage, she is remembered for creating the title role in the 1919 musical hit "Irene". Though little is recorded of her early years it is known that she first appeared on Broadway in the 1916 "Pom Pom" then made her silver screen debut in 1918's "The Grain of Dust". Edith was seen in two more silent flicks then on November 18, 1919, appeared in the world premiere of James Montgomery's "Irene" in which she got to sing the piece's best known song "Alice Blue Gown", a number written in homage to society beauty of the day Alice Roosevelt Longworth. Though she received rave reviews she left the show five months into its run to take her role to London; Edith was to remain in England for the rest of her life, along the way becoming a leading light of the West End. A part of the original casts of "Orange Blossoms" (1922) and 1924's "Wildflower", she was to star in the London productions of such standards as "Rose Marie", "The Desert Song", and "Show Boat". Married at least three times, Edith lost her only son in World War II and was retired from the theatre from about 1930 on. In the early 1960s she was to make a limited comeback in two of Noel Coward's works, "Waiting in the Wings" (1960) and "Sail Away" (1962). Edith lived out her days in her adopted city, is memorialized via a gin-based cocktail, and was portrayed in "Boardwalk Empire" by Erin McGrath. Some of her records have been preserved and in 2005 her rendition of "Alice Blue Gown" was heard on the soundtrack of Dame Agatha Christie's Poirot mystery "Five Little Pigs".
Bio by: Bob Hufford
Family Members
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See more Day memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
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Minnesota, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1840-1980
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New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957
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U.S., Newspapers.com™ Obituary Index, 1800s-current
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Web: Connecticut, U.S., Marriage Records, 1897-1968
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U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925
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