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Frances White (vaudeville)

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Frances White
A young white woman with slicked-back short dark hair, wearing a strapless top
Frances White, from a 1920 publication
Born
Frances Mae Caples

January 1, 1896
DiedFebruary 25, 1969 (aged 73)
Los Angeles, California
Other namesFrances White Fay, Frances White Donnelly
Occupation(s)Actress, singer, vaudeville performer
Spouse(s)
Lonnie Garwood
​
​
(m. 1910, annulled)​

​
​
(m. 1917; div. 1917)​

Clinton Donnelly
​
​
(m. 1923, divorced)​

Frances White (born Frances Mae Caples; January 1, 1896 – February 24, 1969)[1] was an American singer and actress on Broadway, on the vaudeville stage, and in silent films. She popularized the spelling song "M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I". She played "Fanny Warden" in The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford (1915), a series of silent short comedies. She was also in the cast of the eugenics film The Black Stork (1917).

Early life

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Frances Caples was the daughter of Edward T. Caples and Caroline Leibfried Caples.[2][3] Her grandfather was a wealthy Texas banker.[4] She may have been from Texas,[5][6] San Francisco,[7] Los Angeles,[8] or Seattle[1] (sources vary on this point).

Career

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A young white woman wearing a theatrical costume, seated indoors, knitting
Frances White, knitting, from a 1917 newspaper photo

White began her stage career in Los Angeles in 1910.[9] She joined William Rock; the duo Rock & White found success on the vaudeville circuit[1] with a musical comedy and dance act before they split in 1919. She was a "child impersonator", wearing gingham rompers and an oversized hair bow; in this guise, she was known for popularizing the spelling song "M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I".[10] She was also known for a very short "neat and smart" haircut, brushed back to the nape with oil.[11]

White played "Fanny Warden" in The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford (1915), a series of silent short films starring Burr McIntosh and Max Figman. She was also in the cast of the eugenics film The Black Stork (1917). Her Broadway credits included roles in Ziegfeld Follies of 1916, Hitchy-Koo (1917), Let's Go (1918), Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic (1919),[12] Jimmie (1921),[11] and The Hotel Mouse (1922).[13]

White's last film role was in Face to Face (1922), with Marguerite Marsh. "This unique actress knows her limitations and flatly refuses to be anything but her breezy, slangy, fresh young self," said a 1925 newspaper profile.[5] Also in 1925, she explained to Lorena Hickok that the distinctive sound of her voice was the result of a tonsillectomy.[14]

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In 1922, Frances White was sued for alienation of affections by Dorothy Wolfe Stothart, the wife of composer Herbert Stothart.[15][16] A Seattle jeweler sued White for money owed in the late 1920s. In 1930, she was briefly jailed for failure to pay a taxi fare in New York City.[17][18] In 1931, she declared bankruptcy.[1]

Personal life

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White first married in 1910, at age 14, in Mexico, to her co-star Lonnie Garwood; the marriage was quickly annulled.[8][19] She next married comedian Frank Fay in 1917; they soon divorced.[20] She married again, to businessman Clinton Donnelly in 1923; they too divorced.[17] She lived with her mother in New York City and Los Angeles, until her mother's death in 1955. White died in 1969, aged 73 years, in Los Angeles [21]


References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Frances White Bankrupt; Vaudeville Actress Lists $7,500 as Assets and $13,189 as Liabilities". The New York Times. 1931-08-11. p. 21. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-09-04.
  2. ^ "Mother of Beauty is Freed by Court". Los Angeles Evening Herald. June 29, 1917. p. 21. Retrieved September 4, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  3. ^ "Mrs. Caples Refused Divorce". Los Angeles Herald. May 10, 1917. p. 3. Retrieved September 4, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  4. ^ "Wife to Press Suit against Millionaire". Los Angeles Herald. May 10, 1917. p. 11. Retrieved September 4, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  5. ^ a b "Just Frances White". Pittsburgh Daily Post. 1925-03-20. p. 9. Retrieved 2022-09-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Dainty Star Dislikes War; 'Nurse, Not Me', She Says". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1914-05-07. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-09-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Actors in $100,000 Love Suit; Frances White Fay Cause". The San Francisco Examiner. 1917-07-18. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-09-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b "Such is Fame". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 1930-09-13. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-09-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Olympius, Shirley (1910-06-15). "Los Angeles Girl is Big Hit in Vaudeville". Los Angeles Herald. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-09-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Children to Sing in Stage Contest at the St. Louis". The St. Louis Star and Times. 1929-10-31. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-09-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b "Versatile Francis White Can be Several Things Beside 'Jimmie'". Reading Times. 1921-03-05. p. 17. Retrieved 2022-09-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Johnston, Alfred Cheney. "Frances White in 'Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic'" (1916), in the photographs collection of the Museum of the City of New York.
  13. ^ Pach Brothers, "Frances White as Mauricette in 'The Hotel Mouse'" (1922), in the photograph collection of the Museum of the City of New York.
  14. ^ Hickok, Lorena A. (1925-12-30). "Even Dandruff Couldn't Stop Frances White". Star Tribune. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-09-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Mystery of the Poison Shoe Polish". The San Francisco Examiner. 1925-01-11. p. 117. Retrieved 2022-09-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "A 'Vamp' Must Pay for Beguiling Other Women's Husbands". The San Francisco Examiner. 1921-07-10. p. 84. Retrieved 2022-09-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b "Bright Lights Dim for Frances White; Ex-Stage Star Jailed 5 Hours When She Has Only 30 Cents to Pay $3.50 Taxi Bill". The New York Times. 1930-09-08. p. 23. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-09-04.
  18. ^ Pomeroy, Hally (1930-09-28). "Broadway is Against Star of Follies". The Times Dispatch. p. 47. Retrieved 2022-09-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Mrs. A. H. Garwood (Frances White) Who Eloped to Santa Ana Yesterday". Los Angeles Herald. 1910-07-12. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-09-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "How Little Frances White 'Got Even' with her Ex-Husband". The San Francisco Examiner. 1918-04-07. p. 55. Retrieved 2022-09-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Donnelly, Frances. "Francis W Donnelley, Vital. California Death Index, 1940-1997". FamilySearch. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
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