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Isabelle Urquhart
Isabelle Urquhart (December 9, 1865 – February 7, 1907), also known as Belle Urquhart, was an American contralto and actress, noted for her performances in comic opera and musical comedy.
Born in New York City, Urquhart ran away from convent school to become a chorus girl. By 1881, she was performing chorus roles with the Richard D'Oyly Carte and E. E. Rice opera companies in America. She moved up to small roles with Augustin Daly's company from 1882 to 1883 and joined the H. M. Pitts comedy company for three London theatrical seasons, starting in 1883, while performing in New York City between those seasons. By this time, she was playing principal roles in Victorian burlesque. In 1886, Urquhart played leading roles in Shakespeare and other dramas at the Globe Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, but she reluctantly returned to comic opera in New York, where she played smaller roles that paid better.
Her first major role was Cerise in the hit musical Erminie, which ran from 1886 to 1888 at the Casino Theatre. She was noted for her impressive figure, and her fashion choices were admired by men and imitated by women. She then played leading roles in other comic operas in New York City, where she had become "one of the reigning queens of comic opera". She appeared in vaudeville in the late 1890s. By 1900, Urquhart ran her own touring company and later took further roles in New York. By this decade, she was starring as older characters, earning strong notices. In 1906, she appeared in Broadway revivals of George Bernard Shaw's comedies Arms and the Man and How He Lied to Her Husband. The latter was her final role.
Urquhart was a popular model for cabinet cards that were distributed as a promotional incentive with cigarettes and other tobacco products. She was married to English actor Guy Standing from 1893 to 1899. She died of peritonitis in 1907 at the age of 41.
Urquhart was born in New York City on December 9, 1865, and was of Scottish ancestry. Her father died when she was five years old. At the age of ten, she enrolled in a convent school, where she sang in choirs. When she was fifteen years old, Urquhart ran away from the convent school to seek a stage career, but her mother found her after two weeks and sent her back to the school. She ran away again and found a job as a chorus girl, officially starting her theatrical career and ending her formal education.
Urquhart's first theatrical job was as a chorus girl at the Standard Theatre in New York City for $10 a week ($358 in today's money). She recalled that her first performance was in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience. Other sources say that her first stage appearance was in the chorus in Billee Taylor, produced by the Richard D'Oyly Carte and E. E. Rice opera companies on February 19, 1881. She soon had a small role in a serio-comedic opera by Charles Brown called Elves and Mermaids. She was in the chorus of another D'Oyly Carte production, the comic opera Claude Duval, the following theatrical season.
Augustin Daly's company engaged Urquhart to play utility parts from 1882 to 1883. In this capacity, she performed as Edinge in Giroutte, Mary Ann in The Passing Regiment, and in a production of Needles and Pins. In The Squire, Urquhart played a 97-year-old woman, but not without some reservations; she recalled, "I was seventeen at the time, so I am not quite sure that I relished appearing as a nonagenarian."
She spent three successful theatrical seasons in London, England, with the H. M. Pitts comedy company, starting in the summer of 1883. Between these, in May 1884, she portrayed Cora Piper in Madame Piper at Wallack's Theatre on Broadway. In September 1884, as a member of the Bijoux Theatre opera company, she played Venus in a burlesque, Orpheus and Eurydice, at Stetson's Fifth Avenue Theatre on Broadway. She performed the role of Mars in another burlesque, Ixion in February 1885 at The New York Comedy Theatre. During the 1885 to 1886 theater season in New York City, Urquhart was also in two comedies by George Bernard Shaw: Arms and the Man and How He Lied to Her Husband.
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Isabelle Urquhart
Isabelle Urquhart (December 9, 1865 – February 7, 1907), also known as Belle Urquhart, was an American contralto and actress, noted for her performances in comic opera and musical comedy.
Born in New York City, Urquhart ran away from convent school to become a chorus girl. By 1881, she was performing chorus roles with the Richard D'Oyly Carte and E. E. Rice opera companies in America. She moved up to small roles with Augustin Daly's company from 1882 to 1883 and joined the H. M. Pitts comedy company for three London theatrical seasons, starting in 1883, while performing in New York City between those seasons. By this time, she was playing principal roles in Victorian burlesque. In 1886, Urquhart played leading roles in Shakespeare and other dramas at the Globe Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, but she reluctantly returned to comic opera in New York, where she played smaller roles that paid better.
Her first major role was Cerise in the hit musical Erminie, which ran from 1886 to 1888 at the Casino Theatre. She was noted for her impressive figure, and her fashion choices were admired by men and imitated by women. She then played leading roles in other comic operas in New York City, where she had become "one of the reigning queens of comic opera". She appeared in vaudeville in the late 1890s. By 1900, Urquhart ran her own touring company and later took further roles in New York. By this decade, she was starring as older characters, earning strong notices. In 1906, she appeared in Broadway revivals of George Bernard Shaw's comedies Arms and the Man and How He Lied to Her Husband. The latter was her final role.
Urquhart was a popular model for cabinet cards that were distributed as a promotional incentive with cigarettes and other tobacco products. She was married to English actor Guy Standing from 1893 to 1899. She died of peritonitis in 1907 at the age of 41.
Urquhart was born in New York City on December 9, 1865, and was of Scottish ancestry. Her father died when she was five years old. At the age of ten, she enrolled in a convent school, where she sang in choirs. When she was fifteen years old, Urquhart ran away from the convent school to seek a stage career, but her mother found her after two weeks and sent her back to the school. She ran away again and found a job as a chorus girl, officially starting her theatrical career and ending her formal education.
Urquhart's first theatrical job was as a chorus girl at the Standard Theatre in New York City for $10 a week ($358 in today's money). She recalled that her first performance was in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience. Other sources say that her first stage appearance was in the chorus in Billee Taylor, produced by the Richard D'Oyly Carte and E. E. Rice opera companies on February 19, 1881. She soon had a small role in a serio-comedic opera by Charles Brown called Elves and Mermaids. She was in the chorus of another D'Oyly Carte production, the comic opera Claude Duval, the following theatrical season.
Augustin Daly's company engaged Urquhart to play utility parts from 1882 to 1883. In this capacity, she performed as Edinge in Giroutte, Mary Ann in The Passing Regiment, and in a production of Needles and Pins. In The Squire, Urquhart played a 97-year-old woman, but not without some reservations; she recalled, "I was seventeen at the time, so I am not quite sure that I relished appearing as a nonagenarian."
She spent three successful theatrical seasons in London, England, with the H. M. Pitts comedy company, starting in the summer of 1883. Between these, in May 1884, she portrayed Cora Piper in Madame Piper at Wallack's Theatre on Broadway. In September 1884, as a member of the Bijoux Theatre opera company, she played Venus in a burlesque, Orpheus and Eurydice, at Stetson's Fifth Avenue Theatre on Broadway. She performed the role of Mars in another burlesque, Ixion in February 1885 at The New York Comedy Theatre. During the 1885 to 1886 theater season in New York City, Urquhart was also in two comedies by George Bernard Shaw: Arms and the Man and How He Lied to Her Husband.