A while back I began a series of posts on actresses of the Victorian Edwardian era, and I think I'll continue that with Maude Fealy...
This beautiful lady was born Maude Hawk in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 3, 1881 (sources vary on the year).
Her mother moved to Denver to teach at the Tabor School of Acting, and Colorado was home to Maude Fealy for much of her life.
Her mother Margaret Fealy was an actress, and Maude made her first appearance at age three and was performing dramatic roles at age five. By 1907 she was a well-known actress, appearing on magazine covers and touring the the United States and England in comedies and dramatic plays to general critical acclaim.
Maude secretly married English theater critic Lewis Hugo Sherman in 1907, but the union was short-lived, due largely to her mother's active sabotage.
Maude married actor James Peter-Durkin in 1909, with her mother's full approval, and the couple used Maude's financial resources to form the Fealy-Durkin stock company which performed plays in Denver for a few years. This marriage also ended in divorce in 1917.
There are unsubstantiated rumors that Maude Fealy was at one time romantically involved with fellow actress Eva La Gallienne and may have been a lesbian. Maude's third and final marriage, to her manager John Cort, ended in annulment in 1923.
Maude Fealy was associated with the Thanhauser film company for several years, and was the leading lady in numerous early silent film productions. She continued to appear in plays in cities across the country.
In 1917 she formed her own theater company, The Lakeside Theater in Denver, which produced a variety of plays including at least one she wrote herself.
Theater magazines of the day report that she was 5'1" tall with dark blue eyes, and enjoyed art and books, pets and plants, swimming and writing.
During the Depression Era of the 1930s, Maude was involved with the Federal Theater Project and the Works Progress Administration in Los Angeles. During the 1940s she taught acting classes in Denver, and appeared in occasional small film roles throughout the 1940s and 1950s.
She was great friends with Cecil B. DeMille and appeared in many of his films including the 1956 production of The Ten Commandments. She had a small part and also did the voice-over for several other players.
Fealy and DeMille had met and become friends years earlier when they performed a swordfight together in the play
Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall at Lakeside Theater.
Maude Fealy once said, "Actors never give up acting; it gives them up." She officially retired in 1957, but was active in the theater throughout her life. She continued to give one-woman performances and lectured on Shakespeare.
She lived in Denver for many years, but died in the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, in 1971.
She was interred at the Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery Mausoleum, close to her mother. Funeral expenses were paid by the estate of Cecil B. DeMille, as he had provided in his will (he died in 1959). No close relatives survived her.
Despite spending nearly all of her life in the public eye to one degree or another, Maude Fealy seems a bit of an enigma. She is remembered as one of the loveliest ladies of the stage and screen, and her postcard images are among our most popular.
I thought I would share some sweeties for the Babies and Children challenge. Enjoy! (and enter the challenge!)
Here is a Victorian Easter bunny, ready for his big day with a pile of colored eggs! 
In honor of my DIVA blog challenge going on this week, I thought it was time for another Vintage Actress feature. We have so many beautiful photo postcards of Victorian Edwardian actresses and dancers in our Ladies Photos collections, and maybe you'll enjoy knowing a little more about these famous ladies of the stage. I'm working on a collection of just actress and showgirls, organized alphabetically so you can find all the images of each lady together.
Cléo de Mérode quickly became known for her beauty and glamour even more than for her dancing skills, and at a young age her image began appearing on postcards and playing cards. A unique new hairdo she choose to wear became the talk of Parisian women. She was also noted for her tiny waist which was accentuated by the tightlacing that was popular at the time. Sculptor Alexandre Falguière used her as the model for his sculpture "The Dancer," which today can be seen in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Several famous artists of the day painted her portrait. In Vienna her beauty caught the attention of painter Gustav Klimt.
In 1896, 61-year-old King Léopold II of Belgium saw Mérode dance in the ballet and became enamoured with the 22-year-old performer. Gossip started that she was his latest mistress. Because the King had two children with a woman reputed to be a prostitute, Cléo de Mérode's reputation suffered because of the gossip connecting her to the king.
Very popular in her ancestral homeland of Austria as well as in Germany, she appeared in the 1926 German motion picture "Frauen der Leidenschaft." Mérode continued to dance until her early fifties when she retired to the seaside resort of Biarritz in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques area of France. In 1955 she published her autobiography, "Le Ballet de Ma Vie."
You may recognize Lily Elsie as one of our very favorite "Lunagirl" ladies ~ in fact, the lady in our blog banner. She is certainly one of the most beautiful women in our photo postcard collection, and was a prolific and talented actress in Edwardian musical comedies. 
Despite being painfully shy, "Little Elsie" was a star in the British theater from early childhood, landing title roles on the London stage by age 10. By age 20 she had,appeared in 14 shows. Her anxiety and stage fright combined with the heavy touring schedule she adopted from an early age would lead to bouts of exhaustion throughout her life. From about 1900, she adopted the stage name "Lily Elsie". 
Admired for her beauty and charm, Elsie became one of the most photographed women of Edwardian times. Her image was much in demand by advertisers and for postcards. An Atlanta newspaper wrote, "Everyone agrees that Lily Elsie has the most kissable mouth in all England." The famous costume designer Lucile described her as "a girl who had both beauty and intelligence." 
For a change of pace from the usual cherubs and flowers, why not try some of our "Naughty in 1900" risque French postcards for your Valentines Day projects? They are sweet and only slightly naughty ~ although they were quite scandalous in their day! You'll find some on our Ladies Photos Volume One CD.
Lunagirl Vintage Lovers collection: 450 photos and postcards on CD features romantic couples taken from cards from the 1920s and Edwardian era.
"Vintage Lovers" is the companion CD to our "Victorian Romance" CD which features couples of the Victorian era in 550 images. If you want a more traditionally Victorian look in romantic photos and cards, click the picture to see!
These are some of the amazing snowflake photomicrographs taken by Vermont farmer, scientist and photographer Wilson Bentley. It was Wilson Bentley who first proposed the idea that no two snowflakes are alike! As snowstorms blanket the East Coast and the Rockies this weekend, look around at all the white, millions and billions of snowflakes, and really think about how every tiny snow crystal is unique and one-of-a-kind!
Perfect for Easter season crafts: our Lunagirl Easter Photos & Postcards CD includes 100 charming vintage images. Most feature ladies, children, and romantic couples, many with eggs, baskets, flowers, and/or Easter greetings (usually in French!) This lovely and unique offering, created especially for Lunagirl customers using antique cards from our private collection, is available now. Click here to see details and a bunch of sample images!
Aren't these two charming? We purchased them from different sources, but they are obviously a matched set! Both can be found in our Easter Photos & Postcards collection on CD.
I'm happy to announce our latest new release! A charming original collection featuring 500 Victorian Edwardian era photos of little girls, adapted from antique photo postcards. These are all newly scanned from a card collection purchased from a private collector in France, so you're not going to see them anywhere else. They have been lovingly restored, color enhanced, and altered to perfection for your enjoyment and use in your projects. Click on the picture above to see details and lots of sample pics!
A while back I began a series of posts on actresses of the Victorian Edwardian era, and I think I'll continue that with Maude Fealy...
