Description
Book Synopsis When Mrs. August Belmont died in 1979, just before her 100th birthday, she was remembered as a philanthropist and advocate for the arts, especially the Metropolitan Opera--but before her triumphs as Mrs. Belmont, she had dignified the American stage for 13 glorious years as Eleanor Robson, actress. Her splendid voice, understated style, and always-evident intelligence thrilled legions of theatregoers and enthralled the best playwrights of her time, including Israel Zangwill, Clyde Fitch, and George Bernard Shaw.
Despite the brevity of her career, Eleanor Robson stands as a prototype for many actresses who followed her--women who sought to control their own careers and demanded artistic respect and freedom, and who, by the twenty-first century, would confidently call themselves not actresses, but actors. This is the first book-length biography of her, focusing especially on her theatrical career.
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- A Note on Scope and Purpose
- Preparing the Stage—Madge Carr Cook: "A woman of individuality and no end of 'snap'"
- Season 1. "Still in braids and an unclouded smile on her face"
- Season 2. "Dainty, refined, girlish, but well-poised"
- Season 3. "So many natural qualities"
- Season 4. "About to become"
- Season 5. "Something that holds attention"
- Season 6. "Fire and energy and intellectual poise"
- Season 7. "Merely"
- Season 8. "You are an artist"
- A Shavian Interlude: "Wonderful and mystical things"
- Season 9. "Something there that I have
- only seen Duse do"
- Season 10. "Nearly everything"
- Season 11. "Nothing left after the night is over"
- Season 12. "I'm tired, tired!"
- Season 13. "Near the edge of greatness"
- Later Stages: "Enthusiasm"
- Chronology and Production History
- Chapter Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
