Edna May
Edna May Pettie ( born September 2, 1878 in Syracuse, † January 1, 1948 in Lausanne) was a famous American actress and singer in the first half of the 20th century.
Life
Edna May Pettie was a daughter of Edgar Pettie, a postman, and his wife Cora. At the age of five she played Little Willie Allen in the production of Dora. As a 7 -year-old Edna May starred in a children's opera, produced and written by Gilbert and Sullivan, in Syracuse with. Her younger sisters, Marguerite and Jane, also played a small role in the play.
Early 1890s studied Edna May at New York's Conservatory of Music and debuted in 1895 as an actress and singer in her hometown. Shortly after, she moved to New York City to get an exposure to the productions (Santa Maria) by Oscar Hammerstein. In the same year she married the cyclist Frederick Fred Titus, who stopped a world record at the time. The marriage was divorced in 1904. Edna May 1897 played the role of Violet Grey in the musical The Belle of New York with only moderate success. The following year, the production went to England - in London alone, the play was performed 700 times. At that time, Edna May played the lead role of Salutistin and was a celebrated star.
Through her beauty was Edna May attention of her male admirers. A passionate relationship she had with the Indian princes Raj Narayan Bahadur from the kingdom of Cooch Behar - but his family was against this connection. Finally, in 1907, she took the marriage proposal from Oscar Lewisohn. Her husband had - a few years earlier - several million dollars inherited from his father, the copper king. The marriage, which by all accounts was harmoniously remained childless. The couple settled in London's City of Westminster. During World War II, the couple lived in New York luxury hotel Waldorf-Astoria. In 1917, Oscar Lewisohn died, leaving his widow 5 million U.S. dollars.
Edna May died in a clinic in Lausanne from the effects of cancer.