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| Edna May |
Edna May was born Edna May Pettie on 2nd September 1878 in Syracuse, New York, USA. She was the daughter of Edgar Pettie, a letter carrier, and his wife Cora. Edna was a child performer, first appearing on the stage at the age of five when she played 'Little Willie Allen' in a production of "Dora" in her home town, Syracuse. By the age of seven she had joined a childrens light opera company performing "HMS Pinafore" and "The Pirates of Penzance", again in Syracuse.
At sixteen, Edna travelled to New York to study for the stage at the New York Conservatoire. Two years later, in 1895, she made her first professional stage appearance in "Si Stebbings" back in Syracuse. That same year she married Fred Titus, a professional bicyclist, whom she had met in New York - that marriage was disolved in 1904.
Edna made her first appearance on the New York stage on 14th September, 1896, playing 'Clairette' in "Santa Maria" at Hammerstein's Theatre, billed under her full name of Edna May Pettie. She next appeared as 'Calliope Ayre' in "A Contented Woman" at Hoyt's Theatre in New York.
Her big break came in her next engagement however, when she was contracted by George W. Lederer to create the role of 'Violet Grey' in the musical comedy "The Belle of New York". The production opened at the New York Casino on 28th September, 1897, where it acheived moderate success. Lederer then borrowed money to transport his cast across the Atlantic to give the production a second chance in London. It was turned down by George Edwardes for his Gaiety Theatre and opened instead at the Shaftesbury Theatre, which in its ten year existence had yet to acheive a major success. Opening at a lesser theatre, with an American cast unknown to British audiences, and a mediocre record in its own country, the production was widely predicted to be a flop. The critics were to be confounded however, it was an astonishing success (running to 697 performances), and catapulted Edna to overnight stardom.
Edna's stage career was now assured, and she continued to perform regularly in productions on both sides of the Atlantic. She caused a newspaper sensation in 1906 when she stormed out of a production of "The Belle of Mayfair" in which she had been playing 'Julia Chaldicott' and had to be replaced in the part (making a star of sixteen year-old Phyllis Dare).
Edna was now at the height of her career and was the toast of London and New York. She was also a rare beauty with delicate features framed by masses of pale golden hair. Since her divorce from Titus she had been widely pursued by suitors and admirers, pricipal among which was Oscar Lewisohn, a millionaire from New York who was the heir of a wealthy industrialist. Edna consented to be his bride and the couple married in London on June 4th 1907. Edna then retired from the stage at the height of her career to devote herself fully to her marriage. Her last professional stage engagement was in the title role in "Nelly Neil" at the Aldwych Theatre in London. After her last night performance a group of young men from the audience unhitched the horses from her carriage and pulled it themselves to the Ritz where she was staying.
In June 1909, many newspapers carried a story that Oscar had been killed in an automobile accident on the road between Vienna and Berlin. The story was totally false, the Lewisohn's being safely at home in England at the time. Edna returned to the stage for one week in February 1911, reprising her old role in "The Belle of New York" in a series of benefit performances for the Prince Francis of Teck Memorial Fund, and later that year she made her first appearance on celluloid in the film "Forgotten" (or "An Answered Prayer"). She made one other film appearance in 1916, as 'Joan Crawford' in "Salvation Joan".
Since their marriage, Edna and Lewis had settled in England at Cranborne Court near Windsor, though they moved to New York in 1915 to distance themselves from the war. Oscar died in 1917, leaving Edna an inheritance of around five million dollars.
Edna returned for a time to Syracuse but by 1936 had taken up residence in London at The Ritz. She died in Lausanne, Switzerland, on January 1st, 1948, having travelled there to try to recover her failing health. Her body was returned to London where she was laid to rest.
Movie Credits (source www.imdb.com)
1911 - Forgotten
1916 - Salvation Joan [Joan Crawford]
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