Lillian Lee was a stage actress in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 beginning in the early 1880s. She was in the cast of the original Ziegfeld Follies

Ziegfeld Follies

The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....

 in 1907.

Acting career

Lee was only a child when she was assigned the part of Meenie in Rip Van Winkle

Rip Van Winkle

"Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving published in 1819, as well as the name of the story's fictional protagonist. Written while Irving was living in Birmingham, England, it was part of a collection entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon...

, in a company led by Joseph Jefferson

Joseph Jefferson

Joseph Jefferson, commonly known as Joe Jefferson , was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous of all American comedians....

. The troupe was then touring in Baltimore, Maryland. She proved a skilled juvenile actress. She grew into a very competent adult theatrical performer. Her first character of importance came when she replaced an ailing Rosa Rand in a play during the 1884 season.

Myra Goodwin played the leading lady

Leading lady

Leading lady is an informal term for the actress who plays a secondary lead or supporting role, usually a love interest, to the leading actor in a film or play. It is not usually applied to the leading actress in the performance if her character is the protagonist.A leading lady can also be an...

 in Sis, an 1885 production of the 14th Street (Manhattan)

14th Street (Manhattan)

14th Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The street rivals the size of some of the well-known avenues of the city and is an important business location....

 Theatre. The company of Edward Kidder

Edward Kidder

Edward Kidder was a renowned 18th century pastrycook, or, as he called himself, "pastry-master," who carried on his business in Queen Street, Cheapside....

 also
took seven plays on the road that year. One of them, Niagara, was scheduled to arrive in New York City at the beginning of 1886. Lee was engaged for the production as were Mattie Ferguson, Rose Eytinge

Rose Eytinge

Rose Eytinge was an American actress and author, born in Philadelphia. From 1862 to 1869 she played in various theatres in New York City and then went abroad with her second husband, Col. George H. Butler, Consul General to Egypt....

, Harry Dalton, and others.

She was in a cast of actors who presented A Midsummer Night's Dream at Manchester, Massachusetts, in July 1888. The outdoor play was performed evenings with electric light effects.

The Irish Minstrel by Frederick Marsden was staged at Poole's Theatre,
8th Street near Broadway (Manhattan),
in October 1886. W.J. Scanlan played the leading man

Leading man

Leading man or leading gentleman is an informal term for the actor who plays a love interest to the leading actress in a film or play. A leading man is usually an all rounder; capable of singing, dancing, and acting at a professional level, but never outshining his female co-star...

 with Lee being the primary female player.

She was in a cast of actors who presented A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...

at Manchester, Massachusetts, in July 1888. The play was performed in the evening, with electric light effects.

As Mrs. Jennings in Lover's Lane (1901), she was involved in a production which deals with rural life. The venue was the Manhattan Theatre on 102 West 33rd Street. In 1907 the building was demolished and replaced by a Gimbels department store in 1909.

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch had its New York City debut at the Savoy Theatre, 112 West 34th Street, in the late summer of 1904. The stage of the theatre had been recently expanded to enable the staging of the most detailed productions. The play was an adaptation of both Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch and Lovey Mary, written by Anne Crawford Flexner

Anne Crawford Flexner

-References:...

. Lee acted the character of Mrs. Eichorn.

Joe Weber headed a cast of actors who staged Dream City and The Magic Knight at Shubert Park in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, in April 1907. Lee was one of the
supporting players as were Lillian Blauvelt, Cecilia Loftus

Cecilia Loftus

Cecilia "Cissie" or "Cissy" Loftus was a Scottish actress, singer, mimic, vaudevillian and music hall performer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Family:...

, and William Hodge.

The Follies of 1907 were described as a satirical musical review when they opened at the Jardin de Paris. The venue was atop the New York Theatre

New York Theatre

Several theatres in New York City have been called New York Theatre at various times during the building's life. They include the following:*Bowery Theatre*Olympia Theatre *Church of the Messiah...

 and Criterion Theatre

Criterion Theatre

The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has an official capacity of 588.-Building the theatre:...

. Entertainment included twenty musical numbers and many vaudeville acts. The chorus was composed primarily of Anna Held

Anna Held

Helene Anna Held was a Polish-born stage performer, most often associated with impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, her common-law husband. -Early life:...

 singers, who had played the Broadway Theatre

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 only a week earlier. In addition to Lee, Emma Carus

Emma Carus

Emma Carus was a contralto singer from New York who was in the cast of the original Ziegfeld Follies in 1907. Her given name was Emma Carus.She frequently sang invaudeville and sometimes in Broadway features...

and Grace Larue were featured.

She was a part of The Deluge, a play given at Coney Island

Coney Island

Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....

 in the summer of 1908. Dress rehearsals were first held in May 1906, with an audience of 1,000 invited guests.
The show began with the building of a model of Noah's Ark

Noah's Ark

Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...

, followed by a simulation of the deluge, and finally, a depiction of the millennium.

Lee played Dollbabia in The Lady Of The Slipper, a musical fantasy in three acts, written by Anne Caldwell

Anne Caldwell

Anne Caldwell , also known as Anne Caldwell O'Dea, was a librettist and lyricist. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She wrote both pop songs and Broadway shows including working with Jerome Kern.-External links:...

 and Lawrence McCarthy. Presented by the Globe Theatre (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre

Lunt-Fontanne Theatre

The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 205 West 46th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by the architectural firm of Carrere and Hastings, it was built by producer Charles Dillingham and opened as the Globe Theatre, in honor of London's Shakespearean playhouse, on...

), in October 1912, a newspaper critic commented about the dull lines given both Lee and Queenie Vassar, the two wicked stepsisters of Cinderella

Cinderella

"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...

.

Lee appeared in Cinders at the Dresden Theatre, atop the New Amsterdam Theatre

New Amsterdam Theatre

The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theater located at 214 West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Theatre District of Manhattan, New York City, off of Times Square...

, in April 1923. The musical comedy was written by Edward Clark with music by Rudolf Friml

Rudolf Friml

Rudolf Friml was a composer of operettas, musicals, songs and piano pieces, as well as a pianist. After musical training and a brief performing career in his native Prague, Friml moved to the United States, where he became a composer...

. An intimate theatre had been constructed from a thorough remodeling. Cinders was the first show held on the New Amsterdam Roof after the Midnight Frolics ceased production, when Prohibition in the United States

Prohibition in the United States

Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...

became law in 1920.

Silent film role

She appeared in the 1923 silent film No Mother to Guide Her in the role of Donald Walling's Sister.

External links

• Rare photo of Lillian Lee in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1908 at jayparrino.com