22 July 2011

Lillian Russell

Inspired by this awesome photo at Vintage Photography, I decided to look up some details re her life:
Russell was born Helen Louise Leonard in Clinton, Iowa. Her father was newspaper publisher Charles E. Leonard, and her mother was the feminist Cynthia Leonard, the first woman to run for mayor of New York City... She gave birth to a son... but the baby died after being stuck with a diaper pin by his nanny; the pin penetrated his stomach...

For many years, Russell was the foremost singer of operettas in America. Her voice, stage presence and beauty were the subject of a great deal of fanfare in the news media, and she was extremely popular with audiences... When Alexander Graham Bell introduced long distance telephone service on May 8, 1890, Russell's voice was the first carried over the line...

For forty years, Russell was also the companion of businessman "Diamond Jim" Brady, who showered her with extravagant gifts of diamonds and gemstones and supported her extravagant lifestyle... After 1904, Russell began to have vocal difficulties, but she did not retire from the stage. Instead, she switched to non-musical comedies... In later years, Russell wrote a newspaper column, advocated women's suffrage (as her mother had), and was a popular lecturer, advocating an optimistic philosophy of self-help and drawing large crowds. During World War I, she recruited for the U.S. Marine Corps and raised money for the war effort. Russell became a wealthy woman...

Russell died at her home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 6, 1922, shortly after a completing a fact-finding mission to Europe on behalf of President Warren Harding. The mission was to investigate the increase in immigration. She recommended a five-year moratorium on immigration, and her findings were instrumental in a 1924 immigration reform law... She was buried with full military honors.
Text from Wikipedia, which has links to the primary sources.

Addendum:  Here's a comment from reader KenGilberg: "I have a bunch of Lilian Russell photographs. About 25 years ago I used to haunt an antique shop in NYC that offered the belongings of those who died without heirs. Lillian's daughter, Dorothy (who changed her name from Lillian) married a guy twenty years younger. When he died, it went to the shop. I have pictures of Lillian Russell's lavish apartment, scrapbooks, pictures of her with Warren G. Harding (Lillian married a guy who was an ambassador), and even a photo of Cynthia Leonard and her husband, Lillian's father. Any idea what I might do with the pictures?"   Anyone have suggestions for Ken?

12 comments:

  1. Wow, how sad with the baby and the diaper pin.

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  2. Love your blog!
    I have a bunch of Lilian Russell photographs. About 25 years ago I used to haunt an antique shop in NYC that offered the belongings of those who died without heirs. Lillian's daughter, Dorothy (who changed her name from Lillian) married a guy twenty years younger. When he died, it went to the shop. I have pictures of Lillian Russell's lavish apartment, scrapbooks, pictures of her with Warren G. Harding (Lillian married a guy who was an ambassador), and even a photo of Cynthia Leonard and her husband, Lillian's father. Any idea what I might do with the pictures?

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    Replies
    1. Ken,
      Lillian Russell is a distant cousin (through her father) of mine as well. I would also be interested in seeing these photos, especially those of her apartment, with President Harding, and her parents. Also, if you have any photos of her with longtime love, Diamond Jim Brady.
      Please email me at reidhar@hotmail.com
      thanks

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  3. I have no idea, Ken. I've added your query to the post to see if some other reader can give some informed advice.

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  4. Ken, I would suggest contacting The Clinton Showboat, a theatre company that named its mainstage after Lillian Russell. They may want your memorabilia for display. Or perhaps they can point you in the right direction of another interested party. Their web address is http://summer-stock.org/.

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  5. shibori78's comment perfectly illustrates what I love about this blog. I post a query on a rather narrowly defined topic, and someone out there has the knowledge base to offer a useful answer. It makes the blogging more fun.

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  6. How about posting them first? I would love to see them! You might check with the Smithsonian also and see if they want them.

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  7. Have you tried Shorpy, the historic vintage photo archive? http://www.shorpy.com/

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  8. Ken, Lillian Russell is a distant cousin of mine through her father, Charles Leonard. I'd love to see the picture of Lillian's parents. Any chance you'd email me a copy? My email is gyma2008 at gmail dot com.

    Thanks!

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  9. I am so interested in these photos and any other thoughts and information you may have. A friend and I are doing a project for university on Lillian Russell, so I would love to be in touch with you. My name is Dorothy and my e-mail address is vocedoro@gmail.com.
    Ken, Gyma or anyone else with info, please do contact me! Thanks so much, Dorothy

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  10. Trying again to respond - hope it works this time! Ken - I am very interested in your photos, etc. and would love to talk to you about them! Please contact me at VoceDoro@gmail.com
    Thank you so much:)
    Warmly, Dorothy

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  11. VoceDoro, the reason your comments didn't show right away is that this blog is set up so that comments on posts more than a few months old have to pass through my emailbox first for screening and approval (because most comments on very old posts are spam).

    The comment is up now.

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