Clarita Vidal (20 January 1883 – 17 June 1919) was an actress in Edwardian musical comedies, later known for her wartime work in Italy as Countess Chiquita Mazzuchi.
Clarita Vidal | |
|---|---|
 Clarita Vidal, from a 1903 publication | |
| Born | 20 January 1883 |
| Died | 17 June 1919 (aged 36) |
| Other names | Comtesse de Gaaverda[1] Mme. Daisy Mazzuchi Countess Chiquita Mazzuchi Chick Mazzuchi |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Spouses |
E. G. Mazzuchi
(m. 1909; div. 1917) |
| Children | 1 |
Early life edit
Vidal's origins were unclear, even to herself. "I really don't know what my nationality is," she confessed to a reporter in 1901.[2] She said she was born in Singapore, the daughter of a Spanish ambassador and an Englishwoman.[3] Elsewhere she was described as a native of the "Sunny South", raised in Spanish diplomatic circles in Algiers,[4] possibly as Chiquita Saavedra de Cervantes.[5][6][7]
Career edit
Vidal was a Florodora girl,[3] and counted among the "beauties" of the stage.[8] Her Broadway appearances included roles in The Silver Slipper (1902-1903)[9] and Cynthia (1903). In London, she was seen in The New Regime (1903), The School Girl (1903), and His Highness, My Husband (1904).[10] "All the beauties of the day were in The School Girl," recalled actress Billie Burke. "I remember Clarita Vidal, famous and smick-smack, who posed as if she were made of wax, with just one expression of sheer beauty."[11]
She married in 1909 and left the stage, but reappeared in the news by late 1915[12] as "Mme. Daisy Mazzuchi"[13] or "Countess Chiquita 'Chick' Mazzuchi",[14] working as a nurse at Latisana, or an ambulance driver,[15] or both,[16] during World War I.[17][18] In 1917 she was a speaker at war relief fundraisers in New York,[19] telling of wounds she received (including a bullet[20]) in her work in Italy.[21]
Her use of the title "Countess" was criticized by the Italian consul in Chicago,[22] and her speeches were found to contain "grossly exaggerated" claims of her nursing experiences in the war zone.[3][23] She agreed to stop speaking or collecting money for war relief[24] when New York district attorney Edward Swann inquired about her work.[25][26][27]
Personal life edit
She married her first husband, an Englishman called Lord Seymour,[28] when she was sixteen; he was killed on their honeymoon in South Africa.[2] She married E. G. Mazzuchi in 1909.[5] She had a daughter named Rita. She divorced her second husband before 1918.[3]
References edit
- ^ "Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality". 1909.
- ^ a b "Recruiting the Ranks of the Famous Florodora Sextette" Archived 2018-09-15 at the Wayback Machine San Francisco Examiner (December 29, 1901): 28. via Newspapers.com
- ^ a b c d United States Congress, Senate Committee on Military Affairs, Regulating Collection of Money: Hearings Before the Committee on Military Affairs (U.S. Government Printing Office 1919): 23-24.
- ^ "Clarita Vidal" The Royal Magazine (October 1903): 483.
- ^ a b "To be Married To-Morrow" Sketch (June 30, 1909): 389.
- ^ Jack Drouillard, "Sister Chick, in Trenches since 1914, Decorated Twice for Bravery" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Evening World (May 21, 1918): 16. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Countess Gives War Talk Here" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Indianapolis Star (November 12, 1917): 4. via Newspapers.com
- ^ Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen 2d., "Beauty in the Modern Chorus" Cosmopolitan (March 1903): 494.
- ^ Leslie Stuart, Owen Hall, W. H. Risque, The Silver Slipper: A Musical Comedy (T. B. Harms 1901).
- ^ J. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel (Scarecrow Press 2013): 140, 149, 201.ISBN 9780810892941
- ^ Billie Burke, With a Feather on my Nose (Pickle Partners Publishing 2015). ISBN 9781786256126
- ^ "Wounded Soldiers Nursed in Cellars" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Boston Globe (December 17, 1915): 4. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Sails for War Zone with Ambulances" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Chicago Tribune (February 1, 1916): 21. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Sister Chick the White Devil of Rheims" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Atlanta Constitution (September 16, 1917): 4. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Italy's First Woman Ambulance Driver Here Seeking Aid" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Riverside Daily Press (July 18, 1917): 3. via California Digital Newspaper Collection
- ^ "Shell-Torn Wounded Tended Under Fire by Woman Nurse and Hospital Organizer on Italian Front" Chicago Commerce (August 3, 1917): 3.
- ^ "Soldiers Worship 'Chick'" Traralgon Record (August 9, 1918): 6. via Trove
- ^ "Italian Nurse Hurt in Aeroplane Raid" The New York Times (August 20, 1916): 14. via ProQuest
- ^ Chloe Arnold, "Mrs. Mazzuchi's Work in War Inspiring to Women Throughout the World" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine The Sun (January 13, 1918): 43. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Table Gossip" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Boston Globe (June 24, 1917): 57. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Representatives Hear War Speakers" Printers' Ink (October 4, 1917): 97.
- ^ "'Angel of Marne' Doffs Halo to Swear Vendetta" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Chicago Tribune (November 16, 1917): 13. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Woman's Title False, Italian Consul Says" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Chicago Examiner (November 14, 1917): 1. via Chicago Public Library
- ^ "'Countess' Ordered to End 'War Fund'" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine New-York Tribune (August 3, 1918): 7. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Swann Summons Countess" The New York Times (June 23, 1918): 14. via ProQuest
- ^ "Countess Quits War Work" The New York Times (August 3, 1918): 16. via ProQuest
- ^ "Wiping Out the War Charity Profiteers and Wasters" Archived 2018-09-15 at the Wayback Machine San Francisco Examiner (September 22, 1918): 47. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Italian Countess from War Zone to Make Talk Here" Archived 2018-09-15 at the Wayback Machine Indianapolis Star (November 4, 1917): 61. via Newspapers.com
External links edit
- Clarita Vidal at the Internet Broadway Database
- A 1904 postcard portrait of Clarita Vidal, in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery (UK).
- A 1918 news photo of "Countess Mazzuchi" raising money for the American Red Cross, in the collection of the Library of Congress.
- The 1915 Italian passport of "Chick Mazzuchi", in nurse's uniform; in the collection of the Library of Congress.
- "Chick Mazzuchi driving an ambulance in France", a photograph in the collection of the Library of Congress.