Isabelle Evesson (c. 1870 – 1914) was an American actress.

Isabelle Evesson
Isabelle Evesson, from a 1901 publication
Bornc. 1870
DiedAugust 9, 1914
Stamford, Connecticut, United States
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActor

Early life edit

Isabelle Evesson was born in New York City, the daughter of Henry Evesson Jr. and Florine Augusta Bassford Evesson.[1]

Her sister Estelle Clayton was also an actress,[2][3] as well as a playwright; she wrote A Puritan Romance as a vehicle for her sister and herself.[4] In 1907, the sisters formed the Bassford Estate Corporation, hoping to recover compensation for some of their grandfather's extensive land holdings in the New York City area. "So, with the walls of their handsome apartment covered with old maps," explained a newspaper reporter in 1907, "these two Evesson sisters, year in and year out, are making their fight for untold millions."[5]

Career edit

Isabelle Evesson was performing on stage from her teens,[6] often in touring companies and in Boston and Chicago.[7] She spent two years acting in London.[8] "Every act and gesture is finished," noted a Los Angeles newspaper of Evesson's performance in 1905, "and her voice is sweet and well modulated."[9] Evesson's Broadway credits included roles in Mr. Barnes of New York (1888), Papa's Wife (1899-1900), Anna Karenina (1905), and The Charm of Isabel (1914). She was in the original 1887 cast of Richard Mansfield's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the Boston Museum.[10]

Evesson appeared in two silent films, A Mother's Atonement (1914), and The Girl and the Bachelor (1915). She was a charter member of the Professional Woman's League at their organizational meeting in 1892.[11]

Personal life edit

Isabelle Evesson married journalist Almyr Wilder Cooper in 1895; the Mayor of New York performed the civil ceremony in his office.[12] Cooper died suddenly in 1896, from injuries sustained in an assault.[13] Isabel Evesson died in 1914, at home in Stamford, Connecticut, in her forties.[14]

References edit

  1. ^ A. D. Storms, The Players Blue Book (Sutherland & Storm 1901): 122.
  2. ^ Estelle Clayton, Broadway Photographs.
  3. ^ "Charles W. Evesson Arrested" New York Times (October 20, 1892).
  4. ^ "Amusements of the Week" The Tammany Times (August 16, 1897): 10.
  5. ^ "If their Wonderful Dream Comes True" Montana Standard (April 25, 1907): 13. via Newspapers.com 
  6. ^ Charles Edgar Lewis Wingate, The Playgoers' Year-book for 1888 (Stage Publishing 1888): 76-78.
  7. ^ Morris Bacheller, "Favorite Figures of the Stage" Munsey's Magazine (June 1892): 301-304.
  8. ^ "Our Gallery of Players" The Illustrated American (October 22, 1892): 363.
  9. ^ "Isabelle Evesson Wins High Favor" Los Angeles Herald (July 18, 1905): 8. via California Digital Newspaper Collection 
  10. ^ Amnon Kabatchnik, Blood on the Stage, 1800 to 1900: Milestone Plays of Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem (Rowman & Littlefield 2017): 491. ISBN 9781538106181
  11. ^ "Professional Woman's League" New York Times (December 21, 1892): 8. via ProQuest
  12. ^ "Miss Evesson's Wedding" New York Times (January 22, 1895): 9. via ProQuest
  13. ^ "Miss Evesson's Strange Suit" The Times (December 29, 1896): 6. via Newspapers.com 
  14. ^ "Isabelle Evesson Dead" New York Times (August 10, 1914): 7. via ProQuest

External links edit