Paula A. Edwardes (1878American and British Theatrical Biography by J. P. Wearing c.1979 ISBN 0-8108-1201-0 – after 1926) was an American stage performer in musical comedies and vaudeville.
Early life Edwardes was born in New York CityHelen Arthur, "Beauties of the American Stage" National Magazine (December 1904): 327–329. or possibly Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Boston, where she began her stage work as a chorus girl.Johnson Briscoe, The Actors' Birthday Book, Moffat, Yard (1907): 213. She made her stage debut in 1894 in the chorus of the premiere production of the burlesque opera Tabasco which was mounted by Thomas Q. Seabrooke.
Career
She had a part in The Belle of New York (1897), which traveled to London; her sister Peggy Edwardes was also in the company. She was also in The Great Ruby. Her Broadway appearances included roles in A Runaway Girl (1898–1899); The Show Girl (1902); The Defender (1902); Winsome Winnie (1903); The Man from Now (1906); and The Princess Beggar (1907).Frank Cullen, Florence Hackman, Donald McNeilly, eds. Vaudeville Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performances in America, Psychology Press (2007): 283. Edwardes was known for performing soubrette parts using an exaggerated accent called "Americanized Cockney" by one reviewer.Lewis Clinton Strang, Prima Donnas and Soubrettes of Light Opera and Musical Comedy in America, L. C. Page & Company (1900): 114–119.
In 1906, ragtime composer Cora Folsom Salisbury wrote a valse caprice for piano named "Paula" and dedicated it to Edwardes.Bill Edwards, "Cora May Folsom Salisbury Aulman" Ragpiano.com. In 1907, she contracted to provide "electric music" (recordings) in theatre lobbies before her live performances, one of the first musical theatre stars to be recorded for such purposes."Electric Music in Lobby", The New York Times (January 4, 1907).
At the end of 1907, rumors arose"To Marry Paula Edwardes" Baltimore Sun (December 18, 1907): 11. via Newspapers.com that she was engaged to marry steel magnate Joseph E. Schwab,"An Actress for a Schwab", The Day (January 13, 1908): 3. which both parties denied."Wouldn't Marry Joseph Schwab" Pittsburgh Press (December 19, 1907): 2. via Newspapers.com In 1910, she was headlining a variety show in New York City."Week's Bills at the Theatres" New York Times (June 14, 1910): 11.
Later life As Edwardes grew older, she was no longer suited to soubrette parts and did not win other roles. "Thus Paula Edwardes, when her youth faded, faded simultaneously from view," explained critic George Jean Nathan; he told of an encounter with the older Edwardes, dressed girlishly and claiming to be her own teenaged niece, in hopes of reclaiming the fame of her earlier days.George Jean Nathan, The Theatre, the Drama, the Girls, A. A. Knopf (1921): 356–357. In 1926, a police officer found Edwardes, holding a crucifix and praying in the rain, on a street corner in New York City."Famous Opera Star of Past Century Found Kneeling in Prayer on Street" Bridgeport Telegram (August 14, 1926): 1. via Newspapers.com She said that a dream had instructed her to do so, and she was escorted to Bellevue Hospital for care."Find Noted Actress Praying in Storm", New York Times (August 14, 1926): 3.
References
External links Paula Edwardes on IBDB Paula Edwardes 1890s Paula Edwardes