Florence Bindley (July 24, 1868 – May 14, 1951) was an American musical theatre, vaudeville, and music hall performer.
Early life Florence J. Elmer was from Newark, New Jersey, but was raised partly in England. She started on stage at age 3, as "Baby Bindley","Baby Bindley" Chicago Tribune (December 5, 1875): 10. dancing and playing novelty instruments made by her father. At age 6, she performed for Queen Victoria."Began Stage Career at Three" Salt Lake Tribune (January 30, 1910): 10. via Newspapers.com
Career
Bindley appeared on Broadway and in variety shows, including Heroine in Rags (1887),"Heroine in Rags" Emporia Daily News (January 17, 1887): 1. via Newspapers.com The Pay Train (1892),"The Chicago Playhouses" New York Times (April 24, 1892): 13.Stewart H. Holbrook, The Story of American Railroads: From the Iron Horse to the Diesel Locomotive (Dover 2016): 424. Captain's Mate (1894),"Florence Bindley in The Captain's Mate — Avenue Theatre" Courier Journal (January 5, 1896): 15. via Newspapers.com A Midnight Marriage (1904),"Music and Drama" Tammany Times (January 23, 1904): 3. The Street Singer (1904),Gerald Martin Bordman, Richard Norton, American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle (Oxford University Press 2010): 237. The Belle of the West (1905),John Franceschina, Harry B. Smith: Dean of American Librettists (Routledge 2004): 167. The Girl and the Gambler (1906),Donald J. Stubblebine, Early Broadway Sheet Music (McFarland 2010): 81. In the Nick of Time (1908), and Major Meg (1916),"Florence Bindley in Major Meg at Lyric" Morning Call (October 5, 1916): 10. via Newspapers.com which included a display of "her famous zylophone specialty.""Florence Bindley Coming to Lyric Thursday" Morning Call (October 3, 1916): 10. via Newspapers.com "She is at all times charming, magnetic, and possesses a beautiful singing voice," commented the Pittsburgh Press in 1904, "together with marked emotional and comedy ability.""Theatrical" Pittsburgh Press (November 10, 1904): 9. She was billed as "The Girl with the Diamond Dress," for an unusual costume she wore, first on the vaudeville stage and later in The Street Singer.Edward Epstein, "Louisville, Ky." Theatre Magazine (April 1905): xii. A later vaudeville act of Bindley's, "An Afternoon at Home" (1909), featured musical monologues, singing and dancing."Dainty Florence Bindley Amuses Orpheum Patrons" Oakland Tribune (December 22, 1909): 7. via Newspapers.com
Personal life Florence Elmer married twice. Her first marriage, to her cousin Edward Everett Bindley, ended in divorce in 1890."'Baby' Seeks Divorce" The Times (October 30, 1890): 2. via Newspapers.com She remarried to silent film actor Darwin Karr by 1910. She was widowed when he died in 1945. Florence Bindley died in 1951, aged 82 years, in Los Angeles, California.
References
External links
Florence Bindley's listing at IBDB. An advertisement from 1904, "Forrester & Mittenthal present Florence Bindley in The Street Singer a musical drama by Hal Reid", in the Prints and Photographs collection of the Library of Congress. A cigarette card featuring Florence Bindley, in the collection of Duke University Libraries.