Bessie De Voie (born Elizabeth Van Dorn; "Miss Elizabeth Van Dorn" Bridgeport Post (July 2, 1974): 51. via Newspapers.com in the 1880s – June 30, 1974) was an American actress and dancer of vaudeville and the musical theatre. Her personal life was in the headlines from 1908 to 1910, due to her relationship with Frank Jay Gould.
Early life Bessie De Voie's origins were told in various ways in the press of her day. She was described by the Detroit Free Press as being from Mount Clemens, Michigan."Actress in Gould Case is Mt. Clemens Girl" Detroit Free Press (July 26, 1908): 2. via Newspapers.com Other sources described her as being from Virginia, and "known in private life as Bessie van Dorn.""Wants $200,000 from Gould" Sioux City Journal (December 5, 1909): 2. via Newspapers.com Still other reports said she was from Kentucky,"Notes of the Stage" New-York Tribune (June 15, 1902): 51. via Newspapers.com or had at lived in Paducah, Kentucky, the daughter of Robert Van Dorn, a railroad engineer who died in a train accident in 1893."Bessie Devoie, New York Dancer, Once Lived Here" News-Democrat (January 11, 1910): 9. via Newspapers.com"A Curious Coincidence" The Twice-a-Week Messenger (August 3, 1893): 2. via Newspapers.com Other stories placed her hometown in Evansville, Indiana."Players in a Row" Evansville Press (July 25, 1907): 4. via Newspapers.com"Leniency Promised Julia Fleming" Evansville Press (July 25, 1908): 1. via Newspapers.com
Her 1974 obituary gives her birth name as Elizabeth Van Dorn, and her birthplace as Bedford, Indiana. The obituary suggests a birthdate of 1888; but she began touring the United States as a dancer by 1899, making a somewhat earlier birthdate more likely."Miss Elizabeth Van Dorn" Bridgeport Post (July 2, 1974): 51. via Newspapers.com Her parents, Robert Van Dorn and May Clark Van Dorn, married around 1883.Untitled news item, Mattoon Gazette (July 28, 1893): 5. via Newspapers.com
Career De Voie began her career before 1900, and was half of Young and De Voie,"Amusements" The Akron Beacon Journal (September 6, 1899): 6. via Newspapers.com an "eccentric soft shoe dancers" act with fellow dancer Frank C. Young."Music and the Drama" The Times-Democrat (June 14, 1903): 28. via Newspapers.com"Frank Young" Variety (July 1910): 18. via Internet Archive She also played soubrette roles."Show Girl Attractions" The Portsmouth Herald (August 14, 1902): 3. via Newspapers.com Young and De Voie danced in the touring shows A Hole in the Ground (1900–1901), A Trip to Chinatown (1901), and Hunting for Hawkins (1901–1902)."Third Avenue Theatre" The Seattle Republican (October 18, 1901): 5. via Newspapers.com"A Mole in the Ground" The Hutchinson News (February 26, 1901): 6. via Newspapers.com"Hunting for Hawkins" Sioux City Journal (March 20, 1902): 8. via Newspapers.com De Voie was discovered by actress Maxine Elliott and replaced Paula Edwardes in The Show Girl (1902). In 1904 she was part of the large Rogers Brothers Company, in the same cast as Fred Niblo."The Rogers Brothers Coming" The Buffalo Times (July 17, 1904): 28. via Newspapers.com Her Broadway appearances included the musicals Mr. Bluebeard (1903), The Rogers Brothers in Paris (1904), The Rogers Brothers in Ireland (1905–1906), The Dairymaids (1907). De Voie was in the cast of Mr. Bluebeard when it played at the Iroquois Theatre on the night of a fire in 1903, the deadliest single-building fire in American history.Adam Seltzer, "The Iroquois Theatre Fire (or: How Bad WAS 'Mr. Blue Beard?')" Mysterious Chicago Tours.
De Voie left the stage during the years of legal entanglement, but returned to higher fees after her fame had increased."Suit of Gould is Worth While" The Decatur Herald (December 31, 1909): 1. via Newspapers.com"Temporary Heart Balm for Dancer" Pittsburgh Press (December 30, 1909): 1. via Newspapers.com "It is a lamentable fact that where hundreds went to see the girl who was simply pretty and a graceful dancer before, thousands will now flock to see the dancer who thought she was going to marry Frank Gould," commented the National Tribune in 1910."People" The National Tribune (January 13, 1910): 8. via Newspapers.com Variety reported that her 1910 vaudeville appearance, intended to exploit the high interest in her, was unsuccessful, and noted that "Where a woman – or a man – will make use of publicity through private affairs to secure an engagement or a re-engagement on the stage, no one regrets seeing him or her do a 'flop'."Sime, "Bessie De Voie" Variety (January 1910): 50. via Internet Archive
Later shows featuring De Voie were Our Miss Gibbs (1910), Three Twins (1910),Untitled news item, Philadelphia Inquirer (October 9, 1910): 24. via Newspapers.com Louisiana Lou (1912–1913),G. Grinham, "Chief Figures in Current Plays" The St. Louis Star and Times (September 24, 1912): 11. via Newspapers.com with Sophie Tucker,"'The Blue Bird' Fairy Spectacles Comes Next Week" St. Louis Post-Dispatch (September 15, 1912): 18. via Newspapers.com and The Doll Girl (1914) with Hattie Williams and Richard Carle."National" The Washington Post (March 29, 1914): 56. via Newspapers.com She danced with Al B. White in 1913,"Al White and Bessie DeVoie" Variety (June 1913): 68. via Internet Archive Dare Phillips in 1914,"Attractions at the Theatres" The Boston Globe (May 10, 1914): 62. via Newspapers.com and with Guy Livingston in 1915.W. S. Johnston, "Theaters" Kansas City Globe (September 17, 1915): 4. via Newspapers.com In 1917, she was in Pom Pom with Mitzi Hajos."Capacity House Greets Pom-Pom" The Morning News (February 7, 1917): 12. via Newspapers.com
Personal life Bessie De Voie was named in the 1908 society divorce between Frank Jay Gould and Helen Margaret Kelly."Further Confessions in Gould Conspiracy" Los Angeles Times (July 28, 1908): 2. via Newspapers.com"Frank Gould Admits He Knows Actress" New York Times (July 29, 1908): 1. In 1909, she sued Gould for fraud and misrepresentation, and asked $250,000 ($ in today's money) in compensation for breaking a promise to marry her."Gould Nearly Ready to File His Answer" Evansville Press (January 14, 1910): 1. via Newspapers.com She published letters Gould sent her, "containing many expressions of affection"."Gould Love Notes" The Courier-News (December 29, 1909): 6. via Newspapers.com The scandal sparked headlines across the United States in 1909 and 1910."Frank Gould Denies Promise" Pittston Gazette (December 28, 1909): 1. via Newspapers.com The suit was settled when Gould paid De Voie $10,000."Gould Paid Dancer $10,000 as Balm" The Daily Record (November 3, 1910): 8. via Newspapers.com
Bessie Van Dorn became a saleswoman after 1920. She retired in 1962, and died in a convalescent hospital in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1974, about ninety years of age. Her gravesite is in Mattoon, Illinois.
References
External links
Photograph of Bessie De Voie (undated), from the American Vaudeville Museum Archive, Special Collections at University of Arizona Libraries.