Katherine Witchie Riggs (March 4, 1884 – April 19, 1967)Her 1884 date of birth appears in her father's naturalization application, via Ancestry. Like many performers, she often gave a younger age, and was described as 80, not 83, in her 1967 New York Times obituary. was an American dancer, singer, actress, writer, and vaudeville performer.
Early life and education Witchie was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of William Ferdinand Witchie and Mary Agnes Conroy Witchie. She was educated at the Academy of Holy Angels where she sang in the school's choir.
Career Witchie was a dancer in a duet act with her husband, Ralph Riggs; she also sang and acted on the stage. One of her earliest roles was as a Floradora girl in a company in Iowa. Her Broadway credits included appearances in The Enchantress (1911–1912), All Aboard (1913), The Princess Pat (1915–1916, an operetta by Victor Herbert), The Passing Show of 1919 (1919–1920), Cinders (1923), The Grab Bag (1924–1925),Le Maitre, Victor E. "The Grab Bag" Columbia Daily Spectator (November 15, 1924): 2, 4; via Columbia Spectator Archive. Nic Nax of 1926 (1926), and Oh, Ernest! (1927). She and her husband also performed as Riggs and Witchie on vaudeville bills"Vaudeville Reviews" New York Clipper (March 29, 1922): 9; via Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections. and on the London stage."Riggs and Witchie to Return" New York Clipper (July 23, 1919): 17; via Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections. "This act should be a good closer in the family houses," noted a Billboard report in 1928.
Witchie wrote two one-act musical plays, The Garden and The Gipsy, and a screenplay, The Royal Waltz. In 1917 she danced on the radiator cap of a Hupmobile, as a publicity stunt.
Personal life
Witchie married actor and dancer Ralph Riggs in 1910. Her husband died in 1951, and she died in 1967, at the age of 83, at a nursing home in Babylon, New York. References
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