CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN (b: 1816) was an American stage actress considered to be the greatest of her time; she died on this date.
Her voice was noted for its full contralto register; she played both
male and female parts. She lived intermittently in Rome, in an
expatriate colony of prominent artists and sculptors, some of whom
became part of her tempestuous private life.
She was a descendant in the eighth generation from Pilgrim Robert Cushman, who helped organize the Mayflower voyage and brought the family name to the United States on the Fortune in
1621. Robert Cushman was a leader and a great advocate for emigration
to America. He became a preacher in the colonies and was known for
giving the first sermon in America. Charlotte's father, Elkanah, rose
from poverty to be a successful West Indian merchant. Charlotte was a
remarkably bright, sportive child, excelling over her schoolmates and
developing a voice of remarkable compass and richness, with a full
contralto register. Two friends of her father, one of them John Mackay,
in whose piano factory Jonas Chickering was then foreman, provided her
with musical instruction. Cushman was forced to take on serious
responsibilities at a very young age. When she was thirteen, her father
was beset by serious financial troubles and shortly thereafter died,
leaving his family with nearly nothing. This caused Charlotte to seek
some way to bring income to her family. Although she was an outstanding
student and achieved much academically, she left school to pursue a
career in the opera.
Cushman made her initial professional appearance at age eighteen in April 1835 at Boston's Tremont Theatre.
She then went to New Orleans where she performed successfully for one
season, after which she returned to New York City to act under contract
with the Bowery Theatre. She scored rave reviews in Albany, New York for
her portrayal of Lady Macbeth.
By 1839, her
younger sister Susan Webb Cushman became an actress, and at the age of
14 had married Nelson Merriman. Her husband abandoned her when she was
pregnant and Charlotte cared for her sister. The two sisters became
famous for playing Romeo and Juliet together, with Charlotte playing Romeo and Susan playing Juliet. Her greatest fame was achieved in her portrayal of Romeo.
In 1843, Cushman
became involved romantically with Rosalie Sully, daughter of artist
Thomas Sully. By 1844, the romance had ended. She began traveling
abroad, acting in theater, and Sully died shortly thereafter. She was
also very close to the writer Anne Hampton Brewster around 1844 but
social pressure from Brewster's brother meant that they had to part.
Brewster reminisced about their idyllic time together in letters in
1849. She eventually left a portrait of Cushman by Thomas Sully as a bequest to the Library of Philadelphia.
In 1848, Cushman met journalist, writer and part-time actress
Matilda Hays. The two women became close friends, and after a short
amount of time and some correspondence, they became involved in an
affair. For the next ten years the two would be together almost
constantly. They became known for dressing alike, and in Europe were
publicly known as a couple. In 1849, Cushman returned to the
United States and by 1852 had decided to retire from the stage. She took
up residence with Hays in Rome, Italy. They created an American
expatriate community there, made up mostly of the many lesbian artists
and sculptors of the time. Cushman used her notoriety to promote the
works of African American/Native American sculptor Edmonia Lewis, who
had become a close friend and whose work Cushman greatly admired.
In 1854, Hays
left Cushman for sculptor Harriet Hosmer, which launched a series of
jealous interactions among the three women. Hays eventually returned to
live with Cushman, but the tensions between her and Cushman would never
be repaired. By late 1857, Cushman was secretly involved with sculptor
Emma Stebbens. One night while Cushman was writing a note, Hays walked
in on her. Suspecting that the note was to Stebbins, Hays demanded to
see it. Although Cushman maintained that the note was not to Stebbins,
she refused to show it to Hays. The altercation that followed was
explosive. Hays became enraged and began chasing Cushman around the
house, pounding her with her fists at every opportunity. The
relationship ended immediately and Hays moved out. She then sued
Cushman, stating in her claim that she had sacrificed her own career to
support Cushman's career and therefore was due a certain payment.
Cushman paid her an unknown sum and the two women parted company
forever.
OK....try to keep
up with me now: Emma Stebbins moved in with Cushman shortly after the
break-up. Cushman traveled to America for a short tour a couple of
months later. Although Cushman maintained that she was devoted to
Stebbins, she became involved with another woman not long after her
relationship with Stebbins began. Cushman met an 18-year-old actress,
Emma Crow, the daughter of Wayman Crow (one of the founders of
Washington University), and fell for her. The two women began an affair,
and Cushman often called her "my little lover".
In 1863 Stebbins would be commissioned to create a fountain sculture for Central Park. Using Cushman as a model, her Angel of the Waters would
be the earliest public artwork by a woman in New York City and the only
sculpture sanctioned as part of the early design and construction phase
of Central Park. It was cast in Munich and officially dedicated on May
31, 1873.
An unfinished portrait of Cushman by Thomas Sully that was kept by
Anne Hampton Brewster. Before her departure to Italy, Cushman offered a
farewell performance at the Washington Theater in the title role of Hamlet.
The poster advertising her appearance describes her as "a lady
universally acknowledged as the greatest living tragic actress". When
Cushman returned to Italy, Crow followed. Not long after arriving in
Italy, Crow attracted the attention of Cushman's nephew, Ned Cushman. In
April 1861, Ned Cushman and Emma Crow married.
She was friends with artists, writers and politicians; when she
came to Washington D.C. in the 1860s, she often stayed at the home of
Secretary of State William Seward, with whom she was very close friends.
In July 1861, Seward introduced her to President Abraham Lincoln, who
told her that Macbeth was his favorite Shakespearean play and
that he hoped someday to see her in the role of Lady Macbeth. In 1863
she again returned to the United States, appearing on several occasions
for the benefit of the Sanitay Commission. Lincoln spent hours in
conversation with Cushman talking about Shakespeare, and saw her perform
in Macbeth in October at Grover's Theatre with his family.
Coincidentally, Charlotte was good friends with the Booth family, Junius
Booth in particular, but was said to have not liked John Wilkes much.
During the last
six years of her life Cushman developed a remarkable ability as a
dramatic reader, giving scenes from Shakespeare, ballad poetry, dialect
poems and humorous pieces with a success not less decided than her
earlier dramatic triumphs. In 1871, after a residence in Europe, she
resumed her career in the United States as a reader, besides fulfilling
several dramatic engagements.
Her farewell
appearance was announced at least seven times in as many different
years. Her final performance in New York was at Booth's theatre, where
she played the part of Lady Macbeth. She took a similar demonstrative
farewell in the same character in Philadelphia and other cities and her
career closed in Boston, at the Globe Theatre, in May 1875. After a
reading tour to Rochester, Buffalo, and Syracuse, she retired with a
large fortune to her villa at Newport, where she was seized with her
final illness. In October she went to Boston and placed herself under
medical treatment.
Charlotte Cushman died of pneumonia
in her hotel room on the third floor at the Parker House Hotel in
Boston in 1876, aged 59. Her passing was mourned internationally. She is
interred in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.
Lady Romeo, The Radical and Revolutionary Life of Charlotte Cushman, America’s First Celebrity
by Tana Wojczuk is a fascinating biography that goes into great depth
about her life. It's hard to imagine someone who achieved the heights
Cushman did, simply fading into history.
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