작품 상세

CLANCEY, VENIE. (1861-1882). American actress and celebrity known for her Gilbert & Sullivan roles and beauty. Approximately 90 sepia and colorized cabinet portrait photographs and pictures in costume, including some from her Gilbert and Sullivan roles. Many are signed on the verso with affectionate inscriptions to the album’s owner, a minor actress named Tracy White, including one identified as Evangeline in her hand and another quoting Alfred Tennyson’s poem “The Princess:” “— and the last, my other heart, And almost my half-self, for still we moved together, twinned as horse’s ear and eye.” Born Lavinia Gardiner and starting her show business career as a dancer, she assumed the stage name Venie Clancey at the outset of her singing career. In 1877, at the age of 16, she replaced Eliza Weathersby in the title role of Edward E. Rice’s successful musical extravaganza Evangeline; or The Belle of Acadia, a comedy inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem, and headlined the show for three years. After becoming popular as Josephine in Gilbert & Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore, she starred in other Gilbert & Sullivan productions. Her beauty increased her celebrity, and she even appeared on cigarette cards. She died from tuberculosis while touring with an acting troupe in California at the age of 21. A large number of similar photographs are preserved at Harvard University. Contained in a photo album from which the front and back covers are missing.