Charlotte Saunders Cushman, “of the Walnut Street Theater,” 1843.
Thomas Sully (1783- 1872)
Charlotte
Cushman was born on July 23, 1816. She
was an eight generation descendant of the Pilgrim Robert Cushman who came to
America on the Mayflower. Cushman was a
gifted student but she left school to pursue a career in the opera as a way to
help support her mother and younger sisters after their father abandoned the
family.
Strained
by the soprano parts assigned to her, her voice suddenly failed. Desperate for
a way to make a living, Charlotte became an actress. She was given the part of Lady
Macbeth to study by a friend who was a theater manager. Cushman made her first appearance
on stage as an actress in 1835 and she was instantly a hit.
Charlotte and Susan as Romeo and Juliet
Her
younger sister Susan became an actress in 1839. She was married by the age of 14 and ended up
pregnant and abandoned by her husband. Charlotte took her in and cared for her sister
like she was her mother. Oddly, the two sisters became famous for playing Romeo and Juliet together; the masculine looking Charlotte playing Romeo
and Susan playing Juliet.
Charlotte became so famous that she even had her own brand of cigars!
Rosalie Sully painted by her father Thomas Sully
In 1843, Cushman hired the famous
artist Thomas Sully to paint her portrait. The portrait (at the top of this page) is so flattering that it's unrecognizable! The two became such good friends
that Cushman was soon considered part of the Sully family. Sully’s beautiful
young daughter, Rosalie, became extremely close with Charlotte Cushman. The two
young women were soon spending all of their free time together and writing
passionate letters when they were apart. In July of 1844 Cushman gave Rosalie a
ring and then cryptically noted in her diary: “‘R Saturday, July 6, ‘Married.’ “
They made plans to reunite after
Cushman’s return from her London engagements, but the tour was so successful
that it last for years. Cushman eventually started another relationship with a
female actress and when word got back to Rosalie she was beyond despair. Not
long after the break up, the heartbroken Rosalie died of a fever, some say due
to her weakened emotional state.
When news of Rosalie’s death reached
Cushman in London she suffered a mental collapse and her shows were canceled so
she could visit a spa to take the “rest cure.”
Charlotte in mourning
Matilda Hays
In 1848, Cushman met journalist,
writer and part time actress Matilda Hays. Matilda Hays was a novelist and well know translator
of George Sand. She worked in many genres but most of the topics related to
women's work and their limited opportunities. She eventually wrote a semi-autobiographical
Novel about her passionate relationship with Charlotte Cushman.
Charlotte Cushman with her partner Matilda Hays
Charlotte Cushman and Matilda Hays developed an
extremely close friendship which eventually blossomed into a romance. For the
next ten years the two would be together almost constantly. In Europe they were
well known as a couple and often dressed alike in public. In 1849, Cushman left
London and returned to the United States with Hay. Eventually they moved to Rome
were they fostered an American expatriate community made up mostly of many
lesbian artists and writers.
5 years later, in 1854, Matilda left
Charlotte for the lesbian sculptor. Cushman soon became involved with the
sculptor Emma Stebbins. Stebbins was a feminist and lived openly as lesbian in
the bohemian circles of Rome at that time.
Stebbins
best known work is the Angel of the Waters,
1873, also known as The Bethesda Fountain, located on the Bethesda Terrace in
Central Park, New York.
Emma Stebbins, Sculptor
Stebbins
and Cushman moved in together, but just a few months later Cushman had to
travel back to the United States for a short tour. While away, she met Emma
Crow, a beautiful 18 year old actress. “My
little lover” was how Cushman always liked to refer to Emma even though she
insisted that she was still devoted to Stebbins. Crow followed Cushman back to
Italy, but ironically ended up marrying Cushman’s nephew in April 1861.
Emma Crow with Charlotte Cushman, 1860
Charlotte Cushman was diagnosed with
breast cancer in 1869 and was treated by the best doctors of her day. She
managed to live fairly comfortably with it for many years. She did any extensive fair well tour of
the United States after her treatment; none of her audience suspected that she was ill. Her last
dramatic performance was in Boston, at the Globe Theater on 15 May 1875.
She followed that with a reading-tour and then eventually retired to her recently constructed villa in Newport.
Charlotte Cushman in costume from a period postcard.
She followed that with a reading-tour and then eventually retired to her recently constructed villa in Newport.
In October she went to Boston for treatment
of her breast cancer again. Emma Stebbins put her successful sculpting career on
hold and devoted her time to caring for Cushman. Charlotte died of pneumonia in
her hotel room in Boston in 1876 at the age of 59.
1915 she was elected to the
New York University Hall of Fame.
For more about the life of Charlotte Cushman: http://www.amazon.com/When-Romeo-Was-Woman-Triangulations/dp/0472087495
For more about the life of Charlotte Cushman: http://www.amazon.com/When-Romeo-Was-Woman-Triangulations/dp/0472087495
What an incredible woman! A. I wish I had that vintage cigar box and B. I want to go back in time and catch her performances.
ReplyDeleteI'm also very curiouse And try to imagine her performances..
ReplyDeleteI am a tour guide at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia where Thomas Sully has a family plot. Daughter Rosalie is buried there. I always include the story about Rosalie and Charlotte on my tours, along with two other fascinating Sully children, General Alfred Sully and Blanche, who posed as Queen Victoria in her robes and crown when Thomas was summoned to do an official portrait in 1837.
ReplyDelete