Editing Lillian Russell (section)

==Life and career==
Russell was born Helen Louise Leonard in [[Clinton, Iowa|Clinton]], Iowa,<ref>"Charles Cityan Star's Cousin", ''Mason City, Iowa Globe-Gazette'', June 20, 1940, p. 22.</ref> the fourth of five daughters of newspaper publisher Charles E. Leonard, and author and feminist [[Cynthia Leonard]], the first woman to run for mayor of New York City. Her family moved to Chicago in 1865, where she studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart from age 7 to 15 and then at the Park Institute. Her father became a partner in the printing firm of Knight & Leonard, and her mother became active in the women's rights movement. Russell, called Nellie as a child, excelled at school theatricals. In her teens, she studied music privately and sang in choirs. In December 1877, she performed in an amateur production of ''Time Tries All'' at Chickering Hall in Chicago.<ref name=NYTobit>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F00EED91439EF3ABC4E53DFB0668389639EDE "Lillian Russell Dies of Injuries"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', June 6, 1922, pp. 1–2, accessed April 17, 2009</ref><ref name=Rochester>[https://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?page=969 "Russell, Lillian"], River Campus Libraries, [[University of Rochester]], accessed January 4, 2014.</ref>

===Early career===
[[File:Lillian Russell in 1882.jpg|left|thumb|in ''[[Patience (opera)|Patience]]'', 1882]]
When Russell was 18, her parents separated, and she, her mother and her younger sister moved to New York City, where her mother did suffrage work for [[Susan B. Anthony]]. Russell studied singing under [[Leopold Damrosch]] and considered pursuing an operatic career; her very religious mother disapproved of her working in theatre, which she considered disreputable.<ref name=NYTobit/> Russell began dating Walter Sinn, whose father owned the Brooklyn Park Theatre. Walter's mother helped Russell get a chorus job (as Nellie Leonard) with [[Edward E. Rice]], who was touring his musical ''[[Evangeline (1874 musical)|Evangeline]]'' to Boston beginning in September 1879,{{sfn|Fields|2008|pp=12–14}} together with [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s comic opera ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]''.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19220608&id=VmJOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Wf8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=1902,644834&hl=en "Lillian Russell, Famous Actress, Taken by Death"], ''Toledo Blade'', June 8, 1922, p. 1</ref> Russell soon began seeing the orchestra leader Harry Braham and became pregnant. They married in November when the show moved to New York theatres.{{sfn|Fields|2008|pp=15–16}} She gave birth to their son Harry in June 1880. In September, Braham got a prestigious job conducting at [[Tony Pastor]]'s Theatre on Broadway.{{sfn|Fields|2008|pp=17–18}} Pastor, known as the father of vaudeville, was responsible for introducing many well-known performers.<ref>Brown, T. Allston. [https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=mDALAAAAIAAJ ''A History of the New York Stage, Vol. 2''], New York: Dodd, Mead and Company (1903), pp. 122–23; and Minor, David. [http://home.eznet.net/~dminor/NYNY1877.html Timeline, including several events from Russell's career], Eagles Byte Historical Research website, 2001, accessed November 7, 2013.</ref> In November 1880, Pastor engaged Russell for his variety shows. At his suggestion, she chose a stage name, Lillian Russell, and Pastor introduced her as an "English ballad singer".{{sfn|Fields|2008|pp=6, 18–19}} She was immediately popular with audiences and soon was acting in skits, as well as singing.{{sfn|Fields|2008|p=24}} In early 1881, the baby died after his nanny accidentally penetrated his stomach with a diaper pin.<ref name=Documentary>''A Woman Like No Other: The Real Lillian Russell'', 2006. [[Twentieth Century Fox]] Productions.</ref> Braham came home to find the dying baby. The tragedy exacerbated Russell's difficult relationship with her mother and led to her divorce from Braham.{{sfn|Fields|2008|p=24}}

In the summer of 1881, Russell toured with Pastor's company.<ref name=Rochester/> That fall, she played the leading [[soprano]] role of Mabel in a [[Victorian burlesque|burlesque]] of ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'' at Pastor's theatre. She next played at the [[Bijou Theatre (Manhattan, 1878)|Bijou Opera House]] on Broadway as Djenna in ''[[Le grand mogol|The Great Mogul]]'' and with the [[McCaull Comic Opera Company]] played Bathilda there in ''[[Olivette (opera)|Olivette]]''.<ref name=NYTobit/> She also played the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan's ''[[Patience (opera)|Patience]]'' and Aline in ''[[The Sorcerer]]'' in 1882 at the Bijou.

===Bigamous marriage and peak years===
Russell met composer [[Edward Solomon]] later in 1882 at Pastor's New York [[Casino Theatre (New York City)|Casino Theatre]] where he was the season's musical director and she became the star. Unaware of his first marriage, she became his mistress and they sailed together to London. There she starred in several works he wrote specifically for her, including Virginia in ''Paul and Virginia'', Phoebe in ''[[Billee Taylor]]'', and the title roles in ''Polly, or the Pet of the Regiment'' and ''Pocahontas''.<ref name=SolomonDNB>Tomes, Jason. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/53516 Edward Solomon], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, October 2007; accessed July 16, 2014.</ref> While in London, she was engaged to create the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan's ''[[Princess Ida]]'' (1884), but she clashed with [[W.S. Gilbert]] and was dismissed during rehearsals.<ref>Stedman, Jane W. (1996) ''W. S. Gilbert, A Classic Victorian & His Theatre'', pp. 200–01, Oxford University Press {{ISBN|0-19-816174-3}}</ref>

Solomon's comic operas were not highly successful in Britain, so Russell and Solomon returned to America. They had a daughter together, Dorothy Lillian Russell,<ref>Doroth's married name was Dorothy Calbit</ref> in 1884, and married in New Jersey in 1885.<ref name=SolomonDNB/> Russell was very well received in Solomon's works, on tour in the U.S. for Pastor. Another Solomon success for Russell and Pastor was ''[[Pepita; or, the Girl with the Glass Eyes]]''.<ref>Welch, Deshler. [https://books.google.com/books?id=s-URAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA150 ''The Theatre''], vol. 1, 1886, p. 150, accessed June 27, 2013.</ref><ref>Brown, Thomas Alston. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EzELAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA176 ''A History of the New York Stage, Vol. 3''], New York: Dodd, Mead and Company (1903), p. 176, accessed June 27, 2013.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref> Russell also played in New York theatres or on tour in Gilbert and Sullivan and in operettas.<ref name=NYTobit/> Her relationship with Solomon soured, mostly due to his poor finances, and their last show, ''The Maid and the Moonshiner'' (1886), was a flop. When creditors sued Solomon, he fled the country.<ref name=SolomonDNB/> In 1886, Solomon was arrested for bigamy because his previous marriage had not been dissolved. Russell obtained a divorce from Solomon in 1893.<ref>Stone, David. [https://www.gsarchive.net/whowaswho/S/SolomonEdward.htm "Edward Solomon"], ''Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company'', February 17, 2002, accessed January 17, 2016</ref>

[[File:Lillian Russell II.jpg|thumb|upright|Russell in ''[[Giroflé-Girofla]]'', 1890s]]
Russell continued to star in comic opera and other musical theatre. She toured with the J.C. Duff Opera Company between other engagements for two years beginning in 1886.<ref name=Rochester/> In 1887, she starred as Carlotta in ''[[Gasparone]]'' by [[Karl Millöcker]] in New York City at the [[Manhattan Theatre|Standard Theatre]], together with [[Eugène Oudin]] and [[J.H. Ryley]].<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/05/17/100912414.pdf ''The New York Times'' review of 1887 New York production]</ref> Later the same year, she was back at the Casino Theatre in the title role of ''[[Dorothy (opera)|Dorothy]]'', and over the next several years, she continued to star in operettas and musical theatre on Broadway. Her parts at this time included the title role in ''[[The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein]]'', Fiorella in ''[[Les brigands|The Brigands]]'' (in a translation by W.S. Gilbert), Teresa in ''[[The Mountebanks]]'', Marion in ''[[La cigale et la fourmi#Revivals and adaptations|La Cigale]]'', and Rosa in ''Princess Nicotine''.<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name=Kenrickbio>[[John Kenrick (theatre writer)|Kenrick, John]]. [http://www.musicals101.com/who7c.htm#Russell "Who's Who in Musicals: Ro – Ru"], Musicals101.com (2005), accessed January 4, 2014.</ref> In 1891, she opened at the [[Garden Theatre]] as the star of the Lillian Russell Opera Company.<ref name=Rochester/> ''[[Giroflé-Girofla]]'' was a favorite of Russell, who played the dual lead role in Chicago, New York and on tour in the 1890s.{{sfn|Fields|2008|p=221}}

For many years, Russell was the foremost singer of operettas in America. Her voice, stage presence and beauty were the subject of a great deal of fanfare in the news media, and she was extremely popular with audiences.<ref name=Gibson>[[Idah McGlone Gibson|Gibson, Idah McGlone]]. "An Intimate Study of Lillian Russell", ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', June 25, 1911, Section 7, p. 2.</ref><ref>"The Theater: Lillian Russell Tonight." ''Bisbee, Arizona Daily Review'', November 11, 1915, p. 8. Quote: "the most beautiful actress of the legitimate stage."</ref> Actress [[Marie Dressler]] observed, "I can still recall the rush of pure awe that marked her entrance on the stage. And then the thunderous applause that swept from orchestra to gallery, to the very roof."<ref name=Spotlight>[http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/spotlight/musical.html "Musical Theater"], Spotlight: Biography, [[Smithsonian Institution]], accessed January 4, 2014</ref> When [[Alexander Graham Bell]] introduced long-distance telephone service on May 8, 1890, Russell's voice was the first carried over the line. From New York City, Russell sang the saber song from ''[[La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein]]'' to audiences in Boston and Washington, D.C. She rode a bicycle custom made for her by [[Tiffany & Co.]] It was a gold-plated machine that displayed the jeweler's art at its most opulent and unconventional – the handlebars inlaid with mother-of-pearl and the wheel spokes featuring her initials set in diamonds. She had "a cream serge [[leg-of-mutton sleeve]] cycling suit with the skirt shortened by three inches, which caused a sensation and set a trend."<ref>Woodhead, Lindy. ''War Paint: Madame Helena Rubinstein and Miss Elizabeth Arden, Their Lives, Their Times, Their Rivalry'', Wiley, 2004, pp. 65–66 {{ISBN|0471487783}}</ref>

She married tenor John Haley Augustin Chatterton (known professionally as Signor Giovanni Perugini) in 1894, but they soon separated, and in 1898, they divorced.<ref name=Rochester/> In the spring of 1894, she returned to London to play Betta in ''[[The Queen of Brilliants]]'' by [[Edward Jakobowski]] and then played the same role in the New York production at [[Knickerbocker Theatre (Broadway)|Abbey's Theatre]]. She remained at Abbey's, playing several roles, but when that theatre shut down in 1896, she played in other Broadway houses in more operettas by Offenbach (such as ''The Princess of Trebizonde'' and many others), [[Victor Herbert]] and others, such as ''[[Erminie]]'' (at the Casino Theatre) in 1899.<ref name=NYTobit/> 

For 40 years, Russell was also the companion of businessman [[James Buchanan Brady|"Diamond Jim" Brady]], who showered her with expensive gifts of diamonds and gemstones and supported her extravagant lifestyle.<ref name=Documentary/><ref name=Kenrickbio/> Russell was said to be able nearly to match Brady's excessive eating habits, and would do so in public. While she was proud of her ability, it led to long-term struggles with her weight which, at her heaviest, approached 200 pounds.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burke |first=John |title=Duet in diamonds; the flamboyant saga of Lillian Russell and Diamond Jim Brady in America's gilded age |publisher=[[Manor Books]] |year=1972 |location=New York City |pages=108–110, 126–127}}</ref>

===Later years===
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Lillian Russell - Come Down Ma Evenin' Star.ogg|title=Come Down Ma Evenin' Star|description=Lillian Russell's only known recording, from 1912}}
In 1899, Russell joined the [[Joe Weber (vaudevillian)|Weber]] and [[Lew Fields|Fields]] Music Hall, where she starred in their burlesques and other entertainments until 1904. Her first production there was ''Fiddle-dee-dee'' in 1899 which also featured [[DeWolf Hopper]], [[Fay Templeton]] and [[David Warfield]]. Other favorites were ''Whoop-de-doo'' and ''The Big Little Princess''. Before the 1902 production of ''Twirly-Whirly'', [[John Stromberg]], who had composed several hit songs for her, delayed giving Russell her solo for several days, saying that it was not ready. When he committed suicide a few days before the first rehearsal, sheet music for "Come Down Ma Evenin' Star" was discovered in his coat pocket. It became Russell's signature song and is the only one she is known to have recorded,<ref name=Kenrick2>Kenrick, John (2002). [http://www.musicals101.com/1890-1900b.htm History of the Musical Stage – 1890s: Part II], Musicals101.com; accessed September 22, 2008.</ref> although the recording was made after Russell's voice had deteriorated significantly.<ref name=Rochester/>

[[File:Lillian Russell 4.png|thumb|left|upright|Russell in ''Lady Teazle'' (1904)]]
Leaving Weber and Fields, she next played the title role of ''Lady Teazle'' in 1904 at the Casino Theatre and then began to play in vaudeville. After 1904, Russell began to have vocal difficulties, but she did not retire from the stage. Instead, she switched to non-musical comedies, touring from 1906 to 1908 under the management of James Brooks.<ref name=Rochester/> In 1906, she played the title role in ''Barbara's Millions'', and in 1908 she was Henrietta Barrington in ''Wildfire''. The next year she was Laura Curtis in ''The Widow's Might''. In 1911, she toured in ''In Search of a Sinner''. Russell then returned to singing, appearing in burlesque, variety and other entertainments.<ref name=NYTobit/>

In 1912, she married her fourth husband, [[Alexander Pollock Moore]], owner of the ''[[Pittsburgh Leader]]'', and mostly retired from the stage. The wedding was held in Pittsburgh at the grand [[William Pitt Union|Schenley Hotel]], which today is a national historic landmark and the [[University of Pittsburgh]]'s student union building. Russell lived, for a time, in suite 437 of the hotel, now located in the offices of the student newspaper, ''[[The Pitt News]]''.<ref name=Toker>{{cite book|last=Toker|first=Franklin|title=Pittsburgh: an urban portrait|publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press|year=1986|location=University Park, Pennsylvania|isbn=978-0-271-00415-0|page=91}}</ref> The same year, she made her last appearance on Broadway in Weber & Fields' ''Hokey Pokey''. In 1915, Russell appeared with [[Lionel Barrymore]] in the motion picture ''[[Wildfire (1915 film)|Wildfire]]'', which was based on the 1908 play in which she had appeared. This was one of her few motion picture appearances. She appeared in vaudeville until 1919, when ill health forced her to leave the stage entirely, after a four-decade long career.<ref name=Kenrick2/>

Beginning around 1912, Russell wrote a newspaper column, became active in the [[women's suffrage]] movement (as her mother had been), and was a popular lecturer on personal relationships, health and beauty, advocating an optimistic philosophy of self-help and drawing large crowds.<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name=Rochester/> In 1913, she declared that she would refuse to pay her income taxes to protest "the denial of the ballot to women."<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/68287381/ "Lillian Russell"], ''The Bemidji Daily Pioneer'', Bemidji, Minnesota, November 11, 1913, p. 1</ref> Nonetheless, she recruited for the U.S. Marine Corps during World War I and raised money for the war effort.<ref name=Rochester/>

[[File:Lillian Russell-Frank Sheridan in Wildfire (1908).jpg|thumb|right|180px|Russell with [[Frank Sheridan (actor)|Frank Sheridan]] in the play ''Wildfire'' (1908)]]
Russell became a wealthy woman, and during the [[1919 Actors' Equity Association strike]], she made a major donation of money to sponsor the formation of the [[Chorus Equity Association]] by the chorus girls at the [[Ziegfeld Follies]]. In March 1922, Russell traveled aboard the {{RMS|Aquitania}} from [[Southampton]], England, to the Port of New York on the March 11–17 crossing. According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', she "established a precedent by acting as Chairman of the ship's concert, the first woman, so far as the records show, to preside at an entertainment on shipboard."<ref>''[[The New York Times]]'', March 17, 1922.</ref>

===Fact-finding mission and death===
In 1922, Russell undertook a fact-finding mission to Europe on behalf of President [[Warren Harding]]. The mission was to investigate the increase in immigration. She recommended a five-year moratorium on immigration and a minimum of 21 years residency before making application for naturalization.<ref name=Immigrant>"Lillian Russell Would Bar Aliens", ''The New York Times'', March 22, 1922, p. 4</ref> Russell stated: "only the useless in the reconstruction of their countries are seeking to come to the United States ... the immigration of recent years has been from that class of people which arrests rather than aids, the development of any nation".<ref name=Immigrant/> Her findings were instrumental in developing the content of the [[Immigration Act of 1924]],<ref name=Documentary/> which greatly restricted immigration of southern and eastern Europeans and banned the immigration of Asians.<ref>[https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/ImmigrationAct "The Immigration Act of 1924 (The Johnson-Reed Act)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101180531/http://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/ImmigrationAct |date=November 1, 2013 }}, U.S Department of State Office of the Historian, accessed March 29, 2016</ref>

Russell suffered apparently minor injuries on the return trip, which, however, led to complications, and she died after ten days of illness at her home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.<ref name=NYTobit/> Thousands of people lined the route of her [[military funeral]],<ref>[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1922-06-08/ed-1/seq-2 "Lillian Russell Laid at Rest with Military Honors"], ''The Evening World'', June 8, 1922, p. 2</ref> attended by many actors and politicians; President Harding sent a wreath that was set atop her casket. She is interred in her family's private mausoleum in the [[Allegheny Cemetery]] in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.<ref>"Lillian Russell Buried Today", ''The Clinton Advertiser'', June 8, 1922.</ref>
[[File:Mr and Mrs A P Moore.png|left|thumb|Russell and Moore, just before her fact-finding mission to Europe in 1922]]