Lizzie Evans

Last updated

Lizzie Evans
Lizzie Evans.jpg
Theatrical poster
Born1864
DiedAfter October 29, 1923
NationalityAmerican
Other namesMrs. Harry Mills
Occupation(s)Actress
Vaudeville entertainer
Comedian
Spouses
  • Nelson Compton (divorced 1886) [1] [2]
Harry Mills
(m. 1890)

Lizzie Evans was an entertainer in vaudeville and musical theatre in New York City and Chicago, Illinois, from the 1880s into the 20th century. A New York Times article described her as "a bright little person of the Lotta Crabtree physique and school, but with less naturalness and more nasal twang". [3]

Contents

Biography

Lizzie Evans was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio in 1864, although one newspaper report from 1879 already identifies her as touring with the Standard Dramatic Company in a lead role, suggesting an earlier birth year. She possibly was the daughter of Sarah Evans, a Welsh-born widow. [4]

She was the wife of Harry Mills, who was also a well-known comedian. At the time of their marriage in 1890, he was playing in her company. Miss Evans first appeared on the stage at the age of seventeen on August 25, 1882, with Barney McAuley as Clip in A Messenger from Jarvis Section. She was next seen with Milton and Dolly Nobles in their well-known play, The Phoenix. After leaving Mr. Nobles' company, she joined C.E. Callahan, in whose plays she starred for nine years in such roles as Chip in Fogg's Ferry and Jane in The Buckeye. Miss Evans also took the leading part in Our Angel and a number of other plays (see the list below). A reviewer for the New York Times observed about her acting:

Miss Lizzie Evans, who fills the part around which Fogg's Ferry is built, is a bright little person of the Lotta physique and school, but with less naturalness and more nasal twang. Her performance, however, is earnest and vivacious; she emphasizes her comic lines with her nether limbs and feet, more or less in accordance with Shakespeare's advice as to suiting the action to the word and the word to the action, but always with a marked effect upon the spectator, and her pathos, although scarcely profound, is a good deal more genuine and touching than that of her prototype. Miss Evans has no voice for song, and her cleverness as an actress is sufficiently appreciable to warrant her avoidance of vocal efforts. [3]

After severing her connection with Mr. Callahan, Miss Evans retired from the stage for two years. Afterwards she returned to play the part of Madge in Old Kentucky, meeting with great success. She was next seen in vaudeville until the 1900-01 season, when she was featured in A Romance of Coon Hollow. By this time she had formed her own troupe. She also returned to her favorite role of Chip, the character in which she had made her debut when she was only seventeen years old. [5]

Evans continued to headline into the 1920s; a review of her performance of the lead role Miss Cornelia Van Gorder in the mystery “The Bat,” in Knoxville, Tennessee, on October 29, 1923 was the last time she was mentioned in the media. The Bat was later turned into a silent film in 1926, starring Jack Pickford and Louise Fazenda.

List of vaudeville and theater credits

Evans in Fogg's Ferry circa 1882 Lizzie Evans Fogg's Ferry.jpg
Evans in Fogg's Ferry circa 1882

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