Diamond Donner

Diamond Donner was a supporting actress in Broadway and vaudeville entertainment in the early 20th century.

Diamond Donner

Biography

Donner was born in Boston and graduated from Wellesley College in 1901.[1]

She accompanied Irene Bentley and a large company of actors who appeared at the Madison Square Theatre,[2] Broadway (Manhattan) and 24th Street,[3] in December 1903. The troupe staged a production of The Girl from Dixie.[2] In September 1903 she appeared in The Prince of Pilsen at the Tremont Theatre in Boston. Donner acted the part of Janet Gramercy, fiancee of Algy de Peyster, in the musical The Man From China. Its New York City debut came on May 2, 1904, at the Majestic Theatre. The play featured Charles A. Bigelow as Peter Pudge, a wandering musician and John A. Armstrong as Algy. There were twenty-seven musical numbers divided equally between two acts.[4]

Klaw & Erlanger opened the season for the New Amsterdam Theater rooftop venue Aerial Gardens with a local review, Lifting the Lid, on Monday, June 5, 1905. The entertainment was produced by John J. McNally and featured Fay Templeton, Donner, Louis Harrison, Virginia Earle, and others. The venue was a successful attraction the previous summer and had been improved with new decorations and alterations.[5]

Donner was a cast member of Klaw & Erlanger's revival of Humpty Dumpty when it was staged at the New York Theatre in March 1906. Earlier the play was presented at Drury Lane and at the New Amsterdam Theatre the previous summer. Frank Moulan continued in the role of Little Mary as did William C. Schrode, who depicted the Clown.[6]

Donner in The Prince of Pilsen, 1903

In April 1906 Donner appeared in The District Leader at Wallack's Theatre at 254 West 42nd Street.[7] The two-act musical comedy drama was written by Joseph E. Howard. Its plot was traditional, involving district politics.[8]

In September 1906 Donner applied to the Greenwich, Connecticut Probate Court to have her mother, Louella Donner, committed to a sanitarium. The probate court requested the appointment of two doctors to inquire as to the mental condition of her mother. Donner said she had awakened a few weeks before to find her mother was insane. Louella Donner was sent out west for a time before being brought to Greenwich in August. She escaped from Ardendale Sanitarium at Cos Cob, near the residence of Clyde Fitch, after jumping out of a second-floor window. She had employed a corset steel to pick the lock on the window. Donner came to Greenwich when her mother was returned to the sanitarium superintendent by the police, and it was discovered she had not been committed.[9]

The Maestro's Masterpiece by Edward Locke was produced by Arthur Hammerstein at the Columbia Theatre in Washington, D.C., in February 1911. Donner was in this play of grand opera life in English.[10] She sang the part of Micaela in Carmen with the Boston Opera Company in January 1913. Previously she debuted as Mimi, which proved to be one of the most significant triumphs of the season.[11]

References
  1. "Began at the bottom". The Minneapolis Journal. December 17, 1902. p. 9.
  2. Coming Theatrical Events, The New York Times, December 6, 1903, pg. 25.
  3. Display Ad 12--No Title, The New York Times, December 13, 1903, pg. 14.
  4. The Week at the Theatres, The New York Times, May 1, 1904, pg. 8.
  5. Aerial Gardens Improved, The New York Times, May 14, 1905, pg. 6.
  6. Article 4-No Title, The New York Times, March 11, 1906, pg. X3.
  7. The Stage And Its Players, The New York Times, April 29, 1906, pg. X7.
  8. The District Leader, The New York Times, May 1, 1906, pg. 9.
  9. To Adjudge Mother Insane, The New York Times, September 11, 1906, pg. 5.
  10. Amusements, The Washington Post, Sunday, February 19, 1911, pg. 31.
  11. Boston Opera House, Fitchburg, Massachusetts Daily Sentinel, January 3, 1913, pg. 8.
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