Laura Guerite

Laura Guerite (March 3, 1879 – February 2, 1947), born Laura Leon Garrett, was an American actress, dancer, singer, comedian, playwright, and vaudeville performer. She was also an enthusiastic boatwoman and a licensed pilot.

Laura Guerite
Laura Guerite, from a 1908 publication
Born
Laura Leon Garrett

(1879-03-03)March 3, 1879
Chicago, Illinois
DiedFebruary 2, 1947(1947-02-02) (aged 67)
Los Angeles, California
NationalityAmerican
Other namesLaura Guérite, Laura Guerite Parker, Laura Garrett Craig
OccupationMusical theatre and vaudeville performer
Years active1904–1930s
Laura Guerite, from a 1916 publication

Early life

Laura Leon Garrett was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Lawrence Garrett and Julia M. Jardee Garrett. Her father was a sailor on the Great Lakes. She was sometimes described as French by birth,[1][2] an impression she may have encouraged with the respelling of her surname. Her maternal grandparents were from France and Switzerland; her paternal grandparents were Canadian.

Film actress Clara Kimball Young was Guerite's niece, the daughter of her sister Pauline Garrett Kimball.[3]

Career

Guerite's stage credits included roles in Mr. Wix of Wickham (1904),[4] The Gay White Way (1907-1908),[5] The Orchid (1907-1908), Mr. Hamlet of Broadway (1908-1909),[6] A Broken Idol (1909),[7] Dick Whittington (1910),[8] Get Busy with Emily (1910),[9] The Girl in the Taxi (1910),[10] and Peg O' My Heart (1917).[11]

She went on an extended world tour from 1914 to 1923.[12] In London she appeared in the revue Oh! La! La! (1915-1916).[13] In the 1930s, she was performing in vaudeville, variety and cabaret shows in Singapore[14] and India.[15]

She was known for her "Salome" dance in a minimal gauzy costume.[16][17][18] She designed her own gowns[19] and wore the "latest Parisian creations", as reported in the entertainment press: "Miss Guerite need never hesitate to don any costume that shows the grace of her lines, for she has undoubtedly one of the best figures on the American stage."[20] She contributed a recipe for preparing brussel sprouts and chestnuts to a 1918 actors' cookbook, to raise funds for war relief.[21]

She wrote a one-act play, The Flivver (1916).[22]

Boats and planes

Guerite was known for her interest in automobiles, boats, and airplanes. In 1910, Guerite, her husband, actress Edna Wallace Hopper and two others ran their motor boat, named the Laura G., aground at Little Hell Gate and almost sank.[23][24] Two years later, again in her namesake motor boat, she and another actress, Rose Parnett, interrupted their tennis game to rescue thirteen men from a foundering yacht, the Count, in Flushing Bay.[25][26]

By 1917, Guerite had a pilot's license and was flying a stunt plane over a fundraising show at the Sheepshead Bay Speedway.[27] In 1921 and 1922, she flew an airplane over Adelaide and Melbourne, while she was touring in Australia.[28][29] She designed her own aviation costume too.[30] "I wish I could wear trousers all the time," she explained of her practical aviator gear, "Women are adopting them all over England and France. It would be dangerous to wear skirts when flying."[27]

Personal life

Laura Guerite married businessman John J. Parker in 1904.[31] She was married a second time by 1922,[32] to H. M. Craig.[14] Laura Garrett Craig died in 1947, aged 67, in Los Angeles, California. Her gravesite is in Glendale, California.

References
  1. Untitled item, The Washington Post (October 9, 1910): 3. via Newspapers.com
  2. "Laura Guerite, New Tivoli Star" The Sun (February 7, 1915): 13. via Trove
  3. "Just Like a Plot" The Los Angeles Times (November 12, 1917): 16. via Newspapers.com
  4. "Mr. Wix of Wickham" Broadway Weekly (September 28, 1904): 8.
  5. "The Season's Plays" Harper's Weekly (October 26, 1907): 1570.
  6. "Miss Guerite at the Casino" New York Star (December 19, 1908): 17.
  7. John-A-Dreams, "Drama Under the Dog Star" The World Mirror (October 1909): 96.
  8. "Complete Cast of Dick Whittington" New York Dramatic Mirror (January 1, 1910): 4.
  9. "New Haven Police Get Busy" New York Dramatic Mirror (May 14, 1910): 9.
  10. "Astor: The Girl in the Taxi" Theatre Magazine Advertiser (December 1910): xxi-xxii.
  11. "Laura Guerite as 'Peg' Wins Heart of Honolulu at the Bijou" Honolulu Star Bulletin (April 26, 1917): 6. via Newspapers.com
  12. "Miss Guerite Returns" The Indianapolis Star (June 17, 1923): 60. via Newspapers.com
  13. J. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1910-1919: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel (Scarecrow Press 2013). ISBN 9780810893009
  14. "Laura Guerite; Vaudeville Entertainment at Victoria Theatre" The Straits Times (October 9, 1931): 14. via NewspapersSG.
  15. "Miss Laura Guerite; Cabaret Season Opened in Calcutta" The Straits Times (January 22, 1932): 14. via NewspaperSG.
  16. "M. B. Haas, "Glimmerings" New York Star (October 17, 1908): 18.
  17. Archie Bell, "Anecdotal Histories of Great Roles: Salomania" The Green Book Album (July 1911): 119.
  18. "'Not Much', Admits Laura Guerite" Oakland Tribune (August 26, 1908): 8. via Newspapers.com
  19. Ann Randolph, "The Home" National Magazine (June 1912): 392-394.
  20. Ethel Powers, "Miss Guerite's Latest" New York Star (November 28, 1908): 8-9.
  21. "Brussel Sprouts Guerite" Celebrated Actor Folks' Cookeries (Mabel Rowland 1916): 67.
  22. Dramatic Compositions Copyrighted in the United States, 1870 to 1916 (Library of Congress Copyright Office 1918): 2716.
  23. "Motor Boat Near Wreck" Detroit Free Press (June 12, 1910): 1. via Newspapers.com
  24. "Stage Stars Near Death as Boat is Stranded" Oakland Tribune (June 12, 1910): 18. via Newspapers.com
  25. "The Summer Heats Up in 1912 Queens" The Queens Gazette (June 19, 2013).
  26. "Two Actresses Save 13 Men About to Drown" New-York Tribune (June 17, 1912): 5. via Newspapers.com
  27. "Honolulu Favorite Stars in Actor's Fund Benefit Show" Honolulu Advertiser (July 9, 1917): 6. via Newspapers.com
  28. "Laura Guerite to Fly" The Register (July 6, 1921): 8. via Trove
  29. "Bijou–Miss Laura Guérite" The Argus (March 7, 1921): 8. via Trove
  30. "Types of the Gentler Sex who by Daring Have Won Fame in the Air" Air Travel (May 1918): 861.
  31. Ethel Powers, "One Happy Life" New York Star (October 24, 1908): 20.
  32. "Actress Loses Diamonds" Everyone's (May 3, 1922): 20. via Trove
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