2

Elevée à Chicago, Ada Towne aurait fait sa première apparition sur les planches à Minneapolis dans "The Octoroon" sous la direction de M. E. Scackett. En décembre 1884, elle figure à l'affiche du Boylston Museum (Boston) où elle intègre le groupe d'Our Female Minstrels. Quelques jours avant son mariage, elle joue au Gem Teatre de Deadwood avec son futur mari, Charles J. Ross. Les jeunes mariés forment dès un couple également sur la scène : Howard Athenaeum (Boston, février 1889), Tony Pastor's (New York, avril)... Ross et Mabel présente, dans cette dernière ville, leur création original Rehearesal or Comedy vs Tragedy (avril). Dès le début de l'année 1890, le couple est engagé par l'Herrmann's Trans-Atlantique Vaudevilles : New York (Park Theater, janvier 1890), Boston (Boston Theatre, février), Chicago (Gran Opera House, mars), San Francisco (Baldwin Theater, avril-mai), Los Angeles (Los Angeles Theater, mai), Salt Lake City (Salt Lake Theatre, juin)... Dans les années qui suivent, le couple "Ross and Fenton" va remettre au goût du jour le style burlesque où il excelle, et il apparaît dans The Rain Makers (1893), The Passing Show (1894) au New York Casino... En mai 1897, le couple est engagé par E. E. Rice pour sa nouvelle production, The French Maid (Herald Square Theatre, New York).

En [1897], les artistes jouent Death of Nancy Sykes inspiré de Charles Dickens pour le biograph, leur première incursion dans le monde du cinématographe.

Death of Nancy Sykes (1897-1898)

Cette même année (1897), le couple fait l'acquisition d'une propriété, la Ross and Fenton Farm à Asbury Park (New Jersey). Pendant quatre ans, ils font partie de la Weber & Fiels Company et interprètent de nombreux rôles : My Lady and the Musketeer, Beauty and the Beast... 

Weber & Rush present Charles Ross & Mabel Fenton in Weber & Fields biggest and best musical production, Twirly Whirly (1904)

Mabel connaît ses succès les plus significatifs dans des travestissements de comédiens célèbres. Avec la compagnie Weber & Fields, elle multiplie ses imitations: Mme Fiske dans Tess of the Weber-fields, Mme Carter dans The Christian, Maude Adams dans The Little Minister... Au cours de la saison 1906-1907, on le retrouve dans The Social Whirl au Casino Theatre (New York, mai 1906) aux côtés de son mari. En novembre 1907, le couple rejoint la compagnie de Joseph Weber. Après le décès de Charles J. Ross, elle poursuit sa carrière. En outre, elle fait quelques interprétations pour le cinématographe. Elle est membre de la Professional Woman's League. Elle décède en 1931. 

Sources

"Charles J. Ross dead after long illness", Asbury Park Evening Press, samedi 15 juin 1918, p. 1-2.

3

[1897-1898]

Death of Nancy Sykes

1915

How Molly Made Good

4

2

The biograph pictures which had only been landed a day or two previously irom America were exhibited and admired, even more than those which had been shown at the theatre during the last couple of weeks, and it is saying a good deal, considering the attraction which the first series of views proved. " The acrobatic dance of Saharet," Condensed milk," "Off Boston Harbour," "In the surf," "Hudson River steamboats," "French Cuirassiers charging," "Cavalry charging a battery," and " The Gordon Highlanders marching into camp," were all live and spirited pictures admirably manipulated by Mr. G. Jones, the operator, and were loudly cheered by those present. The same programme will be repeated to-night.

---

The West Australian, Perth, lundi 7 février 1898, p. 5. 

Sources

3

4

2

D'origine sino-australienne, elle serait la fille d'un tailleur illettré d'origine irlandaise. La presse donne parfois une autre version:

Saharet, advertised as "The Australian Dancing Wonder," was born in Melbourne. Her father was a showman, and her mother a circus rider.

---

Leader, Melbourne, samedi 18 août 1900, p. 38.

Elle est née dans la banlieue ouvrière de Richmond à Melbourne. Dès l'âge de 10 ans, elle se serait découvert une vocation de danseuse, et elle serait alors rentrée dans le corps de ballet du Theatre Royal de Melbourne. D'autres articles indiquent qu'elle danse également dans d'autres théâtres :

She took to dancing as naturally as possible, and when only a child she began in the ballet at one of Williamson and Musgrove's theatres.

---

Leader, Melbourne, samedi 18 août 1900, p. 38.

George Musgrove (Surbiton, 21/01/1854-Sydney, 21/01/1916) et James Cassius Williamson (Pennsylvanie, 26/08/1845-Paris, 06/07/1913) forment, en juillet 1882, avec Arthur Garner, la Williamson, Garner and Musgrove company qui dirige le Théâtre Royal de Melbourne et le Theatre Royal de Sydney. 

On ignore dans quelles conditions, Clarice Molony rejoint les États-Unis. Elle semble être partie avec sa mère - désormais Evelyn Campbell - et sa sœur Julia, et elle va porter désormais le nom de "Clarice Campbell", patronyme possible d'un beau-père. Dans un article publié par plusieurs quotidiens américains, on trouve quelques informations, non attestées, sur ses débuts en Amérique:

An Australian Soubrette.
Saharet, whose picture is printed herewith, was born in Melbourne, Australia, March 24, 1878. She was for two years a leading feature at the Theater Royal and Princess Theater, in Australia, and in 1891 she made her first American appearance at the Baldwin Theater, San Francisco, Cal., with the Liliputians, where she was engaged to do her specialty. While Manager M. B. Leavitt was in San Francisco he made her a tempting offer to come East, and she joined his "Spider and Fly" Company, closing with him in Chicago. There she opened with Henderson's Big Spectacular Company, remaining until her contract expired. Later she was engaged and billed for a season and a half as the star attraction of a burlesque show, by Fred Rider, of the New Night Owis, who released her to join Hoyt & McKee's "A Trip to Chinatown," replacing Bessie Clayton, who went to Australia. This season she will introduce, for the first time in America, the animated picture, "La Danse Eccentrique." She was engaged with the Flying Jordan Family Vaudevilles, but owing to indisposition her engagement with that company will not commence until next February.

---

The Dayton Evening Herald, Dayton, mardi 3 novembre 1896, p. 7.

The Dayton Evening Herald, Dayton, mardi 3 novembre 1896, p. 7.

Le spectacle des Liliputians, The Pupil in Magic, au Baldwin Theater est inauguré le 8 juin 1891. On peut donc penser que Clarice Campbell est arrivée peu avant d'Australie.

The Morning Call, San Francisco, lundi 8 juin 1891, p. 2.

Toutefois, rien d'autre ne permet d'affirmer que l'arrivée des trois femmes ait eu lieu en 1891 mis à part l'article du The Dayton Evening Herald. D'autres sources évoquent l'année 1893 :

SAHARET
[WITH PORTRAIT]
Saharet was born in Australia in the year of 1878. She has just reached her eighteenth year. She made her first appearance in America in the falll of 1893, opening at the California Theatre in San Francisco, and has appeared in all the leading theatres in the United States, and for two years was one of the leading features of Hoyt's "Trip to Chinatown" and Fred River's "Night Owls Spectacular Burlesque Company" for the season of 1896-97. She has been engaged as one of the stars with Flying Jordan's high-class vaudeville show, and in April, 1897, she opens at one of the leading West End music halls in London.

---

The National Police Gazette, vol. 69, nº 995, 19 septembre 1896, p. 3.

Quoi qu'il en soit, ce n'est qu'en 1893 que la presse évoque la présence de 

Il faut attendre l'année 1894 pour que le nom de "Clarice Campbell" commence à apparaître dans la presse :

THE THEATRES
[...]
The graceful dancing of Clarice Campbell in the opinion of many excelled the famous Cyrene in skill and grace.

---

Oakland Enquirer, Oakland, vendredi 30 mars 1894, p. 3.

On retrouve la "petite Clarice Campbell" à Fresno au début du mois d'avril et au Los Angeles Theater:

Clarice Campbell is a slip of a girl but wonderfully lithe and graceful and as a high kicker has never been equalled here.

---

The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, jeudi 5 avril 1894, p. 4.

Cette même année, le nom "Saharet" commence à apparaître dans la presse.   

mais elle va commencer à se produire sous le nom de "Clarice Campbell", patronyme que porte sa m, vers 1891. Elle est alors connue sous le nom d'artiste "Clarice Campbell" qu'elle va utiliser lors de son mariage avec 

Lors de son mariage, en mai 1896, avec Isaac Rosentamm, elle porte le nom de "Clarice Campbell".

Saharet, Ike Rose et leur fille Carrie (c. 1902).

The New York Clipper Annual fot 1899, The Frank Queen Publishing Company (LImited), 1898, p. 171.

Clarissa. — Madame Clarissa Rose, whose nom de theatre is Saharet, is the "Queen of Dancers" of our time. She was born in Melbourne, Australia, in the year of 1879. Her father, John Campbell, comes from the Scottish Highlands; her mother, Eveline de Vere, is of French descent. In the daughter are united the best qualities of the two nations from which the parents sprang. Saharet is, whithout a doubt, the most accomplished dancer and, in her own type, the most beautiful woman of our time. Not only the external beauty of her delights, but also the inner beauty, that of her soul. For her dancing is never sensational, but always refined and soulful.
Being vivacity personified, her dance is enlivened by a fine spirit. In dancing, beauty of motion becomes to her a revelation. To her Beauty is Life, not cold and motionless beauty, but expressive and living beauty, reflecting the gentlest emotions of the soul in all their finest, varying tints. In dancing, she is Soul herself.
Madame Saharet appeared on the stage in all the big European cities: London, Paris, Berlin, St. Petersburg, and also in America.
Franz von Stuck, the great Munich artist, painted her portrait in oil. The canvass, known in art circles under the name of "The saluting Saharet with the red Rose", is now in the possession of the Chicago art-lover and connoisseur Mr. Fritz von Frantzius, who values it as the greatest gem of his collection.
Fine photographs of Madame Saharet are made and for sale by Georg Gerlach & Co., Photographers, Berlin, Germany.
The two pictures in the book are reproduced from photographs by this Co.Wilhelm Benignus, Woman's soul. Sonnets, odes and songs, p. 70.

SAHARET IN HER ROLE OF DANCING.
An Interview with the "Petite Australienne-Américaine," at the Théâtre Marigny.
THE ART AND ITS GRACES.
Beauty of Rythmic Action and High Heels Without Vulgarity-Short, Successful Career.
"She can put her feet in the air without being vulgar."
With grace and sinuosity added, this is the key to the dancing of Saharet at the Théâtre Marigny.
It is not "Miss Saharet," but "Saharet" tout court. It was "Miss Clarisse Campbell," the original, until the 'Frisco manager arbitrarily decided on "Saharet" as a preferable titular "scare" for the poster.
At the time Saharet made her début in San Francisco she was experiencing a youthful contentment on 415 a week, and her costume was of cheese-cloth, a product of the tender handicraft of her mother.The New York Herald, Paris, mercredi 29 juillet 1903, p. 6.

Her advance was so rapid that in a short time she had an offer for America, which she promptly accepted. After that, she came to London—to the palace.

---

Leader, Melbourne, samedi 18 août 1900, p. 38.

 
Porträt der australischen Cancan-Tänzerin Saharet (1899)
Franz von Lenbach

"and was known by the "boys" as Ginger" (Punch, Melbourne, jeudi 4 janvier 1906, p. 32)

aurait eu une vocation de danseuse et serait alors rentrée dans le corps de ballet du Theatre Royal de Melbourne:

At the age of 10, Saharet's vocation being decided, her mother allowed her to enter the corps de ballet of the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, and she continued there for some years. These were the happiest days of her life. "I was very happy in the ballet," she said, in her innocent way. "I would rather be earning £2 a week and be happy than £100 and not be happy."T

---

he Argus, Melbourne, samedi 19 novembre 1898, p. 14.

"Mdlle. Saharet"
Music Hall, vol. XVII, nº 390, 31 juillet 1896, p. 1. 

Saharet, advertised as "The Australian Dancing Wonder," was born in Melbourne. Her father was a showman, and her mother a circus rider. She took to dancing as naturally as possible, and when only a child she began in the ballet at one of Williamson and Musgrove's theatres. Her advance was so rapid that in a short time she had an offer for America, which she promptly accepted. After that, she came to London—to the palace. During the last two years she has been touring on the Continent, and her future bookings there and here will keep her busy until the end of the year 1901.Leader, Melbourne, samedi 18 août 1900, p. 38.

THE MUSIC HALL. MC LLE. SAHARET. This, one of the most talented exponents of Danse La Eccentrique, was born in Australia, and is now just past sweet seventeen- She made her first appearance at the Baldwin Theatre, San Francisco, in 1892, and for some time was the leading feature of Hoyt's " Trip to China Town," in America. She was for two years with Fred Rider's Night Owls Spectacular Company, and for the season of 1896-97 she is engaged at the highest salary ever paid to a dancer, with the Flying Jordan Family, high-class vaudeville show, who will tour the principal theatres in America, opening at Koster and Bial's in September. She will make her first appearance in London in May, 1897, at one of the leading West - end music halls, her business being in the hands of Messrs. Nathan and Somers, who will have exclusive management here, while on the Continent she is to be guided under the able management of the popular Ted D. Marks. This young lady has no equal, as she has a record of kicking backwards and forwards with both feet higher than any other artiste, having accomplished no less than eight feet six inches.

elle y a peut-être suivi une formation de danseuse. Elle apparaît pour la première fois sur scène en Californie en mai 1891. 

Washington: 4 février 1895 au Kernan's Lyceum Theater.

She made her first apperance in England at the Palace Theatre last night before a Bank Holiday audience. (9 septembre 1897).

1897

avril 1898: elle joue dans la production de E. E. Rice, The Franch Maid (Philadelphie, avril 1898) 

septembre 1898: Paris. Folies-Bergère.

novembre 1898: Allemagne

après: Russie

printemps 1899: Londres

voir le New York Clipper du 10 juin 1899 sur Saharet. 

février 1900: Prague 

avril 1900: Folies-Bergere (Paris)

1902

Berlin: septembre. Elle est malade.

Le couple que forme Saharet avec Ike Rose connaît des difficultés puisqu'en juillet 1907, il est question de divorce sur le plan personnel, mais non sur le plan professionnel :

CURIOUS DIVORCE COMPACT
Husband Is to Continue as Famous Dancer's Impresario.
Ike Rose, the husband of the famous dancer, Saharet, has presented a petition for divorce in the German courts, says a Berlin dispatch.
Saharet alos desires a divorce, which, so far as can be foreseen, will ensue in due course.
A curious feature of the suit is that the parties have concluded with each other a formal written contract regulating their mutual business relations after the divorce has taken place. This provides that Rose shall act as Saharet's impresaio at a substantial salary.

---

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Saint-Louis, mardi 2 juillet 1907, p. 8.

Il semble pourtant que le couple ait continué, pendant quelques années, à vivre ensemble puisque le divorce ne sera prononcé qu'en 1911.

1909

novembre: Londres

WELL-KNOWN DANCER SECURES DIVORCE.
MME. SAHARET'S UNHAPPY MARRIED LIFE.
DESERTED BY HUSBAND.
•The well-known dancer, "Mme. Saharet," otherwise Mrs. Clarice Rosenstamm, was granted a decree nisi in the Divocrce Court, on the ground of the desertion and misconduct of her husband, Mr. Isaac Rosenstamm, described as a theatrical manager. The case was heard before the President (Sir Samuel Evans) and was undefended. Mr. Walter Frampton, for the petitioner, said that leave had been given to take the evidence of the petitioner on affidavit, as she was going to Riga, in Russia. In her affadavit, she said she had lived at Balham and in Bloomsbury street, and at the date of the marriage she was living in Chillerton road, Tooting. She was a professional dancer, and performed under the name of Mme. Saharet. She was married the respondent, Isaac Rosenstamm, on May 5, 1896, at Brooklyn, New York, at which time she was performing in New York.
UNHAPPY MARRIED LIFE.
The respondent, counsel continued, was a theatrical agent. After the marriage she and her husband had lived in East Fourteenth street, New. York, and in Keppell street, London, and they had one child. Her married life was unhappy. Immediately after the marriage her husband began to neglect her, and frequently absented himself from home. In 1907 she complained of his neglect, whereupon he told her he was going away and did not intend to return. He left her, and she had since supported herself by her earnings as a dancer. In September, 1911, she was performing at the London Coliseum, when she received certain information respecting the respondent. She had seen an entry in the visitors' book of a Strand hotel, "Ike Rosenstamm and wife, Berlin," under dates September 23 and 24, 1911. She had never stayed there with the respondent. A witness gave evidence as to the respondent in September, 1911 meeting a blonde lady in Oxford street, a witness from an hotel in the Strand proved that the respondent had stayed there as stated. The President granted the petitioner a decree nisi with costs. Bas du formulaire

Funding for digitisation contributed by Sta

C'est en 1912 qu'elle va faire la rencontre de son deuxième époux Fritz von Frantzius dans des circonstances qu'il a lui-même révélées à la presse:

"It was during one of Von Frantzius's vacations he met Sahret. He was traveling on the European continent, and he paid visits to Paris. Saharet. then in the flush of her greatest artistic triumphs, was the idol of theater-goers of all Europe. Von Frantzius was but one in the army of her admirers. She fell in love with him.
"Any one of a thousand other men would have been overjoyed by such a confession from the fascinating Saharet. With Von Frantzius, however, the joy was alloyed. He could see that she loved him then. But would she continue to love him year after year away from the lights of Paris? Would she love him in Chicago? Would she love him ten years hence in his George-street home?
"Saharet protested against his lack of faith. She would do anything, she said, to prove her devotion. And Von Frantzius, accepting the challenge, asked her to wait a year.
"That year expired in December, 1912. They were married last June in New York. Saharet had promised to leave the stage, but she had an unexpired contract In Europe. Von Frantzius agreed that she should return to fill the engagement and then she was to come to Chicago. to George street, and be his wife. Saharet not only promised, but signed a contract.

---

The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, jeudi 25 septembre 1913, p. 2.

Detroit Free, Detroit, jeudi 25 septembre 1913, p. 3.

Pourtant, le mariage ne dure que quelques semaines et W. Von Frantzius demande, en septembre, le divorce.

Dès l'année suivante (1914), la presse annonce le mariage imminent de Saharet avec son partenaire, le danseur Jose Florido Garcia (1886-) :

SAHARET TO MARRY HER DANCING PARTNER
CINCINNATI, Feb. 6.-Clarice Von Frantzius, 34 years old, known on the stage as Saharet and who is appearing at a local theatre this week, will be married on Saturday evening to her dancing partner, Jose Florido Garcia, 28. The marriage license ha been issued.
Saharet recently was divorced from Fritz Von Frantzius, a Chicago broker, after having lived with him for four and a half days.The Kansas City Post, Kansas, vendredi 6 février 1914, p. 1.

À peine trois mois plus tard, Von Frantzius surprend son épouse avec son partenaire Jose Florido García (1886-) 

Pourtant, quelques mois plus tard, le couple divorce. 

Elle semble avoir voulu épouser son partenaire Jose Florido Garcia (1886-) (The Cincinnati Enquirer, vendredi 6 février 1914, p. 2.

1927

Miss Madeline La Varre, erstwhile star of the stage, took her. novice vows in tho order of the Sisters of Mount Carmel, at New Albany, on May 8, and will be known as Sister Joan of the Cross. Her father, Ike Rose, who, at the age of 61, is appearing on the Loew Vaudeville Circuit, was present at the ceremony. Miss La Varre, who during her stage career won the adulation of two continents, was the daughter of Saharet, and Australian dancer, and Ike Rose. She was educated in a Belgian convent, and immediately upon graduating began her work on the legitimate stage. She played for two years in London in Bruce Bairnsfather's. "The Better Ole." For two years she was with the Winter Garden shows in New York, and then starred with Al Woods' musical comedies in New York and Chicago.The Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser, Coraki, vendredi 23 septembre 1927, p. 6.

Elle a eu une fille, Carrie Rose (née en 1896), qui a joué à Broadway dans le rôle de Madeline La Varre dans The Century Revue (1920-21) et The Midnight Rounders de 1920.  Carrie a ensuite prononcé ses vœux et a passé des années de sa vie dans un couvent. et est devenu officier dans la Réserve navale américaine. Elle s'est suicidée en 1950 à la suite d'un grave accident de voiture.

Sources

Saharet (1878-1964) The Dancer from Richmond (https://forgottenaustralianactresses.com/tag/mme-saharet/)

3

[1897]

Saharet (Biograph)

1906

Danse du Boléro (Gaumont)

1912

Des Lebens Würfelspiel

In a Golden Gage

Hexenfeuer

Behind The Mask

1913

Mimosa San

The Gipsy's Hatred (Hubsh films)

1914

On the Altar of Patriotism 

1923

The Empty Cradle: Madeline La Varre former Zeigfeld girl.

page 15 of the September 1920 The Tatler

4

2

Petite-fille d'un mineur (recensement 1850) et fille d'un ingénieur des mines qui organise également des spectacles, Blanche Deyo commence à se produire à New York, en 1895 :

MANHATTAN BEACH ATTRACTIONS.
To-day Sousa will make his own historic and descriptive "Sheridan's Ride," one of the features of his Manhattan Beach concert, and will present scenes from "Robin Hood" and the march from "'Robe Roy" at the afternoon concert. The Trilby two-step by Wilmarth, the Brooklyn composer, will be repeated, and on Sunday the musical festival will be of exceptional interest. Miss Marie Bernard, soprano soloist, and the Cecilian Quartet will sing; Mr. Pryor, the master of the trombone, will render a solo on that Instrument, and the "Salute of the Nations" will be given by the full band, reinforced by Scotch bagpipers, soldiers, sailors, fife, drum and bugle corps, and the dynamite battery.
Deyo, the dancer, pirouettes into the maze of Rice's "1492" Monday night. She is a young girl, of remarkable youth, freshness and charm, whom Mr. Rice has discovered. After this week the Columbian travesty will rest a few nights, their places being filled by DeWolf Hopper and his "Dr. Syntax." On Labor Day "1492" will be revived, continuing until Sept. 14, when the season closes. The Manhattan Hotel will dispense hospitality until Oct. 1.
The four Richards, acrobats of much renown, reinforce the high class performers at Rice's Circus Carnival. It has become quite the fashionable thing for the hotel guests to visit the circus once a week.

---

The Standard Union, New York, vendredi 16 août 1895, p. 2.

Le succès que rencontre Deyo sur scène la conduit, en 1897, à partir en tournée en Europe. Elle débute, à Londres, sur la scène du théâtre Tivoli :

Mademoiselle Deyo, who made her debut before an English audience at the  TIVOLI this week is a little danseuse who has made a considerable success in America. She is light and graceful, evidently an enthusiast in her profession, and may go far, for the public is becoming rather tired of the many travesties on dancing, which a wealth of skirt only half conceals.

---

Graphic, Londres, samedi 22 mai 1897, p. 16.

Sa tournée se prolonge au moins jusqu'en novembre 1897.  C'est probablement à son retour que le Biograph va lui consacrer deux vues animées : Gaiety Dance et Deyo.

Ce sont là, semble-t-il, ses seules incursions devant la caméra. Elle continue par ailleurs sa carrière de danseuse et d'artiste et connaît un certain succès dans plusieurs pièces de théâtre et des spectacles de variété comme The Cingalee (1904), The Woggle-Bug (1905)... et poursuit sa carrière au-delá de la 1^re guerre mondiale. Elle décède en 1933.

Sources

DALE Alan, "Dancing as We See it on the Stage", New York Journal, dimanche 21 février 1897, p. 31.

"The Stage. Hit and Miss Gossip-Lottie Alter and Gus Pixley", Detroit Free Press, Detroit, vendredi 26 septembre 1890, p. 3.

3

[1898]

Gaiety Dance

Deyo

4