# Edith Taliaferro

Edith Taliaferro (December 21, 1894 – March 2, 1958) was an American stage and film actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was active on the stage until 1935 and had roles in three silent films. She is best known for portraying the role of Rebecca in the 1910 stage production of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

## Early life and family

Taliaferro was born in Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of theatre workers. She was the younger sister of Mabel Taliaferro who also became a stage actress, and the cousin of actress Bessie Barriscale. Her ancestors were originally from England, of remote Italian descent (from the 1500s). They were one of the families who settled in Virginia in the 17th century.

## Career
### Early years

Taliaferro made her acting debut at the age of two in the stock stage production of Shore Acres, with James A. Herne. However, two newspapers reported her as being 4-years-old in early 1896. It was rumored that she obtained the part because her sister Mabel was too old to depict the character. Her Broadway debut came in 1900 with the play The Sunken Bell'.
Newspapers reported during June 1904 that Taliaferro was signed to a personal contract and paid $100 per week by George C. Tyler of Liebler & Company. She signed a contract for the following season to appear with Ezra Kendall. She was the youngest Shakesperean actress on the stage. She portrayed Puck in a Ben Greet production of A Midsummer Night's Dream before an audience at Princeton University in May 1904. She was lauded by professors there, and they sent her a Princeton University flag and pin. By then, she had performed in six to eight juvenile roles after her professional debut. When she returned to New York, Taliaferro appeared with Clara Bloodgood in The Girl with the Green Eyes.
In 1907, Frederic Thompson produced Polly of the Circus, written by Margaret Mayo, for his new wife Mabel Taliaferro, and at times during its run, Edith took on the lead role of the youthful circus rider in her sister's place.
She is most noted for her 1910 performance in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. It was staged at the Republic Theater (New Victory Theater), 209 West 42nd Street. Her other successful theatrical performances include roles in Young Wisdom (1914), Tipping The Winner (1914), and Mother Carey's Chickens (1917).

### Films, later career and retirement

Taliaferro made her silent film debut in Young Romance in 1915. She made only two more films, The Conquest of Canaan (1916) and Who's Your Brother? (1919). She returned to Broadway in 1919 in Please Get Married followed by roles in Kissing Time (1920), A Love Scandal (1923), and as "Amanda Prynne" in the touring company production of Private Lives in 1931. She performed in London, England and in Australia with the Toronto Theatre Guild. In vaudeville she appeared at the Palace Theater in New York City. Most of her later work was with summer theaters and on radio. Taliaferro retired from stage work in the late 1930s after she lost her vision.

## Personal life

Taliaferro's first husband was actor Earle Browne. The marriage was public knowledge by May 1913. Taliaferro's second husband was actor House B. Jameson, whom she married around 1928. Jameson appeared in various stage productions and later became known for his role as Sam "Papa" Aldrich on the radio and television series The Aldrich Family. The couple had no children and remained married until Taliaferro's death.

## Death

On March 2, 1958, Edith Taliaferro died at age 63 from undisclosed causes at her home in Newtown, Connecticut.

## Stage performances

By year of Edith Taliaferro's first performance in the work :
| Year | Play | Role | Venue | Notes |
| 1896 | Shore Acres | Millie Berry | Touring company | Two newspapers reported her as being 4-years-old during this production, in contrast to later secondary sources which claimed she was only two. |
| 1900 | The Sunken Bell | Second Boy | Knickerbocker Theatre | This was an English translation by a "Mr. Meltzer", that starred E. H. Sothern and Virginia Harned. |
| 1901 | The Bonnie Brier Bush | Jeannie | Touring company/Theatre Republic | Loosely adapted from Ian Maclaren's Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush. |
| 1902 | The Girl with the Green Eyes | Susie | Savoy Theatre/Touring Company | Taliaferro is a "slangy little sister" to Clara Bloodgood, in this play written by Clyde Fitch. |
| 1904 | Uncle Tom's Cabin | Eva | Chestnut Street Opera House | |
| 1904 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Puck | Princeton University | An outdoor one-night Ben Greet production, it would also play other universities. |
| 1904 | Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch | Australia Wiggs | Grand Opera House | She took Edith Storey's place temporarily, from July 10 thru August 6. |
| 1904 | Weatherbeaten Benson | Little Miss Moses | Touring company | Liebler & Company three-act comedy by Ezra Kendall who also starred in it. |
| 1906 | Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch | Lovey Mary | New York Theatre/Touring company | This revival played three weeks on Broadway then went on tour. |
| 1907 | The Evangelist | Ione Nuneham | Knickerbocker Theatre | Taliaferro played a "precocious child". This was made into a 1916 silent film. |
| 1907 | Marta of the Lowlands | Muri | Touring company | This starred Bertha Kalich, who later reprised her role in a 1914 silent film. |
| 1908 | Polly of the Circus | Polly | Liberty Theatre | Although the play debuted in 1907, Edith Taliaferro didn't start subbing for her sister Mabel until February 1908. |
| 1908 | Brewster's Millions | Peggy Gray | McVicker's Theater | Chicago reviewer Charles W. Collins gave a profile of her family and mentioned she "wasn't more than 17 or 18". |
| 1908 | Polly of the Circus | Polly | Touring company | She led the second company but had to replace her sister Mabel in the first due to appendicitis. |
| 1910 | Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm | Rebecca | Touring company/Republic Theatre | The play debuted at the Tremont Theatre, then toured until its Broadway premiere in October. |
| 1914 | Young Wisdom | Gail Claffenden | Criterion Theatre/Touring company | The Taliaferro sisters had joint top billing in this three-act comedy satire by Rachel Crothers. |
| 1914 | Tipping the Winner | Dorothy Gay | Longacre Theatre | Taliaferro had top billing in this comedy by George Rollit, described as an English "racing farce" in three acts, adapted by Richard Norton. |
| 1915 | A Breath of Old Virginia | Mary Davis | Palace Theatre | Taliaferro's first vaudeville appearance was this one-act play set during the Civil War. |
| 1916 | Captain Kidd, Jr. | Mary MacTavish | Cohan & Harris Theatre | Called Buried Treasure during tryouts, this Rida Johnson Young three-act comedy was made into a 1919 silent film. |
| 1917 | Mother Carey's Chickens | Nancy Carey | Touring company/Cort Theater | John Cort production based on the 1911 novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin with dramatic help from Rachel Crothers. |
| 1918 | The Best Sellers | Queen Wilhelmina/Lady Clare/Faro Kate | Fulton Theatre | Taliaferro plays three damsels rescued in three "books" (scenes) of this one-act satire of popular romances. |
| 1919 | Please Get Married | Muriel Ashley | Little Theatre | Taliaferro was second billed to Ernest Truex in this farce, which was made into a silent film that same year. |
| 1920 | Kissing Time | Clarice | Lyric Theatre | Taliaferro shared lead billing with William Norris in this updated two-act musical revival. |
| 1923 | Fashions of 1924 | Neil Barton | Lyceum Theatre | Nunnally Johnson panned this musical revue as a "dressmaker's show", disparaging the songs and lyrics. |
| 1923 | A Love Scandal | Bettina Tilton | Comedy Theatre | Taliaferro had lead billing at first tryout, but was demoted to distant second billing to Norman Trevor on Broadway. |
| 1924 | Tarnish | Tishy | Majestic Theatre | Brooklyn revival of 1923 Broadway drama by Gilbert Emery had already been released as a silent film. |
| 1925 | The Bride Retires! | Raymonde | National Theatre | Taliaferro took over the female lead for the September reopening of this comedy. |
| 1930 | (Various stock plays) | (Misc roles) | Touring Company | Taliaferro and her husband House Jameson performed six plays in Sydney and Melbourne with their own stock company. |
| 1931 | Dishonored Lady | Madeline Cary | Touring company | Taliaferro joined the Bainbridge Players to star in two week-long productions in various cities. |
| 1931 | Peg o' My Heart | Peg | Touring company | Another stock play performed by the Bainbridge Players. |
| 1931 | Private Lives | Amanda Prynne | Touring company | Taliaferro led the second of four touring companies for this Broadway hit. |
| 1935 | The Hook-Up | Mary Bainbridge | Cort Theatre | A satirical farce on radio advertising; Taliaferro plays the sweet colleague whom Ernest Truex really loves. |

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1915 | Young Romance | Nellie Nolan | |
| 1916 | The Conquest of Canaan | Ariel Tabor | |
| 1919 | Who's Your Brother? | Esther Field | Alternative title: Keep [It] to the Right. |