Olive Frances Wyndham Meysenberg (June 16, 1886 – November 24, 1971) was an American actress on stage and in silent films.

Olive Wyndham
Olive Wyndham, from a 1912 publication. Portrait by Sarony.
Born
Olive Frances Wyndham Meysenburg

(1886-06-16)June 16, 1886
DiedNovember 24, 1971(1971-11-24) (aged 85)
OccupationActress
Years active1904–1927
Spouse(s)Andrew White Newberry (m. 1925-?), Lucien Hamilton Tyng (m.1933-?), Harry Gaze (m. ?-1959)

Early life

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Meysenburg was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,[1] the daughter of E. A. von Meysenburg, a German diplomat, and Oral Josephine Wyndham. Her older sister Janet Beecher was also an actress.[2] The sisters were related to Harriet Beecher Stowe on their mother's side.[3]

Her father's work as a vice-consul for Germany led to her growing up in Chicago.[4]

Career

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Wyndham and a toy terrier named Mary, from a 1913 publication

Wyndham's stage credits included roles in The Ruling Power (1904), She Stoops to Conquer (1905), Sir Anthony (1906), The Aero Club (1907), The Man From Home (1908),[5] Blue Grass (1908),[6] The Cottage in the Air (1909), The School for Scandal (1909), Sister Beatrice (1910), The Thunderbolt (1910), Nobody's Daughter (1911), The Only Son (1911), Chains (1912), Oliver Twist (1912),[7] What Happened to Mary (1913),[8] Countess Julia (1913), The Last Resort (1914), Children of Earth (1915),[9] The Greatest Nation (1916), The Sweetmeat Game (1916),[10] The Knife (1917),[11] Nothing But Lies (1918), A Voice in the Dark (1919),[12] The Green Goddess (1921), The Charlatan (1922), Thin Ice (1922), The Steam Roller (1924), Dinner at Eight (1932). In 1927, she was acting in Massachusetts, including in Cradle Snatchers with her sister Janet Beecher.

Wyndham appeared in two silent films, Your Girl and Mine, a 1914 suffrage film backed by the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and Fighting Bob (1915).[13] Her striking fashion choices were a matter of press interest, as in the 1907 headline "Olive Wyndham's Hat Biggest in United States".[14]

Personal life

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Olive Wyndham was engaged to marry lawyer Walter Kirkpatrick Brice in 1915,[15] but the engagement was broken a few months later.[16] She married mining engineer Andrew White Newberry in 1925.[17] After they divorced, she married a second time to Lucien Hamilton Tyng in 1933.[18] She was married a third time to the New Thought metaphysician and writer Harry Gaze (1878–1959) who died in a car accident en route to a speaking engagement at the Hollywood Church of Religious Science. She died in Santa Monica, California in 1971, aged 85 years.

References

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  1. ^ Who's Who in the Theatre (Pittman 1922): 893-894.
  2. ^ "A Home-Grown Comedienne" Cosmopolitan (November 1914): 808-809.
  3. ^ Tildesley, Alice L. (June 30, 1935). "How to keep from growing old". The Nebraska State Journal. Nebraska, Lincoln. p. 33. Retrieved February 26, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.  
  4. ^ Hischak, Thomas S. (2003). Enter the Players: New York Stage Actors in the Twentieth Century. Scarecrow Press. pp. 26–27. ISBN 9780810847613. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  5. ^ "Olive Wyndham, An Actress Devoid of Affectation" Star Tribune (June 10, 1908): 4. via Newspapers.com 
  6. ^ "Bad Realism and Good" Munsey's Magazine (1909): 554.
  7. ^ W. P. Eaton, "Some Recent Worthwhile Plays" American Magazine (June 1912): 238.
  8. ^ Ann Randolph, "Olive Wyndham: Her Art and Herself" The National Magazine (October 1913): 157-160.
  9. ^ Louis V. DeFoe, "The Puzzle of the Prize Play" The Green Book Magazine (April 1915): 645.
  10. ^ "Chinese Play at Palace" New York Times (November 21, 1916): 9. via ProQuest
  11. ^ "Tense Melodrama by Eugene Walter" New York Times (April 13, 1917): 11. via ProQuest
  12. ^ "Republic: A Voice in the Dark" Theatre Magazine (September 1919): 181.
  13. ^ "Make Reel Appeal" People's Voice (January 7, 1915): 3. via Newspapers.com 
  14. ^ "Olive Wyndham's Hat Biggest in United States" Wilkes-Barre Times Leader (October 7, 1907): 5. via Newspapers.com 
  15. ^ "W. K. Brice to Wed Actress" New York Times (July 3, 1915): 16. via ProQuest
  16. ^ "Brice-Wyndham Betrothal Broken" New York Times (October 20, 1915): 11. via ProQuest
  17. ^ "Olive Wyndham a Bride" New York Times (May 15, 1925): 22. via ProQuest
  18. ^ "Lucien Tyng Weds Olive F. Wyndham" New York Times (October 17, 1933): 25. via ProQuest
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