Charlotte Saunders Cushman
Charlotte Saunders Cushman (born July 23, 1816 in Massachusetts , † February 18, 1876 in Boston , Massachusetts) was an American actress.
Cushman was born in Boston, Massachusetts. After an unsuccessful attempt as a singer at the opera, she began as an actress and made her stage debut in New Orleans in 1836 . She became one of the most successful actresses of her time, performing in both the United States and London. Cushman stayed in London for several years, where he met the writer Geraldine Jewsbury . In their 1848 novel The Half Sisters , Cushman is immortalized in a character.
Cushman appeared in Boston in 1835 on the theater stage in the play The Marriage of Figaro . The following year she gave the role of Lady Macbeth and her interpretation of the role was more forceful than that of previous actors. After a successful theater season in New Orleans, she returned to New York City and played at the Bowery Theater . She then returned to the role of Lady Macbeth in Albany, New York, with good reviews.
Cushman was not an attractive woman in the traditional sense. In her early years she was considered more of the tomboy type : strong, self-confident and with a robust posture. Her powerful charisma and energy captured her audience. In 1837 Cushman played on the side of actor Edwin Forrest in the play The Lady of Lyons .
In 1839 her younger sister Susan Cushman became an actress and married Nelson Merriman at the age of 14. Susan became pregnant and shortly afterwards Nelson Merriman left his pregnant wife. Charlotte Cushman decided to help her sister in this situation and took care of her. The two sisters became famous in the following years for their roles together in Romeo and Juliet . Charlotte Cushman played the character of Romeo in this play.
In 1843, Cushman fell in love with Rosalie Sully, a daughter of the artist Thomas Sully . In 1844 this romance ended. Cushman began acting in various places and Rosalie Sully passed away a short time later.
Cuhsman met the journalist, writer and occasional actress Matilda Hays in 1848. The two women became close friends and after a while a lesbian relationship developed between them. For the next ten years the two women were a couple. They dressed similarly and in Europe they became publicly known as a couple.
In 1849, Hays left her partner Cushman because of an affair with Harriet Hosmer . Hays returned to Cushman after a while, but their continued relationship was never the same. In 1857, Cushman had a secret affair with the sculptor Emma Stebbins . Hays discovered this secret affair, and the relationship between Cushman and Hays finally fell. Hays moved out, accusing Cushman of sacrificing her professional career in vain to further Cushman's career. Emma Stebbins moved to Cushman shortly after Hays moved out. Months later, Cushman was touring America on business. Although Cushman loved Stebbins at the time, she began another affair with actress Emma Crow.
When Cushman went to Italy, Emma Crow followed her. In Italy, Emma Crow met her nephew Ned Cushman and married him in April 1861. Cushman returned to the United States to live with Emma Stebbins.
In 1869, Cushman developed breast cancer. Stebbins neglected her professional career as a sculptor and cultivated Cushman. In 1876, Cushman died of lung cancer in Boston at the age of 59 and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge , Massachusetts.
In 1915, Cushman was elected to the New York University Hall of Fame .
Individual proof
Web links
- Charlotte Saunders Cushman. In: FemBio. Women's biography research (with references and citations).
- Library of the RMWC
- Harvard Library
- Library of the United States Congress
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cushman, Charlotte Saunders |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | US-american actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 23, 1816 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Massachusetts |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 18, 1876 |
| Place of death | Boston , Massachusetts |