Corona Riccardo (c. 1878 â€" October 15, 1917) was an Italian born
American actress who had a brief Broadway stage career before leaving
to become a wife and mother. Born in Naples she came to acting in 1894
playing a Mexican girl in a play at the Empire Theatre. Wilson Barrett
engaged her for a role in his play The Sign of the Cross which he took
on tour of the United States. Riccardo played the role of Ancaria and
later played Berenice in the same play. Robert B. Mantell in 1898 who
struck by her beauty also cast her in two Shakespeare plays, Romeo and
Juliet and Othello. Author Lewis Strang writing in 1899 said Riccardo
was the most promising actress in America at the time. Towards the end
of 1898 Mantell chose her for another Shakespeare part, Ophelia in
Hamlet. Afterwards she was due to join Augustin Daly's Theatre Company
but Daly died in 1899. In 1899 she gained her biggest fame by playing
Iras in the first stage production of Ben-Hur.Around 1905, Riccardo
left the stage after appearing in Vaudeville in a play about Native
Americans. In conjunction with the play she met a man called Chief
Silver Tongue, of Native American heritage, and of the Ho-Chunk Nation
or Winnebagos. The two fell in love and married and moved to Kansas
City, Missouri. On October 16, 1917, while in hospital, Riccardo died
leaving her husband and young son.
American actress who had a brief Broadway stage career before leaving
to become a wife and mother. Born in Naples she came to acting in 1894
playing a Mexican girl in a play at the Empire Theatre. Wilson Barrett
engaged her for a role in his play The Sign of the Cross which he took
on tour of the United States. Riccardo played the role of Ancaria and
later played Berenice in the same play. Robert B. Mantell in 1898 who
struck by her beauty also cast her in two Shakespeare plays, Romeo and
Juliet and Othello. Author Lewis Strang writing in 1899 said Riccardo
was the most promising actress in America at the time. Towards the end
of 1898 Mantell chose her for another Shakespeare part, Ophelia in
Hamlet. Afterwards she was due to join Augustin Daly's Theatre Company
but Daly died in 1899. In 1899 she gained her biggest fame by playing
Iras in the first stage production of Ben-Hur.Around 1905, Riccardo
left the stage after appearing in Vaudeville in a play about Native
Americans. In conjunction with the play she met a man called Chief
Silver Tongue, of Native American heritage, and of the Ho-Chunk Nation
or Winnebagos. The two fell in love and married and moved to Kansas
City, Missouri. On October 16, 1917, while in hospital, Riccardo died
leaving her husband and young son.
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