Euphemia "Effie" Ellsler (September , â€" October , ) was an American
actress of stage and screen whose career had its beginnings when she
was a child and lasted well into the s. She was best remembered over
her early career for playing the title role in Steele MacKaye's hit
play Hazel Kirke, and as the self-sacrificing Bessie Barton in Frank
Harver's Woman Against Woman. Ellsler remained active during her later
years appearing between and in at least six Broadway productions and
twenty-two motion pictures.Euphemia "Effie" Ellsler was born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of actors John and Euphemia
"Effie" (née Murray) Ellsler. She first appeared on stage at the age
of three in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Academy of Music; by then under
the management of her father. Ellsler's first role was the Genie of
the Ring in a production called, Aladdin; or, The Wonderful Lamp . At
age four she was cast as Little Eva in an adaptation of Harriet
Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. As a young girl Ellsler often was
asked to play juvenile roles with her father's stock company while
attending school at the local Ursuline Convent and, with the aid of
her mother, ballet dance classes.At the age of sixteen Ellsler became
a regular player with her father's company performing roles ranging
from minor bit parts to a leading lady in Shakespearean plays. When
she was about twenty-three Ellsler starred at her father's new Euclid
Avenue Opera House in the original production of A Heroine in Rags, a
comedy-drama written specifically for her by the playwright Bartley
Campbell. Ellsler's big break came in when she created the title role
in Hazel Kirke at the Madison Square Theatre, New York. She continued
in the part, nearly without break, for three years and only stopped
after her doctor advised her to do so.
actress of stage and screen whose career had its beginnings when she
was a child and lasted well into the s. She was best remembered over
her early career for playing the title role in Steele MacKaye's hit
play Hazel Kirke, and as the self-sacrificing Bessie Barton in Frank
Harver's Woman Against Woman. Ellsler remained active during her later
years appearing between and in at least six Broadway productions and
twenty-two motion pictures.Euphemia "Effie" Ellsler was born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of actors John and Euphemia
"Effie" (née Murray) Ellsler. She first appeared on stage at the age
of three in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Academy of Music; by then under
the management of her father. Ellsler's first role was the Genie of
the Ring in a production called, Aladdin; or, The Wonderful Lamp . At
age four she was cast as Little Eva in an adaptation of Harriet
Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. As a young girl Ellsler often was
asked to play juvenile roles with her father's stock company while
attending school at the local Ursuline Convent and, with the aid of
her mother, ballet dance classes.At the age of sixteen Ellsler became
a regular player with her father's company performing roles ranging
from minor bit parts to a leading lady in Shakespearean plays. When
she was about twenty-three Ellsler starred at her father's new Euclid
Avenue Opera House in the original production of A Heroine in Rags, a
comedy-drama written specifically for her by the playwright Bartley
Campbell. Ellsler's big break came in when she created the title role
in Hazel Kirke at the Madison Square Theatre, New York. She continued
in the part, nearly without break, for three years and only stopped
after her doctor advised her to do so.
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