Blanche Deyo
{{short description|American actress}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox person
|name=Blanche Lillian Deyo
|birthname=Blanche Lillian Pixley
|image=Blanche Deyo 001.jpg
||birth_date= June 6, 1878
|birth_place = San Francisco, California
|death_date={{Death date and age|1933|8|30|1878}}
|occupation=Dancer, Actress, Singer
| spouse = {{marriage|Walter Newton Jones|1908|1922|end=his death}}
| children = 1
}}
Blanche Lillian Deyo (née Pixley, June 6, 1878 – August 29, 1933) was an American dancer, actress, and singer who performed in multiple theatrical venues -- Broadway, vaudeville, burlesque, ballet, and international variety theaters—throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Walter Jones Marries Again, The New York Times, April 8, 1908, pg. 7.
Family
Deyo's mother was Lillian Scott and her father was Robert "Bob" Franklin Pixley, a mining engineer from Canada, who died in San Francisco, California on February 24, 1908.'Bob' Pixley Is Called by Death, San Francisco Call, February 26, 1908, p. 2; Obituary, Los Angeles Times, February 27, 1908, pg. I5. She had two sisters, Pearl (1873–1950) and the actress Grace (sometimes Grayce) Scott Pixley (1877–1970), who married theater producer and literary agent R. L. "Larry" Giffen (ca. 1873–1946). Deyo's paternal aunt and uncle were successful in show business. Annie Pixley (1856-1893) was a well-known actress; Gus Pixley, a stage comedian. Annie Pixley's Death, San Francisco Examiner, November 10, 1893, p. 2; Robert Pixley Dead, Fresno Morning Republican, February 26, 1908, p. 4; California Girls Winning Laurels, San Francisco Call, September 9, 1902, p. 4.
Stage career
Deyo first appeared on stage in New York in 1895, billed as a discovery of producer Edward E. Rice."Manhattan Beach Attractions", Brooklyn Standard Union, August 16, 1895, pg. 2. She was first known only as "the Beautiful Deyo"New York Theatrical Letter, “New Stage Beauties; New York Now Has a Plethora of Them,” Champaigne [Illinois] Daily News, January 30, 1896, pg. 3. or, in Europe, "Mademoiselle Deyo,"The Graphic, London, May 22, 1897, pg. 16. doing a solo dance act. Beginning in May 1897 she danced in London theaters and thereafter traveled the world. She began using her full name by 1903, having had success in several plays."A Country Girl," Philadelphia Inquirer, February 1, 1903, pg. 29.
Deyo appeared as Miss Carruthers in A Country Girl, September–December 1902.
She also appeared as Peggy Sabine in the musical play The Cingalee at Daly's Theatre on Broadway, in October 1904. The
musical featured chorus girls with extravagant costumes and splendorous settings with oriental motifs."The Cingalee Heard At Daly's Last Night", The New York Times, October 25, 1904, pg. 9. After appearing as Ozma in The Woggle-Bug (1905), she was signed by Frank L. Perley (agent to Mabel Hite, who also appeared in the show) for a part in The Winning Girl."Theatrical Notes", The New York Times, September 14, 1905, pg. 9. The play was staged at the Shubert Park Theatre in Brooklyn, New York."This Week's Offerings",
The New York Times, November 26, 1905, pg. X3. Deyo was in a company that presented Mexicana at the Lyric Theatre (New York) in February 1906.
The show was produced by Sam S. Shubert."Theatrical Notes'", The New York Times, January 13, 1906, pg. 9.
In April she participated in a benefit at the Casino Theatre for victims of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake."San Francsico Benefits", The New York Times, April 29, 1906, pg. X7.
In October 1908, Deyo starred in Joe Weber's version of Salome at the Duquesne Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The religious subject matter and revealing costumes led to complaints to the Pittsburgh Police Department, and the department's Director of Public Safety unsuccessfully attempted to halt the October 13th performance.{{cite news | title=No Salome for Pittsburg | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/10/14/106775699.html?pageNumber=9 | newspaper=The New York Times | date=October 14, 1908 }} Mayor George W. Guthrie intervened, ordering the Chief of Police to inspect Deyo's costume before allowing the October 14th performance to start.{{cite news | title="Salome" in a Long Skirt | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/10/15/104761194.html?pageNumber=1 | newspaper=The New York Times | date=October 15, 1908 }}
Blanche Ring was the leading lady of The Merry Widow and the Devil which played the Grand Opera House,Brooklyn Amusements, New York Times, November 22, 1908, pg. X7. 23rd Street (Manhattan) (8th Avenue (Manhattan),[http://www.ibdb.com/venue.aspx?id=1549 Grand Opera House], Internet Broadway Database, Retrieved 1-9-08. in November 1908. It was staged by Julian Mitchell with music by Franz Lehár. The cast included Deyo and her husband Walter Jones, as well as Grace Griswold and Joe Weber.
Deyo and comedian Franker Woods toured in The Echo in 1911 after the play had a successful run at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (Globe Theatre). The season prior to this she appeared as Paulette Devine in The Blue Mouse."Blanche Deyo in The Echo", San Antonio Express, November 5, 1911, pg. 32.
Theatrical manager Edwin A. Weil owed Deyo $1,692 when he filed for bankruptcy in November 1913."Business Troubles", The New York Times, November 29, 1913, pg. 20.
Deyo was among the actors in All Over Town, the last theatrical production of the 1914-1915 season in Washington, D.C. staged at the
Belasco Theatre, when she teamed with Roy Atwell in a "diamond robbery motion picture specialty" in the opening act. Her Charlie Chaplin number, performed with eight members of the chorus, earned her the most applause."All Over Town A Hit", The Washington Post, April 29, 1915, pg. 5.
Private life
File:Walter Newton Jones 001.jpg]]
She married tramp impersonator Walter Newton Jones in Crown Point, Indiana in April 1908.{{cite news |title= Walter Jones Weds Again |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1908/04/07/page/1/article/walter-jones-weds-again |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=April 7, 1908 }} It was her second marriage. Jones had divorced his previous wife, Beatrice, two months earlier, and the divorce decree implied his infidelity with Deyo.{{cite news | title=Walter Jones Marries Again | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/04/08/104801044.html?pageNumber=7 | newspaper=The New York Times | date=April 8, 1908 }} Jones and Deyo had a daughter in December 1913, also named Blanche Deyo."Theatrical Notes", The New York Times, December 17, 1913, pg. 11.
Her hobby was collecting dancing slippers. She began her collection by accident when she obtained a pair owned by Marie Taglion. Deyo filled two glass display cases in her Philadelphia, Pennsylvania home with slippers worn by famous dancers."Amusements", Waterloo, Iowa Evening Courier, May 16, 1910, pg. 6.
Death
References
External links
{{Commons category|Blanche Deyo}}
- {{IBDB name|38000}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deyo, Blanche}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American vaudeville performers
Category:American female dancers
Category:American musical theatre actresses
Category:20th-century American singers