Marie Booth Russell
{{Short description|English actress}}
{{Infobox person
| name =
| image = Marie Booth Russell 002.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Marie Booth Russell as Juliet in 1909.
| other_names =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 1874
| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York
| death_date = October 31, 1911
| death_place = Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey
| nationality = British
| occupation = Actress
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) = Robert B. Mantell (married 1899-1911)
}}
Marie Booth Russell (1874 – October 31, 1911) was an English actress.
Early life
Marie Booth Russell was born in Brooklyn. She attended St. Joseph's Academy in Flushing, and Emerson College in Boston.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49795207/marie-booth-russell-dead/|title=Marie Booth Russell Dead|date=1911-11-01|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=2020-04-28|pages=2|via=Newspapers.com}}
Career
Russell appeared many times on Broadway, often in Shakespeare dramas with her husband,{{Cite news|last=Anthony|first=Walter|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49794387/tragedians-wife-is-leading/|title=Tragedian's Wife is Leading Woman|date=1910-02-03|work=The San Francisco Call|access-date=2020-04-28|pages=16|via=Newspapers.com}} including Othello (1904, 1905, 1907, 1909), Richard III (1904, 1907, 1909), King Lear (1905, 1907, 1909), Macbeth (1905, 1907, 1909),{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49795566/portrayal-of-king-macbeth-is-a-real/|title=Portrayal of King Macbeth is a Real Thriller|date=1907-10-22|work=Buffalo Courier|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=7|via=Newspapers.com}} Hamlet (1905, 1909), The Merchant of Venice (1907), Julius Caesar (1907), King John (1909),{{Cite journal|date=April 1909|title=At the Playhouse|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pctKAQAAMAAJ&q=Marie+Booth+Russell&pg=PA104|journal=The Theatre|volume=9|pages=104}} and Romeo and Juliet (1909). She was also in several Broadway productions of Richelieu (1904, 1905, 1907, 1909, 1911), The Light of Other Days (1903),{{Cite web|url=https://collections.mcny.org/CS.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=24UP1GMS2NTRB|title=Marie Booth Russell with Rob't B. Mantell in "The Light of Other Days" (1903)|website=Museum of the City of New York|access-date=2020-04-28}} and in Louis XI (1909).{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49794836/mantell-as-louis-xi/|title=Mantell as Louis XI|date=1909-02-16|work=The Baltimore Sun|access-date=2020-04-28|pages=7|via=Newspapers.com}}
"Miss Russell has very beautiful eyes," commented one American reviewer in 1907, "but she uses them too noticeably, which detracts from her work."{{Cite journal|date=November 2, 1907|title=Plays and Players|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=32dJAQAAMAAJ&q=Marie+Booth+Russell&pg=PA37|journal=The Index|volume=17|pages=37}} Her physical performance continued to draw criticism. "A worse exhibition of wriggling, writhing, moaning, gurgling, and mouthing cannot be imagined than she indulged in," commented another American reviewer in 1909, adding "If only she could learn the value of simplicity and naturalness."{{Cite book|last=Shattuck|first=Charles Harlen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXcwQo4Gs2MC&q=Marie+Booth+Russell&pg=PA241|title=Shakespeare on the American Stage: From Booth and Barrett to Sothern and Marlowe|date=1976|publisher=Associated University Presses|isbn=978-0-918016-77-5|pages=241|language=en}} An obituary put the issue diplomatically, saying "Her acting was more satisfying to the public than to the critics."{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49797904/mrs-mantell-dead/|title=Mrs. Mantell Dead|date=1911-11-01|work=The Evening Sun|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=1|via=Newspapers.com}}
Russell was an enthusiastic horsewoman.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49797555/miss-marie-booth-russell-leading-lady/|title=Miss Marie Booth Russell, Leading Lady for Mantell at Macdonough, is Fine Horsewoman|date=1910-03-22|work=The Evening Times-Star and Alameda Daily Argus|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=2|via=Newspapers.com}} She also wrote articles for magazines, and was public in her support for women's suffrage.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49795023/in-the-realm-of-society/|title=In the Realm of Society|date=1910-09-30|work=The Buffalo Times|access-date=2020-04-28|pages=3|via=Newspapers.com}}
Personal life
Marie Booth Russell had a daughter, Louisa (born 1894), from an early marriage.{{Cite book|last=Bulliet|first=Clarence Joseph|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_gDMNAAAAYAAJ|title=Robert Mantell's Romance|date=1918|publisher=J. W. Luce|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_gDMNAAAAYAAJ/page/n184 162], 230–231, 237–238|language=en}} She became the third wife of British actor Robert B. Mantell in 1899, and helped to raise his daughter, Ethel (born 1895).{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1900/08/19/archives/robert-mantell-married-actor-wedded-marie-booth-russell-last-may.html|title=ROBERT MANTELL MARRIED.; Actor Wedded Marie Booth Russell Last May.|date=1900-08-19|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-04-28|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} She died in 1911,{{Cite news|last=Burr|first=Kate|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49782280/two-memories-alivekate-burr/|title=Two Memories Alive|date=1911-11-03|work=The Buffalo Times|access-date=2020-04-28|pages=16|via=Newspapers.com}} at her home in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49798444/spends-vacation-as-farmers-wife-at/|title=Spends Vacation as Farmer's Wife at Country Home|date=1911-03-31|work=The Washington Times|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=12|via=Newspapers.com}} aged 37 years, after "a malady of long standing gradually gained the mastery over her strong constitution," or kidney disease complicated by pneumonia.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1911/11/01/archives/mrs-robert-mantell-dead-shakespearean-actors-wife-was-marie-booth.html|title=MRS. ROBERT MANTELL DEAD.; Shakespearean Actor's Wife was Marie Booth Russell on Stage.|date=1911-11-01|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-04-29|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Russell's protegee, American actress Genevieve Hamper, became Mantell's fourth and last wife.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Find a Grave|119940709}}
- {{IBDB name|58687}}
- [https://www.loc.gov/item/2014635530/ A 1904 theatrical poster featuring Marie Booth Russell and Robert B. Mantell], in the collection of the Library of Congress.
- [https://luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet/detail/FOLGERCM1~6~6~274551~119346:Marie-Booth-Russell--Mrs--Robert-B- A photograph of Marie Booth Russell] in the collection of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
- [https://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/digital/collection/sayre/id/8208/ An autographed photograph of Marie Booth Russell] from 1908, in the J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, University of Washington.
{{Subject bar|portal1=Biography}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Marie Booth}}