Mary Lewis (soprano)
{{Short description|American singer}}{{Infobox person
| name = Mary Lewis
| image = MaryLewis1926.png
| alt = A young white woman with long wavy hair
| caption = Mary Lewis, from a 1926 publication
| birth_date = January 7, 1900
| birth_place = United States
| death_date = December 31, 1941
| death_place = New York, New York, U.S.
| occupation = Singer, actress, vaudeville performer
}}
Mary Sybil Kidd Maynard Lewis{{cite book |last1=Jones-Branch |first1=Cherisse |last2=Edwards |first2=Gary T. |title=Arkansas Women: Their Lives and Times |date=2018 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |isbn=978-0-8203-5332-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXlaDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Mary+Lewis%22+singer&pg=PA284 |access-date=May 5, 2022 |pages=275–285}} (January 7, 1900{{cite news |date=January 1, 1942 |title=Mary Lewis Dead; Ex-Star in Opera |page=25 |work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/01/01/archives/mary-lewis-dead-exstar-in-opera-soprano-who-made-debut-as-mimi-in-l.html|url-access=subscription |access-date=May 4, 2022}}"Lewis's baptismal records at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas, give January 29, 1897, as her birth date." – December 31, 1941) was an American lyric soprano and actress who had an active performance career in musicals, operas, vaudeville, and in film during the first half of the twentieth century. After beginning her career as a chorus girl in 1919, she was signed by the Christie Film Company to star in a series of comedic silent films made in 1920; most notably A Bashful Bigamist (released 1921). She later appeared in the Vitaphone Varieties, some of the earliest sound films made by Warner Bros., in 1926. Her first major stage role was as a featured singer in the Broadway musical revue Ziegfeld Follies of 1921. In 1923 her career reoriented towards opera, beginning with her opera debut at Vienna State Opera. After performing in European opera houses for a few years, she returned to the United States to join the roster of leading sopranos at the Metropolitan Opera in 1925 where she remained committed through 1930.
Early years
Lewis was born Mary Kidd, the daughter of Charles Kidd and Hattie Lewis, in Hot Springs, Arkansas or Dallas, Texas. She had a brother, Joe. After the children's father died in 1899, their mother was unable to care for them and put them in an orphanage.
Lewis gained a new home after she was found outside a church while she waited to meet a friend when the service ended. Her foster parents were William and Anna Fitch. (His name is also given as Frank F. Fitch.){{cite journal |last1=Dougan |first1=Michael B. |title='A Touching Enigma:' The Opera Career of Mary Lewis |journal=The Arkansas Historical Quarterly|date=Autumn 1977 |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=258–279 |doi=10.2307/40018535|jstor=40018535 }} He was a Methodist minister and a music teacher who taught her to play piano. As an adult, Lewis said that she received "a good musical education" in "a strict Methodist home". Her father spanked her when he felt that she had not practiced enough. She danced with no music in her room even though "dancing was strictly forbidden". She was also "thoroughly whipped" for playing jazz music on the piano. Her foster mother frequently caught her dancing and punished her each time. "She thought I was headed straight for the devil," Lewis said later. "She looked on the stage with horror."File:Mary Lewis LCCN2014712237.jpgIn 1912, Lewis ran away from the Fitch home and, until 1915 she lived with H. F. and Carrie Auten, who had children about Lewis's age. During that time she went to Little Rock High School. She also took music, including lessons on a pipe organ, and became the organist at Second Baptist church.
Career
In 1919, Lewis joined a traveling company of the show Reckless Eve. It stranded her in San Francisco, and she began singing in a cabaret there. She also worked in a town in southern California as one of a group of women who sat in circles singing songs, with oil workers throwing money at them. She left that job and returned to San Francisco, where she joined the Fanchon and Marco vaudeville company. Al Christie saw her in those performances and signed her to appear in his film comedies.
Lewis joined the chorus of The Greenwich Village Follies of 1920,{{IBDB name|529547|Mary Lewis}} and by the time the show opened, she had been named its prima donna. She became the Ziegfeld Follies
Lewis performed in Europe from 1923 through 1925. She studied with Jean Périer of the Opéra-Comique in Paris, and her grand opera debut occurred when she portrayed Marguerite in a production of Faust with the Vienna Opera on October 19, 1923. She followed that performance by taking the roles of Mimì in La bohème on October 26, 1923, and Micaëla in Carmen on October 29, 1923.{{cite news |title=Mary Lewis in Opera |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/10/02/archives/mary-lewis-in-opera-former-member-of-follies-to-sing-prominent.html|access-date=May 5, 2022 |work=The New York Times|date=October 2, 1923 |page=10|url-access=subscription}} Her operatic debut was "a little more than one year after she had first taken up the study of grand opera".{{cite news |title=Ex-Follies singer to star in opera |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/11/06/archives/exfollies-singer-to-star-in-opera-mary-lewis-to-sing-mimi-in-la.html|access-date=May 5, 2022 |work=The New York Times|date=November 6, 1925 |page=1|url-access=subscription}} She also performed as The Merry Widow in Paris, toured England for three months, and sang in Monte Carlo. One of her performances in London in The Tales of Hoffmann resulted in such long-lasting applause that the theater's management turned the lights off until "the applause subsided so the orchestra could be heard and the opera resumed".{{cite news |title=$30-a-month Arkansas choir singer acclaimed by London as prima donna |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101051097/mary-lewis/ |access-date=May 5, 2022 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|date=June 29, 1924 |page=60|via = Newspapers.com}} Lewis performed in Hugh the Drover (1924) when it premiered, singing the role of Mary. Highlights from that opera were among recordings that she made for the Gramophone Company.
On November 5, 1925, the Metropolitan Opera Company announced that Lewis would sing star parts in the 1925–26 season. Plans had called for such a contract for the following season, but an offer to Lewis from the Chicago Opera Company prompted Metropolitan officials to act sooner. Her Metropolitan debut on January 28, 1926, featured her as Mimì in La bohème. Her curtain call after that debut resulted in "the throwing of bouquets, handy knots of violets, thrown from front seats all about the orchestra pit".{{cite news |title=Mary Lewis wins plaudits in opera |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/01/29/archives/mary-lewis-wins-plaudits-in-opera-former-follies-girl-makes-her.html|access-date=May 5, 2022 |work=The New York Times|date=January 29, 1926 |page=18|url-access=subscription}}
Following her Metropolitan Opera debut, Lewis had "an extensive concert tour" and recorded arias and songs for the Victor Talking Machine Company. Her later roles with the Metropolitan Opera included Antonia, Gilda, Guiletta, Juliet, Lauretta, Marguerite, and Thaïs. She left the organization in 1927, after her marriage.
= Lawsuit over film contract =
Lewis's planned second venture into films encountered an obstacle in 1931 when Pathe Studios canceled its contract with her, charging that she had violated her contract's morals clause. As a result of the cancellation, Lewis made no film for Pathe and received $2,500 of the contracted $25,000.{{cite news |title=Mary Lewis Is 'Shocked' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101127625/mary-lewis/ |access-date=May 6, 2022 |work=Windsor Star|agency=United Press|date=February 25, 1931 |page=1}}
Lewis countered with a breach of contract suit against Pathe, asking for the remaining $22,500. The studio's response said that Lewis "had failed to conduct herself with due propriety and had become intoxicated and involved in a scandal". It also said that the scandal had diminished Lewis's popularity and "lessened her drawing ability". The response did not specify details of the accusations. It said that the $2,500 that Lewis received was a loan "to enable her to avoid being interviewed by reporters concerning the incidents."{{cite news |title=Fired on Morality Clause, Mary Lewis Asks $22,500 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101131430/mary-lewis/ |access-date=May 6, 2022 |work=New York Daily News|date=February 25, 1931 |page=18|via = Newspapers.com}}
Commenting about the suits, Lewis (who was touring Europe in opera) described herself as "a good girl" and said: "I obtained an interlocutory divorce decree recently, and I am getting my final decree in August. But ask my husband if I am immoral. He doesn't even want a divorce."
The contract initially received attention in 1930 when it was recorded on sound film{{cite magazine |date=July 1930 |title=Sound film is used to record contract |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sigDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Mary+Lewis%22+contract&pg=PA67 |magazine=Popular Science|page=67 |access-date=May 6, 2022}} — the first time such documentation was used in place of a written agreement.{{cite news |title=Sound Film Records Singer's Screen Contract |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101132485/mary-lewis/ |access-date=May 6, 2022 |work=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=March 16, 1930 |page=47|via = Newspapers.com}} The subsequent conflict attracted attention from other actors because it was one of the first legal actions to enforce the morals clause that had recently become a standard part of most stars' contracts.
=Other entertainment=
Lewis sang in vaudeville, including a turn at the Palace Theater in Detroit in November 1930. Her performance included Strauss's "The Blue Danube" and rearranged selections from Faust.{{cite news |last1=Key |first1=Pierre V. R. |date=November 30, 1930 |title=Music makes good showing |page=Part Four – 5 |work=Detroit Free Press|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101125858/detroit-free-press/ |access-date=May 6, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Radio programs on which Lewis appeared included The Atwater Kent Hour on NBC{{cite news |title=Miss Lewis sings over WRC tonight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101123445/evening-star/ |access-date=May 6, 2022 |work=Washington Evening Star|date=May 4, 1930 |location=Washington, D.C.|page=Part Four – 15|via = Newspapers.com}} and Melody Moments on the Blue Network.{{cite news |last1=Doran |first1=Dorothy |title=Democratic Leaders In 2-Hour Program |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101133752/the-akron-beacon-journal/ |access-date=May 6, 2022 |work=Akron Beacon Journal|date=April 13, 1932 |page=19|via = Newspapers.com}}
In 1933, Lewis was soloist with the New York Civic Orchestra in a concert at the Brooklyn Museum.{{cite news |title=Mary Lewis at the Museum |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101134501/mary-lewis/ |access-date=May 6, 2022 |work=Brooklyn Times-Union|date=September 10, 1933 |page=9|via = Newspapers.com}} In 1934, she sang in a recital sponsored by the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences at the Academy of Music{{cite news |title=Music of the Day |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101228597/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle/ |access-date=May 7, 2022 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|date=March 19, 1934 |page=17|via = Newspapers.com}} and at a concert in Paterson, New Jersey.{{cite news |title=Mary Lewis Will Sing at Y. M. H. A. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101229317/mary-lewis/ |access-date=May 7, 2022 |work=The Paterson Morning Call|date=March 13, 1934 |location=Paterson, New Jersey|page=13|via = Newspapers.com}}
In 1936, Lewis sang on Ben Bernie's NBC radio program{{cite news |title=Crime forum will open tomorrow |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101231469/the-berkshire-eagle/ |access-date=May 7, 2022 |work=The Berkshire Eagle|date=March 10, 1936 |location=Pittsfield, Massachusetts|page=16|via = Newspapers.com}} and performed at a nightclub in New York, singing two popular songs and three operatic airs.{{cite news |last1=Ross |first1=George |title=In New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101230644/mary-lewis/ |access-date=May 7, 2022 |work=The News-Herald |date=November 17, 1936 |location=Franklin, Pennsylvania|page=4|via = Newspapers.com}}
In 1937, Lewis starred in the Concert Hall of the Air radio program, with Rosario Bourdon directing the concert orchestra.{{cite news |title=Appears On Zenith Program |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101233265/mary-lewis/ |access-date=May 7, 2022 |work=The Honolulu Advertiser|date=January 10, 1937 |page=2|via = Newspapers.com }} She recorded 52 electrical transcriptions.{{cite news |title=Main Street |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Daily/RD-1937/RA-1937-Feb.pdf |access-date=May 5, 2022 |work=Radio Daily|date=February 10, 1937 |page=4}}
Recordings and book
Mary Lewis: The Golden Haired Soprano, a set of two compact discs (Marston 52047) was released in 2009. The set was produced by Ward Marston, and it contains "all known Lewis recordings, both acoustic and electric",{{cite web |last1=Van Sant |first1=J. A. |title=Who Was Mary Lewis? |url=http://www.operatoday.com/content/2009/01/who_was_mary_le.php |website=Opera Today |access-date=May 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316145734/http://www.operatoday.com/content/2009/01/who_was_mary_le.php |archive-date=March 16, 2021 |url-status=live}} including six previously unpublished numbers.{{cite web |title=Mary Lewis: The Golden Haired Soprano |url=https://www.marstonrecords.com/products/lewis |website=Marston |access-date=May 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417045011/https://www.marstonrecords.com/products/lewis |archive-date=April 17, 2021}}
Alice Fitch Zeman wrote Mary Lewis, the Golden Haired Beauty With the Golden Voice, a biography that was published by Rose Publishing in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Personal life and death
Lewis married J. Keene Lewis, her high school sweetheart, in 1915. They were divorced in 1920, and he asked her to not mention him in any publicity. She married Michael Bohnen, a bass-baritone with the Metropolitan Opera, on April 14, 1927, in New York City.{{cite news |title=Mary Lewis bride of opera baritone |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/04/15/archives/mary-lewis-bride-of-opera-baritone-metropolitan-soprano-married-to.html|access-date=May 5, 2022 |work=The New York Times|date=April 15, 1927 |page=1|url-access=subscription}} That marriage ended in divorce on August 16, 1930, in Los Angeles.{{cite news |title=Mary Lewis Divorced in 10 Minutes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101124713/mary-lewis/ |access-date=May 6, 2022 |work=Star Tribune|date=August 16, 1930 |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota|page=1|via = Newspapers.com}} She later married oil company executive Robert L. Hague, who died in 1939.
Lewis died on December 31, 1941, at Le Roy Sanitarium in New York City, aged 41.
Notes
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References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6HKuiseUQU Mary Lewis singing Little Grey Home in the West (1926) from YouTube]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AZSEXKabX8M Mary Lewis singing Ballatella (1926) from YouTube]
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Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:American film actresses
Category:American silent film actresses
Category:American operatic sopranos
Category:20th-century American women opera singers
Category:American stage actresses
Category:Broadway theatre people