May Waldron
{{short description|Canadian-born American actress (1861 or 1868 – 1924)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = May Waldron
| image = May Waldron, MET DP859820 (cropped).jpg
| alt =
| caption = May Waldron {{circa|1890}}
| birth_name = Mary Waldron Dougherty
| birth_date = November 1, 1868 (some sources give 1861)
| birth_place = Hamilton, Ontario
| death_date = December 22, 1924
| death_place = Louisville, Kentucky
| nationality = Canadian, American
| other_names = May Waldron Robson
| occupation = actress
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
May Waldron (born Mary Dougherty, November 1, 1861 or 1868 – December 22, 1924), and later known as May Waldron Robson, was a Canadian-born American actress.
Early life
Mary Waldron Dougherty was born in Hamilton, Ontario,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7OULAAAAIAAJ&q=%22May+Waldron%22&pg=PA1259|title=Who's who in America|last1=Leonard|first1=John William|last2=Marquis|first2=Albert Nelson|date=1906|publisher=Marquis Who's Who|page=1258|language=en}} the daughter of William E. Dougherty, a newspaper publisher; she was raised in Chicago.{{Cite news|title=Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Robson|date=November 11, 1891|work=The New York Times|page=8 }} Her mother was an actress.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31212200/may_waldron_1891/|title=They Take Punch's Advice|date=March 2, 1891|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=May 3, 2019|page=5|via=Newspapers.com}} May Waldron also lived in Buffalo, New York in her youth.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31212027/may_waldron_robson_1925/|title=May Waldron Robson Was a Carroll Street Beauty|date=January 10, 1925|work=The Buffalo Times|access-date=May 3, 2019|pages=14|via=Newspapers.com}}
Career
May Waldron began her career in Chicago, in operettas including H.M.S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance. Waldron's Broadway appearances included roles in Billy (1909), The Country Boy (1910–1911), The Woman Haters (1912), Cousin Lucy (1915), Ladies' Night (1920–1921), and Better Times (1922–1923). She also appeared in touring productions of The Merry Wives of Windsor and She Stoops to Conquer,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31212319/may_waldron_robson_1891/|title=Charming May Waldron|date=December 2, 1891|work=The Wilkes-Barre News|access-date=May 3, 2019|page=3|via=Newspapers.com}} and in different roles in The Henrietta (1887), in its original run and in its 1901–1902 revival.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=30RKAQAAMAAJ&q=%22May+Waldron%22&pg=PA126|title=Publications of the Dunlap Society|date=1902|publisher=The Society|pages=127|language=en}}{{Cite news|title='The Henrietta', Again|date=April 16, 1889|work=The New York Times|page=4 }} Her ten film credits came in the silent films Vaccinating the Village (1914), Lured from Squash Center (1914), The Precious Twins (1914), At the Cross Roads (1914), The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1916), The Gates of Gladness (1918), The Prodigal Wife (1918), The Lost Battalion (1919), His Bridal Night (1919), and A Broadway Saint (1919).
Waldron's weight was a matter of public comment. She was often described as "buxom", or "stout".{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31213194/may_waldron_robson_1905/|title=Mesdames Robson and Collier|last=Fyle|first=Franklin|date=August 27, 1905|work=The Courier-Journal|access-date=May 3, 2019|page=24|via=Newspapers.com}} She fasted for a month to lose weight for a part in 1889; one report compared Waldron to a circus performer and went into detail about her "reducing herself from a mountain of quivering adipose to a lithe, graceful figure, scarcely heavier than the average able bodied woman."{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31212363/may_waldron_1889/|title=Famous May Waldron|date=October 30, 1889|work=The Topeka State Journal|access-date=May 3, 2019|page=4|via=Newspapers.com}}
Personal life
Waldron married actor Stuart Robson in 1891;{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31212122/may_waldron_robson_1891/|title=Stuart Robson Marries|date=November 11, 1891|work=The Times|access-date=May 3, 2019|page=1|via=Newspapers.com}} she was widowed when he died in 1903.{{Cite news|title=Stuart Robson is Dead|date=April 30, 1903|work=The New York Times|page=9}} The two had a son together, Stuart Robson Jr. Waldron, who died suddenly from a stroke in 1924 in Louisville, Kentucky, aged near 60 years.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31213000/may_waldron_robson_1924/|title=Mrs. Stuart Robson, Actress, Dies Suddenly at Louisville|date=December 23, 1924|work=The Indianapolis News|access-date=May 3, 2019|page=33|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31213112/may_waldron_robson_1924/|title=Comedienne Expires in Louisville|date=December 23, 1924|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|access-date=May 3, 2019|page=7|via=Newspapers.com}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IBDB name|id=75969}}
- {{IMDb name|id=0733483}}
- [http://digital.library.louisville.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/macauley/id/359/rec/11 A photograph of May Waldron] in MacCauley's Theatre Collection, University of Louisville Photographic Archives.
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waldron, May}}