Victory Bateman

{{short description|American silent film actress}}

{{Infobox person

|image = Cinderella's Twin (1920) - Bateman & Dana.jpg

|caption = Bateman (left) in Cinderella's Twin (1920)

|birth_name = Victory Creese

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1865|4|6}}

|birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

|death_date = {{Death date and age|1926|3|2|1865|4|6}}

|death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

|occupation = Film actress

|spouse = {{plainlist|

• Wilfred Clarke
• Harry Mestayer (1900–05)
• George Cleveland (m. 1910)[http://aimesley.blogspot.com/2009/07/bateman-clevelad-marriage.html Bateman-Cleveland marriage; Aimesley Jordan Genealogy Detective, 2009]

}}

}}

Victory Bateman (April 6, 1865 in Philadelphia – March 2, 1926 in Los Angeles) was an American silent film actress. Her father, Thomas Creese, and her mother, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Creese, were both actors. On stage, Ms. Bateman appeared in the 1900 tour of "The Man From Mexico" and in the 1919 tour of "Seven Days' Leave".

She was born nine days before Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, but was named Victory because of the North's eventual win over the Confederate South finishing the Civil War. In the early 1890s, she became embroiled in the divorce proceedings of actors Aubrey Boucicault and Amy Busby. Though later exonerated from all involvement in the case, Bateman was forced to resign from an all-woman's group called the Professional Woman's League.[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/12/15/109715286.pdf VICTORY BATEMAN EXONERATED; So It Was Stated in Mrs. Aubrey Boucicault's Decree of Divorce - NY Times, December 15, 1893] At one time, she was married to Wilfred Clarke, a son of John Sleeper Clarke and Asia Booth, and nephew of Edwin and John Wilkes Booth. They were separated for many years at the time of the Boucicault trial.[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/12/21/109715574.pdf VICTORY BATEMAN TO SUE; WANTS $50,000 FROM THE PROFESSIONAL WOMAN'S LEAGUE - New York Times, December 21, 1893](opens in PDF) She was also married, in later years, to Harry Mestayer and to George Cleveland. She and her last two husbands were eventually involved in the silent film industry.

In looks, Bateman bore a sisterly resemblance to the better remembered Marie Dressler and also to the later Frances Bavier, Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show.