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Eva Mudge

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Eva Mudge
Mudge in 1911
Born
Geneva Delphine Mudge[1][2]

(1880-12-03)December 3, 1880[3][4][5][6]
Port Huron, Michigan, U.S.
DiedSeptember 14, 1964(1964-09-14) (aged 83)
New York City, U.S.
Other namesEva Mudge Nelson
Occupation(s)Singer, actress, vaudeville performer
Years active1888–1914, 1923, 1942–1951
Spouse(s)Sanford Leroy Nelson
(m. 1904 or 1905; div. 1914[6][1]
Hans H. W. Jorgensen
(m. 1914; div. 1928)[7]
George C. Brundage
m. 1928 or 1929; div. 1932[8][9]

Eva Mudge (December 3, 1880 – 1964) was a singer and actress, both in vaudeville and on the legitimate stage, who achieved great success in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but is best remembered for being the first recorded female automobile driver.

Early life and career

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Born in Port Huron to Delphine Ozella Parker and Richard Chapman Mudge,[10][11] Eva Mudge attended Herman Strasburg House in Detroit, and was featured in the school's thirty-second annual exhibition of children's classes on May 6, 1887.[12] The following year, Mudge made her professional debut on June 16 at the Whitney Opera House.[13]

By late 1890, the Mudges had relocated to New York City, initially in Brooklyn,[14] where Mudge performed in such venues as Holmes' Star Theater—located on Jay Street near Fulton[15]—and the Novelty Theater, and with such companies as Gus Hill's World of Novelties and the Bigelow & Cook Dramatic Company.[13] Around this time, however, and much to her chagrin, Mudge was compelled to take an involuntary sabbatical of several years, thanks to the intervention of NSPCC founder Elbridge Thomas Gerry.

It was not until December 3, 1896, Mudge's 16th birthday, that she could finally shake off Gerry's well-intentioned constraints. Four days later, Mudge made her adult debut at Keith's Union Square.[5] Reviewing Mudge's "grown-up" reboot, the Brooklyn Times-Union noted:

Her success was pronounced, and proved that Miss Mudge had scored her infantile hits as much through her cleverness as through her extreme youth.[16]

Automotive exploits

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Mudge first obtained a driver's license in 1898 in New York state.[17] The first working design of an automobile had only happened approximately five years before. Her first car was a Waverly electric which she drove on the streets of New York City.

Mudge may have been the first female to race a car. She chose the gasoline-powered Locomobile as her racing car.[18][19][20] At the turn of the century most races involving women were "Ladies Only" races or distance races where women were there to show off the reliability of a car.

She was also the first woman to be involved in an auto accident. During a race she skidded on a patch of snow and knocked down five pedestrians.[21][20] None were seriously injured.[22][23]

The Automobile, in its December 1900 issue, published a brief profile entitled "A Skilled Chauffeuse," deeming Mudge an "expert and ardent [motorist] who knows how to drive an automobile anywhere it will go, [...] is not baffled by a short circuit or faulty contact [, and] can handle steam and gasoline machines, too."[24][25] The following summer, The Boston Post reported an illegal, thoroughly impromptu race staged along Boston's Fenway, between an unwitting Mudge and an overmatched, increasingly irate, but ultimately understanding, mounted police officer. (Mudge had mistaken her pursuer for a civilian who simply wanted to race.)[26]

Return to the stage

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In her later years, Mudge returned to the stage. In 1942, she appeared with Sylvia Sidney in a summer stock production of Marian de Forest's adaptation of Little Women, "giv[ing] a colorful performance in her role of irascible Aunt March, whose scoldings cover a good heart."[27] A few months later, billed as Eva Mudge Nelson, she portrayed Miss M. Muse in the original Broadway production of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth.[28] Of her performance as Mrs. Watty in the Pasadena Playhouse's 1945 revival of Emlyn Williams' The Corn is Green, Pasadena Star-News critic Robert O. Foote wrote:

Eva Mudge turns in another decrepit servant, this time with Salvation Army leanings, which is a thing of joy—she does more with a cocked eye than most actors can do with a whole gamut of gestures.[29]

Later that year, both Foote and Los Angeles Times critic Katherine Von Blon praised Mudge's performance as Agatha, the maid, in the Playhouse production of Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour.[30][31] In 1951, Mudge appeared with Henry Fonda and her son-in-law John Cromwell in Paul Osborn's Point of No Return.[32][33]

Political advocacy

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In October 1932, at the opening of South Pasadena's Roosevelt-Garner headquarters, and on at least one more occasion in the period leading up to the 1932 general election, Mudge spoke on behalf of the Democratic Party, the Roosevelt-Garner ticket and Charles J. Colden's campaign for the U.S. Congress.[34][35][36]

Personal life

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Mudge's three marriages each ended in divorce. The first, from 1904 to 1914, was to Sanford Leroy Nelson,[37] with whom she had her first child, actress Ruth Nelson. Mudge's second marriage, from approximately 1915 through June 12, 1928, was to Hans Henrik William Jorgensen, the father of her other two children, Grace Adelaide William-Jorgensen and stage actress Lynda Nelson.[38][39][40] The third and final marriage—between Mudge and George C. Brundage, a wealthy associate of her friend, Walter E. "Death Valley Scotty" Scott—commenced in either late 1928 or early 1929,[8] continuing until late October 1932.[41]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Eva Mudge Gets Divorce". The Evening World. September 30, 1914. p. . Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  2. ^ "United States, GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries, 1815-2011", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q5MJ-6RG6 : 18 July 2020), Geneva Delphine Mudge in entry for Mrs Lynda Jorgensen William Stack, 2000.
  3. ^ "United States Census, 1900", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSVT-K1M : 5 January 2022), Eva Mudge in entry for Richard C Mudge, 1900.
  4. ^ "Personal and Society Notes: Birthday Parties". The Times Herald. December 9, 1989. p. 5. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "MASKS AND FACES: Casino Girls Get Their Sealskins and Diamonds Out of Hock". The National Police Gazette. December 19, 1896. p. 22. ProQuest 127635281. Little Eva Mudge, who has been singing, dancing and reciting, will celebrate her sixteenth birthday on December 5. She will then be able to get out from under the watchful eye of the Gerry Society, and will enjoy her freedom by making her debut at Keith's Union Square on Monday, December 7.
  6. ^ a b "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZZBV-F9W2 : 15 October 2021), Sanford Leroy Nelson and Genevra Delphine Mudge, 1904.
  7. ^ "Eva M. Jorgensen Divorced in West". The Washington Post. June 14, 1928. p. 11. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Death Threat by Father Stirs Court's Wrath". The Los Angeles Times. July 15, 1929. p. 29. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  9. ^ "Wait for Husband Ends in Divorce". Los Angeles Daily News. p. 11. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  10. ^ "City Items; Amusement Notes". The Times Herald. October 19, 1889. p. 5. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  11. ^ "Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N3FN-954 : 18 February 2021), Chapman Mudge and Delphine O. Parker, 2 Jul 1874; citing Marriage, Romeo, Macomb, Michigan, , Citing Secretary of State, Department of Vital Records, Lansing; FHL microfilm 4207584.
  12. ^ "Youth ad Beauty: Annual Exhibition of the Children's Classes of Strassburg & Son". The Detroit Free Press. May 7, 1887. p. 8. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Eve Mudge, Child Actress". The Logansport Daily Journal. October 8, 1893. p. 6. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  14. ^ "Personal and Society Notes". The Times Herald. June 8, 1891. p. 5. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  15. ^ "Amusements". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 17, 1890. p. 3. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  16. ^ "Eva Mudge: A Former Child Actress, of Brooklyn, Who Has Made a Successful Debut ". Brooklyn Times-Union. December 12, 1896. p. 17. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  17. ^ "Parting Shots: Let's Stamp Out Dull Stamps; We Propose these stamps to commemorate some true but unrecognized anniversaries". Life. February 26, 1971. p. 67. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  18. ^ Kane, Joseph Nathan (1975). The Kane Book of Famous First Facts and Records in the United States. New York: Ace Books. p. 57. ISBN 0-8242-0015-2.
  19. ^ Branch, Ben (2012-07-03). "Genevra Delphine Mudge". Silodrome. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  20. ^ a b Parkin, Katherine J. (2017-09-26). Women at the Wheel: A Century of Buying, Driving, and Fixing Cars. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-8122-4953-8.
  21. ^ "Driving a Wedge in Saudi Sand : Culture: The Mideast nation's government may think women need to be kept off the roads, but American feminists don't. And all jokes aside, they're proud of their hard-drivin' Saudi sisters". Los Angeles Times. 1990-11-19. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  22. ^ Harakas, Margo. "GREAT DATES IN '98". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  23. ^ "Those of Us Who Try.... DO: Part II". TappingRoots. 2018-05-11. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  24. ^ Clarsen, Georgine (2008). Eat My Dust : Early Women Motorists. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 67, 173. ISBN 0-8018-8465-9.
  25. ^ "A Skilled Chanteuse". The Automobile. Vol. II, No. 12. December 1900. p. 220. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  26. ^ "She Beat the Policeman". The Boston Post. August 28, 1901. p. 8. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  27. ^ Adams, Marjory L. (July 21, 1942). "The Stage: Cambridge Summer Theatre – 'Little Women'". The Boston Globe. p. 21. Retrieved February 10, 2023
  28. ^ Wilder, Thornton (1972). The Skin of Our Teeth. New York: Samuel French. p. 5. ISBN 0-573-61548-9.
  29. ^ Foote, Robert O. (February 22, 1945). "Ethel Barrymore Not Missed in Playhouse 'Corn Is Green'". Pasadena Star-News. p. 17. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  30. ^ Foote, Robert O. (August 1, 1945). "'The Children's Hour' Strong Dramatic Meat". Pasadena Star-News. p. 21. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  31. ^ Von Blon, Katherine (August 6, 1945). "Poignant Play Offered". The Los Angeles Times. Pt. II, p. 8. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  32. ^ Weeks, Gerry (May 16, 1952). "Actress of Old Temple Breezes into Detroit". p. 29. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  33. ^ "John Cromwell Talked With Henry Fonda and 'Point of No Return' Part Resulted'". The Boston Globe. October 21, 1951. p. A-39. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  34. ^ "Roosevelt-Garner Headquarters to Be Opened Today". South Pasadena Foothill Review. October 14, 1932. p. . Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  35. ^ "Democratic Headquarters Are Opened". South Pasadena Foothill Review. October 21, 1932. p. . Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  36. ^ "Colden Tea Is Featured by Novel Program Wednesday". San Pedro News-Pilot. November 1, 1932. p. 5. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  37. ^ "Eve Mudge Gets Divorce". The Evening World. September 30, 1914. p. 7. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  38. ^ "Scotty's Ward Is Divorced". Reno Gazette Journal. June 1928. p. 6. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  39. ^ "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8VF-XZG : 18 August 2022), Eva Mudge in entry for Carl Samuelson and Grace Adelaide William-Jorgensen, 1940.
  40. ^ "Parade: Reflections of a Man About Town". Pasadena Star-News. February 9, 1945. p. 15. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  41. ^ "Wait for Husband Ends in Divorce". Los Angeles Daily News. October 31, 1932. p. 11. Retrieved February 9, 2023.

Further reading

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Articles

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Books

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