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Georgia O'Ramey

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Georgia O'Ramey
O'Ramey c. 1909
Born(1883-01-01)January 1, 1883[1]
Fredericktown, Ohio, U.S.
DiedApril 2, 1928(1928-04-02) (aged 45)
New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, comedian
Years active1908–1928
Known forActress, vaudevillian
Spouse
Robert B. Griffin
​
​
(m. 1912, divorced)​

Georgia O'Ramey (January 1, 1883 – April 2, 1928)[1] was an American actress in comedies and musical theatre.

Early life

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O'Ramey was born in Fredericktown, Ohio to William B. O'Ramey and Emma Anquilla "Tude" Pearce. She attended Oberlin College.[2]

Career

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The cast of Miss Springtime, from a 1916 publication. Left to right: John E. Hazzard, Sari Petrass, George MacFarlane, Charles Meakins, Georgia O'Ramey, and Jed Prouty.

O'Ramey played violin in revues as a young woman.[3] She acted, sang and danced regularly in Broadway musicals and comedies through the 1910s, with roles in the shows Lonesome Town (1906-1908), The Chaperon (1908-1909), Seven Days (1909-1910),[4] The Point of View (1912), The Switchboard (1913), A Pair of White Gloves (1913), Dancing Around (1914-1915), Around the Map (1915-1916), Miss Springtime (1916-1917), Leave It to Jane (1917-1918),[5] The Velvet Lady (1919),[6] Daffy Dill (1922),[7] Jack and Jill (1923),[8] and No, No, Nanette (1925-1926).[9][10]

O'Ramey appeared in one silent film, The $5,000,000 Counterfeiting Plot (1914). She also had stints in vaudeville.[11] "Every day I am adding to my vaudeville vocabulary," she confessed in 1920, "and when I go back to the legitimate I am afraid my friends who have never been in vaudeville will not understand me."[12] During World War I, she and her costar Oscar Shaw posed for photos to promote Liberty Loans.[13]

Personal life

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O'Ramey married businessman Robert B. Griffin in 1912 in Greenwich, Connecticut.[14] They later divorced.[when?] After weeks of headaches,[15] she died suddenly on April 2, 1928 at a hotel in New Haven, Connecticut, just hours before the opening night of the show Nize Girl, in which she was to star. She was survived by her parents, her only known immediate survivors.[16] Her obituary in the New York Times noted that she was "Distinguished on the American stage for a dozen years as one of the few woman comedians who could successfully sustain a broad burlesque role."[17][18] The Baltimore Sun recalled as "one of the best of our woman clowns. In a fuller sense than many of the others, she had the comedy spirit."[19] She left her estate to her parents and to the Actors Fund of America.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b Other sources cite 1884 and 1886 but 1883 is the year on her gravestone
  2. ^ Matthew White, Jr., "The Stage" Munsey's Magazine (March 1916): 337.
  3. ^ "'Wizard of Oz' and 'Miss Mazuma' Will Be Played This Week" San Francisco Call (September 18, 1904): 19. via California Digital Newspaper CollectionOpen access icon
  4. ^ "Astor: Seven Days" New York Dramatic Mirror (November 20, 1909): 5.
  5. ^ David A. Jasen, A Century of American Popular Music (Routledge 2013): 37-38. ISBN 9781135352714
  6. ^ "New Amsterdam: The Velvet Lady" Theatre Magazine (March 1919): 143.
  7. ^ "Daffy Dill" Musical Courier (August 31, 1922): 40.
  8. ^ "Georgia O'Ramey is Home Again in 'Jack and Jill'" Buffalo Courier (March 11, 1923): 18. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  9. ^ Stanley Green, Broadway Musicals: Show by Show (Hal Leonard Corporation 2011). ISBN 9781557837844
  10. ^ Gerald Martin Bordman, Richard Norton, American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle (Oxford University Press 2010): 232, 374, 388, 430. ISBN 9780199729708
  11. ^ "Georgia O'Ramey Pleases Belasco Vaudeville Fans" Washington Times (February 6, 1922): 10. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  12. ^ "Vaudeville Twice as Hard as the 'Legitimate' Stage, Insists Georgia O'Ramey", New-York Tribune (February 15, 1920): 36. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  13. ^ "Leave it to Jane Pair First New Loan Buyers" Philadelphia Inquirer (September 22, 1918): 22. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  14. ^ "Georgia O'Ramey Will Wed" New York Times (May 22, 1912): 13. via ProQuest
  15. ^ "Miss O'Ramey Long Ill" New York Times (April 4, 1928): 27. via ProQuest
  16. ^ "Milestones: Apr. 16, 1928". Time. 16 April 1928. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Georgia O'Ramey, Stage Star, is Dead" New York Times (April 3, 1928): 32.
  18. ^ "Georgia O'Ramey Funeral" New York Times (April 6, 1928): 23. via ProQuest
  19. ^ "Georgia O'Ramey's Death" Baltimore Sun (April 8, 1928): 59. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  20. ^ "Georgia O'Ramey Estate $11,995" New York Times (April 10, 1931): 27. via ProQuest
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