Draft:Verna Mersereau
Related to sisters Claire Mersereau and Violet Mersereau? [1] [2] [3]
Verna Mersereau, also known as Verna Mersereau Capra, was a performer and actress who performed on stage and screen. A dancer and pantomimist, she appeared in several films.
https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=RPD19200504.1.7&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------
She was described as a beauty queen from San Francisco after a visit to Hawaii.[1]
Is this her getting married in 1953? https://northjersey.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-news-marriage-of-mertereau/125880539/?locale=en-NZ
She applied to be a member of the National Vaudeville Artist group.[2]
This discussion says she was Finnish.[3]
Childhood and education
[edit]Born in 1896 in Paterson, New Jersey to Mr. and Mrs. Charles J. Mersereau, she went to local schools throughout her childhood. Once she turned nine, her family moved to the Western United States where she finished with primary school.[4]
Career
[edit]Mersereau went into vaudeville theater after reaching adulthood and performed at the Majestic Theatre.[4] For the 1914 production of The Dancer, she performed as the female lead, with Mersereau using her well known history as a classical dancer to perform the "Dance of the Pyramids" and the "Dance of the Rameses" in the film.[5] After appearing in several early films where she presented her dancing capabilities, she returned to theatre and signed an exclusive contract with the Pantages theatre despite multiple film studios trying to hire her. In 1917, she performed a solo act, with a single assistant, of her dancing play A Romance of Old Egypt, described by the The Victoria Daily Times as "representing her unusual expressive arm flexibility". The Times also said that she was "one of the most successful of the classic dancers now before the public" and that her original plays featuring her dancing pantomime was "one of the finest expositions of te art on the vaudeville stage today."[6]
Completing a number of theatre performances in the following years, she later joined the Richard Wilbur company in 1928 and their tour of the countries in the Orient. This resulted in her performing in the lead role for the play Rain for the royal family of Calcutta, India. Her final performance was in 1933 after joining the Sacramento Players for Night Over Taos. Afterwards, she had to leave the theater due to an illness.[4] She entered into the Weimar sanatorium in March 1935 to try and recuperate.[7]
Theater
[edit]Filmography
[edit]- The Dance of Death (1914)[10]
- The Dancer as Evelyn Wade (1914)[11]
- Cupid's Round Up (1918) as Peggy Blair
- Chalk Marks (1925) as Josie Jennings
- Bond of Womanhood[12]? additional confirming source would be good.
Personal life
[edit]Capra was married to George F. McCormick in 1924, but they later divorced. She remarried in early 1934 to Joseph Capra. She died of a long term illness over several years on September 26, 1935 at her home in Sacramento, California.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=3SdICgAAQBAJ&dq=Verna+Mersereau&pg=PA84
- ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=YBgmdUkApQgC&dq=Verna+Mersereau&pg=RA10-PA6
- ^ https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?t=5094
- ^ a b c d "Verna M. Capra, Once Actress Here, Dead". The Morning Call. October 7, 1935. Retrieved September 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Famous Danseuse Appears In New Movie Feature". The Buffalo Times. September 27, 1914. Retrieved September 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "One Of Foremost Classic Dancers". The Victoria Daily Times. January 25, 1917. Retrieved September 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Verna M. Capra, Famed Actress, Dies In Weimar". The Sacramento Union. September 27, 1935. Retrieved September 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Pantages Scores". Oakland Enquirer. February 27, 1917. Retrieved September 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Pantages". San Francisco Chronicle. December 28, 1919. Retrieved September 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=Yyqc0Qa6b60C&dq=Verna+Mersereau&pg=PA273
- ^ "Feature Film At Star Theatre". Franklin Repository. December 17, 1914. Retrieved September 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=7_oKAQAAMAAJ&q=Verna+Mersereau