Edith Taliaferro
Edith Taliaferro was an American stage and film actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was active on the stage until 1935 and had roles in three silent films. She is best known for portraying the role of Rebecca in the 1910 stage production of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
Early life and family
Laura Edith Taliaferro was born in Manhattan, the daughter of Anna Barriscale Taliaferro and Robert A. Taliaferro. She was the younger sister of Mabel Taliaferro who also became a stage actress, and the cousin of actress Bessie Barriscale. Her paternal ancestors were originally from England, of remote Italian descent. They were one of the families who settled in Virginia in the 17th century.Career
Early years
Edith Taliaferro began her stage career by temporarily replacing her ailing sister Mabel in Katie Emmett's Company during August 1895. She impressed everyone by knowing her sister's songs and lines by heart, having seen Mabel perform so often. She then had the good fortune to win a role with James A. Herne in his Shore Acres touring company during October 1895. It was rumored that she obtained the part because her sister Mabel was too old to depict the character. Her Broadway debut came in 1900 with the play The Sunken Bell.Newspapers reported during June 1904 that Taliaferro was signed to a personal contract and paid $100 per week by George C. Tyler of Liebler & Company. She signed a contract for the following season to appear with Ezra Kendall. She was the youngest Shakesperean actress on the stage. She portrayed Puck in a Ben Greet production of A Midsummer Night's Dream before an audience at Princeton University in May 1904. She was lauded by professors there, and they sent her a Princeton University flag and pin. By then, she had performed in six to eight juvenile roles after her professional debut. When she returned to New York, Taliaferro appeared with Clara Bloodgood in The Girl with the Green Eyes.
In 1907, Frederic Thompson produced Polly of the Circus, written by Margaret Mayo, for his new wife Mabel Taliaferro, and at times during its run, Edith took on the lead role of the youthful circus rider in her sister's place.
She is most noted for her 1910 performance in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. It was staged at the Republic Theater, 209 West 42nd Street. Her other successful theatrical performances include roles in Young Wisdom, Tipping The Winner, and Mother Carey's Chickens.