Celie Ellis Turner Explained

Celie Ellis Turner
Birth Name:Celia Flanagan
Birth Date:1864/1865
Death Date:October 2, 1924
Death Place:New York City, New York
Other Names:Celie Ellis
Celie G. Turner
Cecilia Turner
Occupation:Actress
Playwright
Years Active:1886-1917

Celie Ellis Turner (née Celia Flanagan, 1864/1865 - October 2, 1924) was an actress, singer, and playwright in the United States who used the stage name Celie Ellis. Her early upbringing in a wealthy family included extensive musical education before she chose to join operatic and comic theatre. She transferred to multiple different stock companies during her career in the late 1800's, performing a number of major roles and having singing performances that exercised her talent as a soubrette.

Life and career

Ellis was born in 1864/1865 in New York City.[1] She was one of eight children born to Richard R. Flannagan, a Tammany Hall politician, who was elected a Coroner of New York County from 1876 to 1879,[2] and a wealthy mother related to Governor Horatio Seymour, She attended the Villa Maria school in Montreal, Canada, in her childhood and also learned music under Madame Kartel. She then went on to complete a post graduate musical course at the Metropolitan College of Music. She had conflicts with her family over pursuing a career on the stage, but still found success in the field.[3] She became known as "the little mother" to those close to her because she helped raise her multiple siblings after the loss of their mother.[4]

Choosing the stage name Celie Ellis,[5] she was a part of comic opera and farce theatre performances from the 1880s through the 1890s, frequently seen in performances at Broadway's Casino Theatre.[3] She also performed as a member of the McCaull Comic Opera Company in the 1880s[6] before then acting as the soubrette for the Blue Jeans company.[7] Ellis was noted by the Chicago Inter Ocean for her performance in the Black Hussar, especially her "piquant, saucy air" in her acting and her "pleasant singing voice" for the song Ohe Mamma that received several requests for encores.[8]

Ellis married Henry S. Blake on November 15, 1887 and temporarily retired from theatre shortly afterwards,[9] but returned in the middle of 1888 as a part of Heinrich Conried's English Opera Company and its performances at Uhrig's Cave.[3] Joining the Duff Opera Company in 1889, she began taking roles playing as the ingénue character.[10] She later joined as the leading lady of a stock company and was noted for being the long-term star of the 1892 play Dr. Bill in the United States.[11] In 1894, Ellis moved stock companies again to join the Wicklow Postman Company run by Eugene O'Rourke.[12] Several years after, in the early 1900s, she chose to leave acting and became a playwright.[13] She died on October 2, 1924 at the reported age of 50 while visiting her theatrical manager's office to sell a new play she had written when she suffered a heart attack.[14]

Works

As performer

As playwright

Notes and References

  1. 1880 . New York City . 9 . 22 . 341 . November 30, 2024.
  2. News: . March 7, 1895 . Obituary Notes - Richard R. Flannagan . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  3. News: . June 3, 1888 . At The Gardens . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  4. News: . June 23, 1887 . Celie Ellis . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  5. Book: Dench, Ernest A. . 1916 . Camera: A Practical Magazine for Photographers . Motion Picture Photography . https://books.google.com/books?id=wJQgAQAAMAAJ&dq=celie+g.+turner&pg=PA123 . 20 . Columbia Photographic Society . 123.
  6. News: . December 20, 1886 . The M'Caull Opera Company . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  7. News: . April 2, 1893 . Motto And Monogram . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  8. News: . April 19, 1887 . Chicago Opera House . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  9. News: . November 12, 1887 . Greenroom Gossip - Celie Ellis . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  10. News: . January 15, 1890 . "The Gondoliers" In Brooklyn . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  11. News: . December 20, 1896 . The Local Stage . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  12. News: . February 4, 1894 . Coulisse Chat - Celie Ellis . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  13. . October 8, 1924 . Mrs. Cecilia Turner . November 26, 2024 . . . . 76 . 8.
  14. News: . October 3, 1924 . Cecilia Turner, Ex-Actress, Drops Dead . November 26, 2024 . . Newspapers.com.
  15. News: . April 4, 1886 . Weekly Theatrical Announcements . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  16. News: . December 28, 1886 . The "Black Hussar" Well Presented - The "Rag Baby's" Visit . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  17. News: . August 23, 1887 . Chicago Opera-House - Third Edition of "The Arabian Nights" . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  18. Web site: The New York Mirror Annual and Directory of the Theatrical Profession for 1888 . Fiske . Harrison Grey . 1888 .
  19. News: . May 5, 1889 . Musical Melange - Paola . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  20. News: . January 17, 1890 . Plays and Players . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  21. News: . May 29, 1890 . The Brigands . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  22. News: . January 22, 1891 . Theatrical Doings . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  23. News: . December 20, 1896 . Dramatic . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  24. News: . April 9, 1893 . Forepaugh's . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  25. News: . June 19, 1893 . "Pinafore" Tonight . . October 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  26. News: . October 28, 1895 . At The Grand . . October 7, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  27. News: . February 21, 1896 . Celie Ellis . . October 7, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  28. Web site: Dramatic Compositions Copyrighted in the United States, 1870 to 1916 . 1918 .
  29. Web site: Catalogue of Copyright Entries: New series . 1906 .
  30. Web site: Catalogue of Copyright Entries: Books, Dramatic Compositions, Maps and Charts . Office . Copyright . 1908 .
  31. Web site: The Influence of the Drama . Sturgis . Granville Forbes . 1913 .
  32. Web site: Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [B] Group 2. Pamphlets, Etc. New Series . 1912 .
  33. Web site: Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions . 1917 .

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