Theresa Vaughn Explained

Theresa Vaughn (1867-1903) was a popular American singer and comedian in the 1890s.^[1]

She was a hit on Broadway in 1492 Up to Date, where she played banjo and sang songs in German in the role of Fraulein, the Waif, and appeared in other productions including Excelsior Jr..^{[1] [2] [3]} She also had success on tour with The Tourists in a Pullman Car.^[4]

She was born Theresa Ott in New York City, her family having a theatrical reputation in the Boston area. Of German descent, she studied music in New York City and Dresden. Her performance as Tessa in The Gondoliers in Boston was her first operatic success.^[5]

Her husband, William H. Mestayer (William Haupt by birth),^[6] was an actor and her manager;^[7] she first appeared is his company in We, Us & Co. in the 1880s. After he died in late 1896,^{[8] [9]} she took a break from the stage. By 1899, she retired from the stage permanently, reportedly on account of a failing memory. In 1901 she was committed by her mother to an insane asylum, reportedly due to "melancholia" caused by the death of her husband and brother.^[2] She died at the Worcester Insane Asylum on October 5, 1903.^{[10] [11] [12] [13] [14]}

Notes and References

1. (5 October 1903). Sorry for Death of Theresa Vaughn, New York World
2. (5 October 1903). Theresa Vaughn Dead: Well Known Light Opera Singer Expires in Insane Hospital, New York Tribune
3. Berereton, Austin, ed. Gallery of Players from the Illustrated American, Vol. 1
4. (27 August 1889). Grand Opera House, Pittsburgh Dispatch
5. (November 1894). Theresa Vaughn, The Opera Glass, p. 162
6. (5 July 1912). The Smart Set, San Francisco Call (confirms that Mestayer's legal name was Haupt; this detail is not clear in all articles, which might cause confusion that they were different men)
7. (1 October 1891). The Grab Bag, Oskaloosa Herald
8. https://www.bartleby.com/library/bios/2905.html William Ayers Haupt (1846-1896)
9. (23 November 1896). Will Mestayer Dead, The New York Times
10. (5 October 1903). Theresa Vaughn is Dead, The New York Times
11. (18 February 1902). Theresa Vaughn Is An Incurable, Stark County Democrat
12. (27 April 1901). Theatrical Corner, Waterbury Democrat
13. (18 April 1901). Theresa Vaughn in a Madhouse, New York World
14. (20 November 1900). Joseph Ott, Comedian, Dead, Waterbury Democrat