Una Fleming
Una Fleming | |
|---|---|
 Una Fleming, from a 1919 publication | |
| Born | Marian Una Strain 1899 California |
| Died | October 26, 1966 (age 67) Ridgewood, New Jersey |
| Other names | Una F. Adams, Una F. Wood, Una F. Glassell |
| Occupation(s) | Dancer, actress |
| Spouse | Freeman Wood |
Marian Una Strain Fleming Adams (1899 – October 26, 1966), known on stage as Una Fleming, was an American dancer and actress on Broadway.[1]
Early life and education[edit]
Una Strain was raised in Los Angeles,[2][3] by her mother Carrie B. Malcolm Strain Fleming, and her stepfather, A. F. Fleming.[4] Her Irish-born father John Strain died in 1904. She attended the Egan School of Music and Drama in Los Angeles, and studied dance with Matildita Fernandez.[5] She danced at public events from her early teens,[6] and was crowned the Queen of May at May Day festivities in Los Angeles in 1914.[7][8] In 1915, she joined a vaudeville dancing act.[9] In 1916, she was premiere danseuse in the ballet of the California Grand Opera Company.[10]
Career[edit]
Fleming appeared in the silent film The Talk of the Town (1918).[11][12] On Broadway, she was a dancer in The Velvet Lady (1919),[13] The Sweetheart Shop (1920) and Her Family Tree (1921).[14][15] She also danced in vaudeville programs in New York.[16]
Theatre critic Burns Mantle described Fleming as dancing "with such unusual grace", and considered her part of a trend for "'plain American girl' dancers" who were cast in specialty roles once only assigned to foreign dancers.[13] McClure's Magazine also placed her among other young women dancers in a photo feature in 1919, with the comment that "she seems to be fashioned mostly out of chiffon and grace".[17]
Fleming married in 1920. She was still dancing on stage in 1925, with the George M. Cohan show Little Nellie Kelly in Oakland,[18] and in 1926, when she appeared with Gloria Foy and Lou Holtz in Patsy in San Francisco and Los Angeles.[19][20]
Personal life[edit]
Fleming was married four times, to three different husbands. Her first husband was businessman Carleton Adams in 1920;[21] they had a daughter, Barbara. They divorced in 1927, then remarried in 1928, then divorced again in 1935.[22] She married again, to actor Freeman Wood, by 1940. She married a third time, to Gardner T. Glassell, in 1949. Gardner Glassell died in 1958,[23] and she died in 1966, in Ridgewood, New Jersey, at the age of 67.[24]
References[edit]
- ^ Suriano, Gregory (2021-05-10). Gershwin in Pittsburgh. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-7247-1.
- ^ "Una Fleming". Theatre Magazine. 32: 353. December 1920.
- ^ "Bids Farewell to L.A. Society, Takes up Stage Dancing". Los Angeles Herald. September 19, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved April 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Obituary for Carrie B. Fleming". The Long Beach Sun. 1936-09-05. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ^ "Catholic Women to Present Two Plays". Los Angeles Herald. November 8, 1913. p. 4. Retrieved April 23, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "To Dance at L.A.A.C. Fellowship Dinner". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1913-07-29. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Fiesta of Flowers, with Public Maypole Dance, to be Monster Pageant Given by Children". The Los Angeles Times. 1914-04-26. p. 85. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Fairylike Ruler's Subjects Happy". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1914-05-02. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "9 Society Girls Turn Professional Dancers". Los Angeles Herald. September 10, 1915. Retrieved April 23, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "Youth, Grace Feature Grand Opera Ballet". Los Angeles Herald. May 18, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ^ Stumpf, Charles (2010-04-13). ZaSu Pitts: The Life and Career. McFarland. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-7864-6023-6.
- ^ "Local Girl Stars". Los Angeles Herald. December 3, 1918. p. 37. Retrieved April 23, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ a b Mantle, Burns (May 1919). "What's What on Broadway". The Green Book Magazine. 21 (5): 54–59.
- ^ "Una Fleming in The sweetheart shop". NYPL Digital Collections. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ^ Dietz, Dan (2019-04-10). The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 25, 48. ISBN 978-1-5381-1282-3.
- ^ "Henderson's Music Hall". Brooklyn Life. 1919-08-02. p. 14. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "They Just Can't Make Their Toes Behave!". McClure's Magazine. 51: 16. April 1919.
- ^ "Cohan Troupe Will Entertain War Disabled". Oakland Tribune. 1925-11-26. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Musical Comedy 'Patsy' Comes to Curran Monday". The San Francisco Examiner. 1926-05-13. p. 17. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "'Patsy Night' at Roof". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 1926-03-29. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Kingsley, Grace (1920-12-31). "Una Fleming Weds; Popular Dancer Marries Former Naval Officer". The Los Angeles Times. p. 26. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Una Fleming, Ex-Actress, Sues to Divorce C. E. Adams". Chicago Tribune. 1935-08-07. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Glassell, Gardner T." The Los Angeles Times. 1958-12-28. p. 40. Retrieved 2023-04-24 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Obituary for Una F. Glassell". The Record. 1966-10-27. p. 36. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
External links[edit]
- Una Fleming at IMDb