Wotherspoon, G. (George)

Lillie Langtry (1853-1929), nicknamed the "Jersey Lily" after her birthplace of Jersey, England, was an actress and renowned beauty who earned a fortune from her theatrical career. Born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton on October 13, 1853, Lillie Langtry did not begin her stage career until she was almost 30 years old. In 1874 she had married Edward Langtry, a wealthy young Irish widower, but when his fortune slipped away she was persuaded to try acting. After success in London as Kate Hardcastle in SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER, Langtry went to New York and made her debut in AN UNEQUAL MATCH at Wallack's Theatre on Nov. 6, 1882. She toured the United States almost continuously for the next five years and earned a fortune. She became an American citizen, and divorced Edward Langtry. Stage appearances were less frequent after the 1880s, but Lillie Langtry continued to perform in plays and vaudeville as late as 1915. In 1899 Langtry married Hugo de Bathe, who became a baronet upon the death of his father in 1907, making her Lady de Bathe. She spent much of her retirement in Monaco, where she died on Feb. 12, 1929, at the age of 75.

George Wotherspoon, who met Lillie Langtry in 1882, apparently wrote this biographical piece about her in the late 1940s. Marginal notes, and a few additional comments, have been written in the manuscript by H. T. Porter, who wrote a biographical pamphlet about Lillie Langtry for the Société Jersiaise in 1973.

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