Trixie Friganza (born Delia O'Callaghan; November 29, 1870 â€"
February 27, 1955) was an American actress. She began her career as an
operetta soubrette, working her way from the chorus to starring in
musical comedies to having her own feature act on the vaudeville
circuit.She transitioned to film in the early 1920s mostly playing
small characters that were quirky and comedic and retired from the
stage in 1940 due to health concerns. She spent her last years
teaching drama to young women in a convent school and when she died
she left everything to the convent. She became a highly sought after
comic actress after the success of The Chaperons (played "Aramanthe
Dedincourt") and is best known for her stage roles of Caroline Vokes
(or Vokins?) in The Orchid, Mrs. Radcliffe in The Sweetest Girl in
Paris, for multiple roles in The Passing Show of 1912, and her run as
a vaudeville headliner. During the height of her career, she used her
fame to promote social, civic, and political issues of importance,
such as self-love and the Suffragist movement.Friganza was born in
Grenola, Kansas to a mother Margaret Friganza of Spanish descent and
an Irish father Cornelius O'Callaghan, and was raised in Cincinnati,
Ohio. She had two younger sisters, and along with their mother, these
four women were a tightly knit unit growing up. She was educated at
St. Patrick's School in Cincinnati, beginning what would become a
lifelong allegiance to the Catholic Church.[citation needed] When
asked by a reporter why she took the name Friganza she replied, “I
didn't marry it†; Friganza, in fact, is her mother's maiden name
(Margaret Jane Friganza), which she both liked and found to be
suitable for the stage. A friend and colleague of hers by the name of
Digby Bell (of the Digby Bell Opera Co.), christened her “Trixieâ€
early on and the name stuck, for she had never been fond of the name
Delia.
February 27, 1955) was an American actress. She began her career as an
operetta soubrette, working her way from the chorus to starring in
musical comedies to having her own feature act on the vaudeville
circuit.She transitioned to film in the early 1920s mostly playing
small characters that were quirky and comedic and retired from the
stage in 1940 due to health concerns. She spent her last years
teaching drama to young women in a convent school and when she died
she left everything to the convent. She became a highly sought after
comic actress after the success of The Chaperons (played "Aramanthe
Dedincourt") and is best known for her stage roles of Caroline Vokes
(or Vokins?) in The Orchid, Mrs. Radcliffe in The Sweetest Girl in
Paris, for multiple roles in The Passing Show of 1912, and her run as
a vaudeville headliner. During the height of her career, she used her
fame to promote social, civic, and political issues of importance,
such as self-love and the Suffragist movement.Friganza was born in
Grenola, Kansas to a mother Margaret Friganza of Spanish descent and
an Irish father Cornelius O'Callaghan, and was raised in Cincinnati,
Ohio. She had two younger sisters, and along with their mother, these
four women were a tightly knit unit growing up. She was educated at
St. Patrick's School in Cincinnati, beginning what would become a
lifelong allegiance to the Catholic Church.[citation needed] When
asked by a reporter why she took the name Friganza she replied, “I
didn't marry it†; Friganza, in fact, is her mother's maiden name
(Margaret Jane Friganza), which she both liked and found to be
suitable for the stage. A friend and colleague of hers by the name of
Digby Bell (of the Digby Bell Opera Co.), christened her “Trixieâ€
early on and the name stuck, for she had never been fond of the name
Delia.
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