Clara Bloodgood (August , â€" December , ) was an American socialite
who became a successful Broadway stage actress.Clara Stephens was born
in Long Branch, New Jersey, the daughter of Edward and Annie (née
Sutton) Stephens. Her father, a prominent New York attorney, was the
son of author Ann S. Stephens. Her mother was one of three sisters
once called “the beautiful Sutton girls†by New York's high
society. As a young girl Clara attended St. Johns School in Brighton,
England.At around the age of seventeen Clara attracted the attention
of two suitors, William Moller Havemeyer, the son of a wealthy sugar
manufacturer and a member of the Havemeyer family, and John “Jackâ€
Bloodgood, Jr., whose father made millions in banking over the years
following the American Civil War. She married Havemeyer in and
divorced him within a year or so. She went on to marry Bloodgood in ,
only to see him lose his inheritance and health within a very short
period. His death in , which left her in a dire financial situation,
led Clara to attempt a career in theater. In she married William
Laimbeer, a New York stock broker.Clara Bloodgood's stage debut came
in January , at the Empire Theatre in New York playing a minor role in
The Conquerors. The following season, at the same venue, she created
the role Beatrice Hipgrave in Phroso. She later supported Annie
Russell in Catherine and Miss Hobbs and toured with Amelia Bingham's
Company in The Climbers. She next appeared with Arnold Daly in How He
Lied to Her Husband, and a production of The Gentleman from India, in
Boston. In at the Hudson Theatre in New York she played Violet
Robinson in George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman, with Robert
Loraine. She became the leading exponent of plays by Clyde Fitch and
worked for such Broadway impresarios as Charles Frohman, Charles
Dillingham and Henry B. Harris. Reportedly her best friend in the
acting profession was the actress and later screenwriter Zelda Sears,
who appeared with her in her last play, The Truth.
who became a successful Broadway stage actress.Clara Stephens was born
in Long Branch, New Jersey, the daughter of Edward and Annie (née
Sutton) Stephens. Her father, a prominent New York attorney, was the
son of author Ann S. Stephens. Her mother was one of three sisters
once called “the beautiful Sutton girls†by New York's high
society. As a young girl Clara attended St. Johns School in Brighton,
England.At around the age of seventeen Clara attracted the attention
of two suitors, William Moller Havemeyer, the son of a wealthy sugar
manufacturer and a member of the Havemeyer family, and John “Jackâ€
Bloodgood, Jr., whose father made millions in banking over the years
following the American Civil War. She married Havemeyer in and
divorced him within a year or so. She went on to marry Bloodgood in ,
only to see him lose his inheritance and health within a very short
period. His death in , which left her in a dire financial situation,
led Clara to attempt a career in theater. In she married William
Laimbeer, a New York stock broker.Clara Bloodgood's stage debut came
in January , at the Empire Theatre in New York playing a minor role in
The Conquerors. The following season, at the same venue, she created
the role Beatrice Hipgrave in Phroso. She later supported Annie
Russell in Catherine and Miss Hobbs and toured with Amelia Bingham's
Company in The Climbers. She next appeared with Arnold Daly in How He
Lied to Her Husband, and a production of The Gentleman from India, in
Boston. In at the Hudson Theatre in New York she played Violet
Robinson in George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman, with Robert
Loraine. She became the leading exponent of plays by Clyde Fitch and
worked for such Broadway impresarios as Charles Frohman, Charles
Dillingham and Henry B. Harris. Reportedly her best friend in the
acting profession was the actress and later screenwriter Zelda Sears,
who appeared with her in her last play, The Truth.
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