Grace C. F. Roth Henderson (January â€" October , ) was an American
stage actress and prolific performer in silent motion
pictures.Henderson was born Grace C. F. Roth in Ann Arbor, Michigan in
January . Her father William (Wilhelm) was a justice of the peace born
in Stuttgart.She made her professional debut at McKiver's Theatre in
Chicago in . A decade later she began a successful run at the Lyceum
Theatre in New York City. She originated the role of "Lucille Ferrand"
in The Wife. In , she starred in Under the Polar Star, an elaborate
play complete with a facsimile of a large sailing ship and real
on-stage sled dogs. Under Southern Skies followed in . She played in
The Marquis, and received acclaim for her performance as "Phyliss Lee"
in The Charity Ball. Later, Grace Henderson supported Nance O'Neill in
Peter Pan, with Maude Adams' company. This production was staged at
the Empire Theatre.In , Henderson was interviewed by a reporter and
came off something of a bigot embarrassing herself when she refused to
act with a black player in the rehearsals of the Broadway cast of My
Wife's Husband. The black player Moses Fairfax had a part that was
important to the play. Having been raised in the South, she explained
that blacks and whites did not socialize to the point of a black
calling a white woman by her first name.
stage actress and prolific performer in silent motion
pictures.Henderson was born Grace C. F. Roth in Ann Arbor, Michigan in
January . Her father William (Wilhelm) was a justice of the peace born
in Stuttgart.She made her professional debut at McKiver's Theatre in
Chicago in . A decade later she began a successful run at the Lyceum
Theatre in New York City. She originated the role of "Lucille Ferrand"
in The Wife. In , she starred in Under the Polar Star, an elaborate
play complete with a facsimile of a large sailing ship and real
on-stage sled dogs. Under Southern Skies followed in . She played in
The Marquis, and received acclaim for her performance as "Phyliss Lee"
in The Charity Ball. Later, Grace Henderson supported Nance O'Neill in
Peter Pan, with Maude Adams' company. This production was staged at
the Empire Theatre.In , Henderson was interviewed by a reporter and
came off something of a bigot embarrassing herself when she refused to
act with a black player in the rehearsals of the Broadway cast of My
Wife's Husband. The black player Moses Fairfax had a part that was
important to the play. Having been raised in the South, she explained
that blacks and whites did not socialize to the point of a black
calling a white woman by her first name.
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