# Kate Mayhew

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{{short description|American actress}}
{{Infobox person
| name         = Kate Mayhew
| image        = File:Kate Mayhew as M'liss in c. 1878.png
| image_size   =
| caption      = Kate Mayhew as M'liss in c. 1878
| birth_name   = 
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1853|9|2|mf=y}}
| birth_place  = [Indianapolis, Indiana](/source/Indianapolis%2C_Indiana)
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1944|5|16|1853|9|2|mf=y}}
| death_place  = New York
| other_names  = 
| occupation   = Actress
| years_active = 1870s–1936
| spouse       = 
| children     =  
}}

'''Kate Mayhew''' (September 2, 1853 – June 16, 1944), also known as Katie Mayhew and Kate Mayhew Widmer,<ref name=":0" /> was an American stage and radio actress. She first performed on stage as a four year old child at the Metropolitan Opera House in Indianapolis, and her first New York performance was at Niblo's Garden Theatre in 1873.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hall |first=Roger A. |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Performing_the_American_Frontier_1870_19/dHitfBUfKdEC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Kate%20mayhew%22&pg=PA105&printsec=frontcover |title=Performing the American Frontier, 1870-1906 |date=2001-08-16 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-79320-9 |language=en}}</ref>

Mayhew became involved in producing plays, and owned the rights to ''M'Liss'' written by [Clay M. Greene](/source/Clay_M._Greene) (adapted from a story by [Bret Harte](/source/Bret_Harte)), in the 1870s.<ref name=":0" /> Mayhew performed the title role herself at the Grand Opera House in New York in September 1878, however, a legal battle over rights to the play eventually saw [Annie Pixley](/source/Annie_Pixley) take up the role to critical acclaim.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://asp6new.alexanderstreet.com/atho/atho.detail.people.aspx?personcode=per0061647 |title=Kate Mayhew |website=North American Theatre Online}}</ref>

She performed in productions of Shakespeare, playing the roles of Juliet's Mother in [Romeo and Juliet](/source/Romeo_and_Juliet), and [Gertrude](/source/Gertrude_(Hamlet)), Queen of Denmark, in [Hamlet](/source/Hamlet).<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Street |first=James |date=1938 |title=Professional Mothers |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Guide/1938/Radio-Guide-38-05-14.pdf |journal=Radio Guide |volume=7 |issue=30 |pages=2–3}}</ref>

In the 1890s, she appeared in Oriental parts.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

She was long on Broadway in support of most of the well-known names.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} She made films, and also voiced characters for radio programmes.<ref name=":1" />

One of her last Broadway appearances was in the 1934 stage production of ''The Farmer Takes a Wife'' with [Henry Fonda](/source/Henry_Fonda) and [June Walker](/source/June_Walker).<ref name="necrology">{{cite book|title=Silent Film Necrology|page=359|edition=2nd|date=2001|first=Eugene M.|last=Vazzana|isbn=0-7864-1059-0}}</ref>

She was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and died in New York aged 90.<ref name="necrology" />

Mayhew donated playbills and other theatre ephemera to the [New York Public Library](/source/New_York_Public_Library) in 1930.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Library |first=New York Public |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Report_of_the_New_York_Public_Library_fo/7OZFAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22Kate%20Mayhew%22&dq=%22Kate%20Mayhew%22%20%22Broadway%22&printsec=frontcover |title=Report of the New York Public Library for ... |date=1930 |publisher=The Library |language=en}}</ref>

==Selected filmography==
*''[Tongues of Flame](/source/Tongues_of_Flame)'' (1924)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IBDB name|52003}}
*{{IMDb name|0562672}}
*[https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?utf8=%E2%9C593&keywords=kate+mayhew portrait gallery](NY Public Library, Billy Rose collection)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayhew, Kate}}
Category:1853 births
Category:1944 deaths
Category:Actresses from Indianapolis
Category:19th-century American actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:20th-century American actresses

{{US-theat-actor-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kate Mayhew](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Mayhew) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Mayhew?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.