{{Short description|American actress}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2014}} {{Infobox person | name = Lottie Briscoe | birth_name = | image = Lottie Briscoe 1914.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = Still photo of Briscoe from ''The Beloved Adventurer'' (1914) | birth_date = {{Birth date |1883|4|19|mf=y}} | birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1950|3|21|1883|4|19|mf=y}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | other_names = Little Lottie Briscoe | occupation = | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Harry McRae Webster|1903|1911|end=divorced}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://travsd.wordpress.com/2018/04/19/lottie-briscoe-star-of-stage-screen-and-vaudeville/|title = Lottie Briscoe: Star of Stage, Screen and Vaudeville|date = April 19, 2018}}</ref> * {{marriage|Harry Mountford|1921}} }} }} '''Lottie Briscoe''' (April 19, 1883 – March 21, 1950) was an American stage and silent screen actress. She began in theatre at the age of four and as an adult was among the first to find success after making the transition from the legitimate stage to cinema. Briscoe appeared in over 94 motion pictures; she is perhaps best remembered for her time at Lubin Studios with co-star Arthur V. Johnson.
==Family== Lottie Briscoe was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Mr. and Mrs. T. D. Briscoe.<ref>April 19, 1883 birthday from [https://books.google.com/books?id=RHtZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22lottie+briscoe%22 Doyle, Billy H. - ''"The Ultimate Directory of the Silent Screen Performers: A Necrology of Births and Deaths and Essays on 50 Lost Players,'' 1995, p. 115] Retrieved 7.6.13; census and death certificate are said to indicate an October birth</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=kxFCz6qClSoC ''The Hollywood Book of Death,'' 2001, p. 12] Retrieved 7.4.13</ref> Her father may have been involved in theatre work and her mother was known to the theatre community as a likable stage mother. A sister, Olive Helen Briscoe, had long a career in vaudeville as a singer and comedian. <ref name= "Greene">[http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2010/New%20York%20NY%20Dramatic%20Mirror/New%20York%20NY%20Dramatic%20Mirror%201908%20Jun-May%201909%20Grayscale/New%20York%20NY%20Dramatic%20Mirror%201908%20Jun-May%201909%20Grayscale%20-%200495.pdf Mrs. Walter D. Greene. ''The New York Dramatic Mirror,'' October 31, 1908] Retrieved 7.4.13</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19200914&id=Dd1WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HUMNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2652,1853140 Hippodrome. ''The Reading Eagle'', September 14, 1920, p. 8] Retrieved 7.10.13</ref> At the time of her death ''The New York Times'' reported that Briscoe was 79 years old, which is unlikely, for it is well documented that she was active as a child actor as late as 1895. A possible explanation may lie with confusion involving Briscoe's frail husband, Harry Mountford, who at the time was 79 and had not long to live.<ref name= "Law">[https://books.google.com/books?id=6GwAAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22+lottie+briscoe+%22+1892&pg=PA76 ''Report'', New York City Law Dept. c. 1893, p. 76] Retrieved 7.4.13</ref><ref name= "NYT">Lottie Briscoe Dies at 79 New York Times, March 22, 1950, p. 26</ref><ref name= "NYT2">Harry Mountford. ''The New York Times'', June 5, 1950, p. 21</ref>
==Stage== [[File:Lottie Briscoe02.JPG|left|thumb|Little Lottie Briscoe<br>The New York Public Library Digital Gallery]]
Briscoe first appeared on stage at the age of four, and by nine she was touring as Editha in Gus Thomas' adaptation of Frances Burnett's children's story '' Editha's Burglar''.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=18921114&id=kQ0aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bCAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4390,3639182 Music and the Drama. ''The Milwaukie Journal'', November 14, 1892, p. 4] Retrieved 7.9,13</ref> Three years later, in June 1895, she was engaged at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, New York, to play Julian Esmond in the Russ Whytal melodrama ''For Fair Virginia'', but was replaced after just two nights when the mayor's office determined that the weather was too hot for a child under sixteen to be working in.<ref>Another Little Julian. ''The New York Times'', June 6, 1895, p. 5</ref> Briscoe eventually did return to ''For Fair Virginia'' to play Julian Esmond over a subsequent road tour that lasted well into the spring of 1897.<ref>[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024441/1896-02-25/ed-1/seq-6/#date1=1895&sort=date&date2=1922&words=Briscoe+Lottie&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=0&state=&rows=20&proxtext=%22lottie+briscoe%22&y=5&x=8&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 As the Crowds Come Out. ''The Evening Times''. (Washington, D.C.), February 25, 1896, p. 6] [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026355/1896-04-09/ed-1/seq-5/#date1=1895&sort=date&date2=1922&words=Briscoe+Lottie&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=2&state=&rows=20&proxtext=%22lottie+briscoe%22&y=5&x=8&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 ''For Fair Virginia.'' ''The Scranton Tribune'', April 09, 1896, p. 5] Retrieved 7.6.13</ref><ref>[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn99066033/1897-05-22/ed-1/seq-8/#date1=1895&sort=date&date2=1922&words=Briscoe+Lottie&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=15&state=&rows=20&proxtext=%22lottie+briscoe%22&y=5&x=8&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 The Theatre. ''The Courier'' (Lincoln, Nebraska), May 22, 1897, p. 8] Retrieved 7.6.13</ref> By October 1897 Briscoe was back at the Fifth Avenue Theatre with Richard Mansfield's company as Essie in the American debut of Shaw's ''The Devil's Disciple''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y7PQq7yAlSIC&pg=PA284 Wilstach, Paul - ''Richard Mansfield: The Man and the Actor'', 1908, p. 284] Retrieved 7.10.13</ref> In 1899 she toured with Walter E. Perkins playing Gertie in a farce-comedy entitled ''My Friend from India'' by Henry A. Du Souchet.<ref>[http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2010/New%20York%20NY%20Dramatic%20Mirror/New%20York%20NY%20Dramatic%20Mirror%201898%20Nov-Sep%201899%20Grayscale/New%20York%20NY%20Dramatic%20Mirror%201898%20Nov-Sep%201899%20Grayscale%20-%201135.pdf Engagements. ''The New York Dramatic Mirror,'' July 15, 1899, p. 13] Retrieved 7.10.13</ref><ref>[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86071197/1899-12-03/ed-1/seq-10/#date1=1897&sort=date&date2=1922&words=Briscoe+Lottie&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=14&state=&rows=20&proxtext=%22lottie+briscoe%22&y=9&x=14&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 The Local Stage. ''The Houston Daily Post,'' December 3, 1899, p. 10] Retrieved 7.10.13</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=edg_AAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA1 Du Souchet, Henry A. - ''My Friend from India''] Retrieved 7.10.13</ref>
During the 1900–1901 season Briscoe assumed the role of the sickly boy Claude in a national tour of ''Two Little Vagrants'', Charles Klein's adaptation of the Pierre Decourcelle melodrama ''Les Deux Gosses''.<ref>[http://cambridge.dlconsulting.com/cgi-bin/cambridge?a=d&d=Tribune19000811-01.2.66# Grand Opera House Opening. ''Cambridge Tribune'', August 11, 1900, p. 7] Retrieved 7.13.13</ref><ref>At The Globe Tonight. ''Hamilton Daily Democrat'' (Hamilton, Ohio), February 9, 1901, p. 2</ref> The following season she began a long tour playing Asa opposite Paul Gilmore in ''Lost River''; advertised as a pastoral melodrama by Joseph Arthur.<ref>Grand Opera House. ''The Daily Review'', (Decatur, Illinois), January 17, 1902, p. 6</ref><ref>Personals. ''The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette,'' December 3, 1903, p. 3</ref><ref>[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014635/1904-03-12/ed-1/seq-6/#date1=1902&sort=date&date2=1922&words=Briscoe+Lottie&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=4&state=&rows=20&proxtext=%22Lottie+Briscoe%22&y=9&x=14&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 Music and Drama. At the Crawford. ''The Wichita Daily Eagle,'' March 12, 1904, p. 6.] Retrieved 7.11.13</ref> In 1905 Briscoe toured in the Harry McRae Webster<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0916904/ IMDb]</ref> military drama ''Lieutenant Dick, U. S. A.'' playing Machita to Webster's Sergeant Jones.<ref>[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1905-12-26/ed-1/seq-5/#date1=1902&sort=date&date2=1922&words=Briscoe+Lottie&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=6&state=&rows=20&proxtext=%22Lottie+Briscoe%22&y=9&x=14&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 The Majestic. ''The Washington Times,'' November 26, 1905, p. 5] Retrieved 7.11.13</ref> By this time, Briscoe and Webster had been married for two years.<ref name= "Greene" />
==Film== thumb|Lottie Briscoe<br>''The Belovéd Adventurer'' 1914
Around 1909 Briscoe, along with Harry McRae Webster, joined the fledgling Essanay Studios, Chicago. At least two films during this period, both one-reelers from January 1911, are known to exist today; ''The Sophomore’s Romance'' and ''A Sin Unpardonable''.<ref>[http://essanaystudios.org/about-us/filmography/# Essanay Chicago Films – Surviving Compiled by David Kiehn – Historian, Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829040915/http://essanaystudios.org/about-us/filmography/ |date=August 29, 2013 }} Retrieved 7.11.13</ref> In June 1911 she played Zenia in Essanay's ''His Friend's Wife'', remembered for Francis X. Bushman's film debut. Her peak years were with Lubin Studios in short films that often cast her with the actor-director Arthur V. Johnson. Their most ambitious project together during this period was probably ''The Belovéd Adventurer'' (1914), a 15-episode serial written by Emmett Campbell Hall.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bUVBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP7 Hall, Emmett Campbell - ''The Belovéd Adventurer'', 1914] Retrieved 7.12.13</ref> When Johnson died in January 1916, shortly after the release of their latest film, the Maie B. Hovey story ''The Lost Rose'', Briscoe left film and did not return until 1918, and then only briefly to play Gertie Farish in ''The House of Mirth''.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0109800/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 Lottie Briscoe - Internet movie Database] Retrieved 7.11.13</ref>
==Later years== In 1919 Briscoe began a long run in vaudeville playing the title role in a domestic comedy by George Kelly entitled ''Mrs. Wellington's Surprise''.<ref>[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045211/1919-08-26/ed-1/seq-11/#date1=1918&sort=date&date2=1922&words=Briscoe+Lottie&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=6&state=&rows=20&proxtext=%22Lottie+Briscoe%22&y=13&x=17&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 Dancers Head Bill at Keith's This Week. ''Evening Public Ledger'' (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), August 26, 1919, p. 11] Retrieved 7.11.13</ref> That October 19 she was among a group of celebrities who performed at the Manhattan Opera House in a benefit on behalf of the Chelsea Memorial Association in raising funds for the Chelsea Park Memorial in Manhattan. One of a number of such memorials erected in the city during this time honoring local residents who gave their lives during the First World War.<ref>[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1919-10-19/ed-1/seq-38/#date1=1918&index=1&rows=20&words=Briscoe+Lottie&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1922&proxtext=%22Lottie+Briscoe%22&y=13&x=17&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 Chelsea Memorial Benefit at the Manhattan To-Night. ''The New York Tribune,'' October 19, 1919, p. 6] Retrieved 7.11.13</ref> In February 1922 Briscoe signed to appear in a leading role with William Faversham in The Squaw Man.<ref>[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1922-02-13/ed-1/seq-22/#date1=1918&sort=date&date2=1922&words=Briscoe+Lottie&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=10&state=&rows=20&proxtext=%22Lottie+Briscoe%22&y=13&x=17&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 Movie News and Gossip. ''The Evening World'' (New York, New York), February 13, 1922] Retrieved 7.11.13</ref> At some point in the not too distant future serious health issues{{which|date=November 2025}} would leave Briscoe homebound for the remainder of her life.<ref name= "NYT" />
Her first husband, Harry McRae Webster became a motion picture director of some note before he was sued in the early 1920s by a film studio over the unauthorized use of nude models in one of his movies.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0916904/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 Harry McRae Webster - Internet Movie Database] Retrieved 7.11.13</ref><ref>Posing Beauties Costly Whim.''The Gettysburg Times'' May 2, 1921, p. 5</ref> Her second husband, Harry Mountford, served as a longtime executive secretary for the White Rats actors union.<ref name= "NYT2" />
Briscoe died on March 21, 1950, in New York, and her husband died on June 5, 1950.<ref name= "NYT" /><ref name= "NYT2" />
==Selected filmography== *''His Wife's Friend'' (1911) *''The Shadow of Tragedy'' (1914) *''The House of Mirth'' (1918)
==References== {{Commons category}} {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0109800}} * [http://archives.nypl.org/the/18892 Harry Mountford and Lottie Briscoe papers, 1871-1950 (bulk 1906-1935)], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts [https://web.archive.org/web/20250120125138/https://nyplorg-data-archives.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/collection/generated_finding_aids/the18892.pdf Mountford and Briscoe papers] finding aid
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Briscoe, Lottie}} Category:1883 births Category:1950 deaths Category:American stage actresses Category:American silent film actresses Category:American vaudeville performers Category:American child actresses Category:Actresses from St. Louis Category:20th-century American actresses