Anna Gardie

Anna Gardie
Born	1760
Died	July 21, 1798 New York City, New York
Cause of death	Murder
Body discovered	Fraunces Tavern
Nationality	American
Years active	pre 1794–798
Known for	Sophia of Brabant, La Foret Noire

Anna Gardie (c. 1760 – July 21, 1798) was a French-born American stage actress and dancer.[1]

Career

Anna Gardie was born c. 1760[2] in the French colony of Saint-Domingue. She started out performing there before immigrating to the United States. She made her American debut performing in Philadelphia at the Chestnut Street Theater in the pantomime La Foret Noire in 1794.[3] She then danced in the ballet-pantomime Sophia of Brabant in 1795 with the United States first male professional dancer, John Durang.[1] As the first ballet-pantomime, the performance was considered innovative.

Death

On July 21, 1798, Anna Gardie and her husband, a French music copyist,[2] were found dead with stab wounds at Fraunces Tavern, where she was living at the time. The coroner ruled it a murder-suicide committed by her husband.[4] However, William Dunalp, in his recounting of the tragedy in his History of the American Theater (1832) p. 209, is quite plain in stating she was murdered by her husband with one knife blow; ostensibly while she was asleep.

References

1. Lust, Annette (2000). From the Greek mimes to Marcel Marceau and beyond : mimes, actors, Pierrots, and clowns : a chronicle of the many visages of mime in the theatre. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-3510-X. OCLC 39654630.
2. "Gardie, Anna (c. 1760–1798)." Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages, edited by Anne Commire and Deborah Klezmer, vol. 1, Yorkin Publications, 2007, p. 714. Gale eBooks. Accessed 18 Nov. 2021.
3. Dunlap, William, A history of the American theater
4. "History". Fraunces Tavern® Museum. Retrieved 2021-11-09.