Elita Proctor Otis (1851 or 1860 – August 10, 1927) was an American actress.[1] She had a long distinguished stage career before her foray into early silent films. In 1909 she may have been the first actress to play Nancy Sikes on screen in a Vitagraph produced version of Oliver Twist.[2]
Early years and career
She was born around 1860 in Cleveland, Ohio.[3] Her father, William Henry Otis,[4] was a banker.[5]Redfield Proctor, who was a senator from Vermont, was her great-uncle.[4]
Otis's stage debut came with the Kemble Dramatic Society.[6] She made her professional debut as Ernestine Echo in Crust of Society at the Globe Theatre in Boston.[7]
Broadway plays in which Otis performed included The House of Bondage (1914), Potash and Perlmutter (1913), Are You a Crook? (1913), The Purple Road (1913), The Greyhound (1912), The Three Romeos (1911), The Girl from Rector's (1909), Mary's Lamb (1908), Society and the Bulldog (1908), The Little Michus (1907), About Town (1906), The Two Orphans (1904), In the Midst of Life (1902), The Brixton Burglary (1901), Quo Vadis (1900), Woman and Wine (1900), and A Ward of France (1897).[8]
For the last 12 years of her life she was an invalid. She died on August 10, 1927, in Pelham, New York.[1] Her funeral was held at the Church of the Transfiguration on August 17, 1927, and she was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.[11]
^Pictorial History of the Silent Screen by Daniel Blum c. 1953 pg. 14
^The 1870 census lists an "Ella P. Otis" born in 1860 and this may be her. Her parents were married on 14 September 1860. She listed herself as age 30 on 27 June 1901 on her marriage license. This would have her born in 1874. In the 1920 census her age would have her born in 1871. IMDB and IBDB use "1851" but the primary source for that information is not known.
^ abBrowne, Walter; Koch, E. De Roy (1908). Who's Who on the Stage ... W. Browne & F. A. Austin. pp. 336–337. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
