Florence Rockwell

Florence Rockwell, from a 1915 publication.
Florence Rockwell, from an 1894 publication.

Florence Rea Rockwell (July 9, 1880 – March 24, 1964) was an American actress.

Early life

Florence Rea Rockwell was born in St. Louis, Missouri,[1] the daughter of Theodore J. Rockwell and Amanda J. Rea Rockwell.[2] Amanda Rockwell was a homeopathic physician and active in a group of women doctors in St. Louis.[3][4]

Rockwell was a child performer, and played Juliet,[5] Ophelia, and Desdemona as a young actress still in her teens.[6] She studied with actress Rose Eytinge.[7] In 1894 she was presented as a case study in the Phrenological Journal of Science and Health, which found her to have "an uncommonly large brain".[8]

(Her birthdate is often given as either 1880 or 1887; however, she was described as Dr. Rockwell's 11-year-old daughter in an 1890 profile,[4] making the earlier date more plausible.)

Career

Rockwell acted in Broadway productions, including Cumberland '61 (1897), Oliver Goldsmith (1900), The Greatest Thing in the World (1900), Richard Savage (1901), D'Arcy of the Guards (1901-1902), John Henry (1903), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1903), Much Ado About Nothing (1904), Common Sense Bracket (1904-1905), Who Goes There? (1905), Beau Brummell by Clyde Fitch (1906), Popularity (1906), The Mills of the Gods (1907), The Round Up (1907), The Barrier (1910),[9] A Fool for Fortune (1912), and The Fallen Idol (1915).[10]

In 1917, she took the lead role in The Glass House (sometimes titled The House of Glass) during a tour of Australia[11] and New Zealand.[12]

In 1919 she starred in a Hawaiian-themed revue called The Bird of Paradise, wearing a grass skirt and lei, and dancing a version of the hula.[13]

Rockwell appeared in three silent films: Body and Soul (1915),[14] He Fell in Love with His Wife (1915), and The Purple Night (1915).[15][16]

Personal life

Rockwell married theatrical manager Howard F. Smith. She was widowed in 1932, and she died in 1964, in Stamford, Connecticut, aged 83 years (she was described as 76 years old in her obituary).[17]

References

  1. ^ A. D. Storms, The Players Blue Book (Sutherland & Storms 1901): 212.
  2. ^ Walter Browne, Fredrick Arnold Austin, Who's who on the Stage (Brown & Austin 1906): 190.
  3. ^ "The New Homeopathic Hospital" St. Louis Post-Dispatch (January 11, 1890): 1. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  4. ^ a b "Women Doctors" St. Louis Post-Dispatch (January 26, 1890): 17. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  5. ^ "Florence Rockwell, the Youngest Juliet" Evening Republican (January 11, 1907): 3. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  6. ^ "Florence Rockwell" Munsey's Magazine (March 1895): 648.
  7. ^ "A Rising Young Star" Los Angeles Times (March 5, 1899): 39. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  8. ^ Nelson Sizer, "Character Studies No. 8: Florence Rockwell" Phrenological Journal of Science and Health (June 1894): 293, 294.
  9. ^ "New Amsterdam: The Barrier" Theatre Magazine (February 1910): xiii.
  10. ^ Johnson Briscoe, The Actors' Birthday Book (Moffatt, Yard and Co. 1904): 161.
  11. ^ "Stage Jottings". Auckland Star. Vol. XLVIII, no. 18. 20 January 1917. p. 14. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  12. ^ "The Theatre". Dominion. Vol. 10, no. 2994. 10 February 1917. p. 13.
  13. ^ "Cold Realism of a Hawaiian Costume" Boston Globe (May 18, 1919): 56. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  14. ^ "Florence Rockwell in Body and Soul" Arizona Republic (January 3, 1916): 12. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  15. ^ "Miss Rockwell with Knickerbocker" Moving Picture World (August 14, 1915): 1171.
  16. ^ "Morosco Captures Another Star of Stage for Screen" Statesman Journal (December 11, 1915): 6. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  17. ^ "Florence Rockwell, 76, Dies; Former Broadway Actress" New York Times (March 26, 1964): 35.
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