Nena Blake

Nena Blake
Nena Blake, from a 1907 publication
Born	Nena Naomi Fry 1887 Ontario, Canada
Died	October 12, 1924 New York, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Mother	Lena Jane Fry

Nena Blake (1887 – October 12, 1924), born as Nena Naomi Fry, was a Canadian-born American actress and chorus girl on Broadway and in vaudeville.

Early life and education

Blake was born in Ontario, the daughter of Stephen Fry and Lena Jane Fry. Her mother was a writer, who dedicated her 1905 utopian novel to Nena and her sisters Bertha and Kathleen, calling them "three of America's best daughters".[1] Her parents divorced in 1894.[2]

Career

Blake appeared on Broadway in the shows The Royal Chef (1904),[3][4] Coming Thro' the Rye (1906),[3][5] The Girl from Rector's (1909),[6] The Girl with the Whooping Cough (1910), A Certain Party (1911),[7] and Bachelors and Benedicts (1912).[8][9] In Boston in 1905, she appeared in a musical revue, Kafoozelem, singing "Baby Lonely" with a chorus of eight dancers called "the Incubator Babies", referencing a common sideshow attraction of the day.[10][11]

In 1906 Blake appeared in a revue with dancers called the Bronco Beauties; she shared the bill with Ruth St. Denis performing Radha.[12] In 1913 and 1914, she starred in a comedy by James Montgomery, Ready Money, in a touring company that played across the United States,[13] including runs in San Francisco and New York.[14][15] In 1916 she starred in Spring Cleaning in Atlantic City.[16] In 1921 Blake directed the costumes for Irene, a Broadway musical.[17] She personally brought the fabric and designs for 42 gowns from Paris for the show.[18]

Beyond the stage, Blake was active in politics,[19] and associated with the Theatrical Women's Parker Association, in support of Alton B. Parker's 1904 presidential campaign.[20][21] Also in 1904, she was reported abducted by a fan at the stage door,[22] though this was later described as a publicity stunt.[20] In 1905 a wealthy banker and mine owner from Montana, Michael Sellers Largey,[23] took a personal interest in Blake, and spent extravagantly to help her career, but she refused his repeated proposals of marriage.[24][25] In 1909, she organized the Dowry Fund Protection Association for actresses, to remove the temptation to marry wealthy men entirely for financial reasons.[26]

Personal life

Blake inherited money from an admirer in 1907.[27] She died in New York City in 1924, at the age of 37.[28][29] She left her house on Long Island and her jewels to her mother and other family members.[30]

References

1. Fry, Lena Jane (1905). "Other Worlds". Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
2. "Two Absolute Divorces". The Buffalo Enquirer. 1894-02-24. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-07-14 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Dietz, Dan (2022-07-15). The Complete Book of 1900s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 231, 338–339. ISBN 978-1-5381-6894-3.
4. "Nena Blake of 'Royal Chef' Company Candidate for World's Fair Beauty Honors". The Inter Ocean. 1904-08-01. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-07-14 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Bordman, Gerald (2001). American Musical Theater: A Chronicle. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 253. ISBN 978-0-19-513074-4.
6. "Actresses Envy Shop Girl's Simple Life". The Cincinnati Post. 1909-12-03. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-07-14 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Wallach's: A Certain Party". The Theatre Magazine. 13 (124): 183. June 1911.
8. Hines, Dixie; Hanaford, Harry Prescott (1914). Who's who in Music and Drama. H.P. Hanaford. p. 452.
9. Fisher, James; Londré, Felicia Hardison (2017-11-22). Historical Dictionary of American Theater: Modernism. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 273. ISBN 978-1-5381-0786-7.
10. "Boston Theatres: Tremont" Journal of Education 62(2)(June 29, 1905): 67.
11. Shulman, Max; Westgate, J. Chris (2019-05-15). Performing the Progressive Era: Immigration, Urban Life, and Nationalism on Stage. University of Iowa Press. p. 195. ISBN 978-1-60938-647-4.
12. Brannigan, Erin (2011-02-09). Dancefilm: Choreography and the Moving Image. Oxford University Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-19-988788-0.
13. "Nena Blake, New Representative of the Ingenue Type". The Kansas City Post. 1914-01-10. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-07-14 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Becomes Favorite Broadway Ingenue; Out of Music Comedy Into the Drama". The San Francisco Examiner. 1913-08-29. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-07-14 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Clever Actress Hits Beauty Culture Fad; Eternal Thinking of Looks Makes Women Artificial". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1913-09-26. p. 15. Retrieved 2024-07-14 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "Nena Blake is Leading Lady; Actress Last Seen Here in 'Stop Thief' Heads Brillian Cast at Apollo". Atlantic City Gazette-Review. 1916-04-04. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-07-14 – via Newspapers.com.
17. "'Irene' Achieves a New Star and a Smart New Paris Frocking". American Cloak and Suit Review. 21: 151. February 1921.
18. "'Irene' in its Second Year Offers New Fashion Program". American Cloak and Suit Review. 21: 150. February 1921.
19. "Nena Blake". Broadway Weekly. 4 (85): 19. September 28, 1904.
20. Pollock, Channing. "Confessions of a Press Agent" Munsey's Weekly 38(October 1907): 92-93.
21. "Beauty in Politics". Broadway Weekly. 4 (83): 16. September 15, 1905.
22. "Chorus Girl is Abducted by Stranger with a Cab". Chicago Tribune. 1904-08-25. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-07-14 – via Newspapers.com.
23. "Chicago Actress May Wed Millions; Nena Blake Reported Engaged to Mine Owner of Butte". Evansville Courier and Press. 1905-12-24. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-07-14 – via Newspapers.com.
24. Page, William Adino (1926). Behind the Curtains of the Broadway Beauty Trust. Edward A. Miller publishing Company. pp. 155–159.
25. "Proposed 7500 Times". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1907-05-19. p. 59. Retrieved 2024-07-14 – via Newspapers.com.
26. "No Old Maids If This Chorus Lady's Dowry Scheme Wins". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 1909-11-06. p. 12. Retrieved 2024-07-14 – via Newspapers.com.
27. "Nena Blake Heir to Large Fortune". The Topeka Daily Capital. 1907-01-27. p. 20. Retrieved 2024-07-14 – via Newspapers.com.
28. "Deaths" Equity 9(12)(November 1924): 3.
29. New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Death Index, 1862-1948, via Ancestry.
30. "Nena N. Fry Will Leaves $24,000". Times Union. 1924-10-21. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-07-14 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Nena Blake at the Internet Broadway Database
• "Florence Townsend and Nena Blake at the Boston" clipping in the American Vaudeville Museum archive