Amy Leslie
| Amy Leslie | |
|---|---|
Leslie and Frank Buck, c. 1901
|
|
| Born |
Lillian West October 11, 1855 West Burlington, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | July 3, 1939 (aged 83) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | singer, actress, drama critic |
| Years active | 1879-1930 |
| Spouse(s) | Harry Brown (m.1881-1889; divorced) Frank Buck (m.1901-1913; divorced) |
Amy Leslie (October 11, 1855 – July 3, 1939) was an American actress, opera singer, and drama critic who was the first wife of Frank Buck.
She was born as Lillian West in West Burlington, Iowa. She studied at the Conservatory of Vocal Music, St Mary's Academy, Notre Dame, Indiana, graduating in 1874. After more study in Europe and at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, billed as "Lillie West" she became a singer in operettas.
In 1890, she began contributing to The Chicago Daily News, signing her stories as Amy Leslie, and became the drama critic for the paper. She was one of the few women drama critics of her time, the only one in Chicago, and came to know and write of the stars of the day. Amy Leslie retired in 1930.
While playing Fiametta in La Mascotte she was married to Harry Brown, an opera singer, who abandoned her. Their son, Francis Albert, died of diphtheria in 1889. After obtaining a divorce from Harry Brown, Leslie was the mistress of Stephen Crane and lived with him in New York in a house at 121 West 27th Street. In 1901, the 46-year-old Amy Leslie was married to 17-year-old Frank Buck, who was at the time a captain of bellboys at the Virginia Hotel in Chicago, where she was living. Buck described her as "a small woman, plump, with keenly intelligent eyes, the most beautifully white teeth I have ever seen and a red, laughing mouth," adding that she was "always good-natured." In 1913 Amy Leslie and Frank Buck divorced.
Suffering from diffuse arteriosclerosis and a brain tumor, Amy Leslie died in her home in Chicago's Parkway Hotel. Her remains were cremated.
...
Wikipedia