Beverley Sitgreaves

Beverley Sitgreaves (1863–1943) was an American stage actress, journalist and philanthropist whose theatre career spanned some 50 years.

Susan Beverly Sitgreaves was born on April 17, 1863, at Charleston, South Carolina, the eldest of six children raised by Julius A. and Eliza B. Sitgreaves. Her father, a native of South Carolina, worked as a copyist, and had married her mother, a Virginian, in 1862. Julius A. Sitgreaves was one of two men, the other, South Carolinian newspaper editor Edmund Ruffin, credited with firing the first shot in the American Civil War at the onset of the battle for Fort Sumter. At the time of his death in 1912, Julius Sitgreaves was an editorial writer for the publication American Art News in New York City. Beverly Sitgreaves received her early education at Mount de Chantal Academy near Wheeling, West Virginia, not far from where she and her family had settled after the war.

Mansfield's Beau Brummel was staged at the Madison Square Theatre in May 1890, a play in four acts subdivided into six scenes. The plot held little intrigue for audiences which crowded the venue dressed fashionably. Sitgreaves was complimented by a critic for her presentation of a woman who dresses stylishly.

In March 1900 she was in A Broken Halo, a play produced by the Globe Theatre in London, England. Earlier she acted in the company of Sarah Bernhardt in Paris, France. The performed at the Renaissance Theatre in July 1897.

Sitgreaves was to have been the leading lady in The First Visit, an English version of Une Visite de Noces, by Alexandre Dumas, fils. However the English Censor of Plays prevented the Garrick Theatre from producing the play in June 1901.

The Heir to the Hoorah was presented for the 100th consecutive time in July 1905, with Sitgreaves acting the part of Kate Brandon. The Hudson Theatre on Broadway, 141 West 44th Street, staged the play. In September 1905 the Princess Theatre was managed by Lee Shubert, Samuel S. Shubert, and Jacob J. Shubert. Located on 39th Street near 6th Avenue, the theatre staged Zira by Hartley Manners and Henry Miller, the stage manager. Margaret Anglin acted the leading part with Sitgreaves among the supporting cast.

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