| Amelia Summerville | |
| Birth Name: | Amelia M. Shaw |
| Birth Date: | 15 October 1862 |
| Birth Place: | County Kildare, Ireland |
| Death Date: | 21 January 1934 (aged 71) |
| Death Place: | New York City, U.S. |
| Years Active: | 1867–1925 |
Amelia Summerville (born Amelia Shaw, 15 October 1862 – 21 January 1934) was an Irish-born American stage and silent film actress.
Summerville was born in County Kildare, Ireland[1] and migrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada as a child. She first appeared on stage at the age of 7 in an operetta in Toronto.
In 1884, Summerville appeared in her first leading role in the musical Adonis. She originated the role of Rosetta, the Mountain Maid.[2] [3]
Summerville appeared in fourteen Broadway plays from 1885 to 1925. She also performed in silent films during the 1910s and 1920s.
Summerville took an interest in dieting and claimed to have lost 100lb in three months, from 249lb to 149lb.[4] She authored Why be Fat?: Rules for Weight-reduction and the Preservation of Youth and Health (1916).[5] She was a fan of corned beef hash and stale bread.[6]
In 1920 she was named chairman of the New York Women's State Democratic Committee.
She fell on ice on January 3, 1934, and died on January 21 of her injuries.