| Betty Callish | |
| Birth Date: | August 24, 1886 |
| Birth Place: | Baarn, Holland |
| Death Date: | after 1941 |
| Other Names: | Roxo Betty Weingartner, Betty Calisch, Betty Kalisch, Babette Callish |
| Occupation: | actress, singer, violinist |
| Years Active: | 1905-1920 |
| Spouse: | Felix Weingartner (married 1922, divorced by 1931) |
Betty Callish (August 24, 1886 – after 1941) was a Dutch-born actress, singer, and violinist who performed in Dutch, English, German, French and Italian. In 1941, as Roxo Betty Weingartner, she became a postulant of the Third Order Regular CSMV, a cloistered religious community at the Convent of St Thomas the Martyr in Oxford.
Babette Calisch was born in Baarn, the daughter of Salomon Oreste Calisch and Aleida Oppenheim.[1] Her parents were Jewish; her mother was a first cousin to Dutch feminist Aletta Jacobs. She knew Sarah Bernhardt from childhood,[2] and on her advice studied acting, learned to play the violin, and trained as a singer in Berlin.[3] [4]
She started acting in London, as a student at Herbert Beerbohm Tree's academy, now known as the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In England, Callish appeared Lady Ben (1905),[5] Leah Kleschna (1905),[6] The Little Stranger (1906),[7] A Waltz Dream (1911) and Orpheus in the Underground (1912).[8] She was also seen in London productions of The Laughing Husband and Sadie Love; she appeared in both these shows on Broadway, as well, in 1914 and 1915. She starred in The Great Lover (1916) in Chicago.[9] and in The King (1917-1918).[10] [11] "She is a pretty soubrette," commented American critic Burns Mantle, "who both sings and plays violin – pleasantly but neither with surpassing skill."[12]
In 1941, after a divorce and a time in treatment for alcoholism, Betty Weingartner became a postulant at the Third Order Regular CSMV, a cloistered religious community at the Convent of St Thomas the Martyr in Oxford. There, she was known as "Marica".[13]
Betty Callish married (in 1922) and divorced (by 1931) Austrian conductor Felix Weingartner; she was his fourth wife.[14] He dedicated a symphony to her during their marriage.[15] She was a confidante of Queen Marie of Romania.[16] She died after 1941.