Mamie Gilroy Explained

Mamie Gilroy
Birth Date:c. 1871 (some sources give 1878)
Birth Place:New York
Death Date:August 8, 1904
Death Place:New York
Nationality:American
Occupation:actress and singer

Mamie Gilroy (– August 8, 1904) was an American actress and singer in musical theatre.

Early life

Gilroy was born in New York, the niece of Thomas F. Gilroy,[1] who was mayor of New York in 1893 and 1894. In some sources she is confused with her cousin, the mayor's daughter Mary Agnes Gilroy Mulqueen (1865–1938).[2]

Career

Gilroy began her career as a small child in stock companies, including those associated with Charles H. Hoyt and Charles Frohman.[3] She had roles in Only a Farmer's Daughter (1885), The Fakir (1890),[4] Romany Rye (1891),[5] Tuxedo (1891–1892),[6] Babes in the Woods (1893),[7] A Milk White Flag (1894),[8] Davy Jones (1894), The China Dog (1895),[9] Little Miss Busybody (1895),[10] The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown (1896),[11] The Merry-Go-Round (1896),[12] Miss Manhattan (1897), Trilby (1898),[13] Mam'selle 'Awkins (1900), Star and Garter (1900),[14] El Capitan (1901), The Giddy Throng (1901),[15] The Girl from Paris (1898, 1902),[16] Lady Bountiful (1902),[17] and George W. Lederer's Mid-Summer Night Fancies (1903). She sang "Everybody Wants to Kiss the Baby" in the musical farce After Office Hours (1901).[18] [19]

The Boston Globe called Gilroy "one of the brightest, most vivacious, and altogether most charming soubrettes on the American stage." Gilroy proposed founding a church especially for theatre professionals in 1898.[20] In 1901, her face, name, and words were used in print advertisements for Dr. Greene's Nervura, a "blood and nerve remedy" marketed to women.[21] In 1902 Gilroy became an honorary member of the Theatrical Mechanics' Association.

Personal life

In 1888 Gilroy was hit by a horse-drawn ambulance on the street in New York; she was described as being 17 years old at the time.[22] In 1894, she was "thrown from an electric" trolley in Boston.[23] In 1898, she announced her engagement to Francis W. McNamara, a public health doctor in Chicago.[24] McNamara, who was already married, said the announcement was a joke.[25] Gilroy died from heart disease in 1904, aged about 33 years (though obituaries gave her age as 26 years), at her home at 130 East 115th Street in New York City.[26]

The "Mamie Gilroy" cocktail

The "Mamie Gilroy" cocktail was named for the actress; it consists of whiskey, ginger ale and lime.[27] [28]

Notes and References

  1. News: Vivacious Mamie Gilroy. July 1, 1894. The Boston Globe. May 14, 2019. 18. Newspapers.com.
  2. News: Mamie Gilroy dead. August 9, 1904. The Boston Globe. May 13, 2019. 2. Newspapers.com.
  3. News: Mamie Gilroy. June 14, 1896. Boston Post. May 14, 2019. 11. Newspapers.com.
  4. News: The Fakir. October 10, 1890. Wisconsin State Journal. May 14, 2019. 4. Newspapers.com.
  5. News: 'Romany Rye' at Cordray's. Jun 14, 1891. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. May 14, 2019. 13. Newspapers.com.
  6. News: Tuxedo's Soubrette. September 7, 1892. Boston Post. May 14, 2019. 5. Newspapers.com.
  7. News: The Theatres. February 19, 1893. The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 14, 2019. 11. Newspapers.com.
  8. News: Among the Players. November 9, 1894. Boston Post. May 14, 2019. 4. Newspapers.com.
  9. News: Footlight Flashes. September 8, 1895. The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 14, 2019. 4. Newspapers.com.
  10. News: Girard Avenue: Little Miss Busybody. December 22, 1895. The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 14, 2019. 18. Newspapers.com.
  11. News: How Mamie Gilroy Was Taken In. October 18, 1896. Boston Post. May 14, 2019. 11. Newspapers.com.
  12. News: The Merry-Go-Round. May 31, 1896. The Boston Globe. May 14, 2019. 18. Newspapers.com.
  13. News: Trilby at the Bowdoin. November 15, 1898. Boston Daily Globe. May 14, 2019. 2. Newspapers.com.
  14. Web site: Star and garter.. Library of Congress. May 14, 2019.
  15. February 11, 1901. The New York. The Cast. 3. 294.
  16. News: Stage Matters. April 17, 1902. Boston Post. May 14, 2019. 7. Newspapers.com.
  17. Web site: "Lady Bountiful" Sheet Music. National Museum of American History. May 14, 2019.
  18. March 18, 1901. The New York. The Cast. 3. 514.
  19. February 25, 1901. New York Theatre. The Cast. 3. 360.
  20. News: Mamie Gilroy's Novel Plans for a Church for Actors. February 6, 1898. The San Francisco Examiner. May 14, 2019. 6. Newspapers.com.
  21. News: Miss Mamie Gilroy's Narrow Escape (advertisement). May 12, 1901. The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 14, 2019. 30. Newspapers.com.
  22. News: Run Over by an Ambulance. February 16, 1888. The New York Times. 2. ProQuest.
  23. News: Mamie Gilroy Thrown from an Electric. August 23, 1894. Boston Post. May 14, 2019. 6. Newspapers.com.
  24. News: Mamie Gilroy's Next Role. February 2, 1898. The San Francisco Examiner. May 14, 2019. 4. Newspapers.com.
  25. News: Dr. M'Namara Calls it a Joke. February 3, 1898. Chicago Tribune. May 14, 2019. 2. Newspapers.com.
  26. News: Mamie Gilroy Dead. August 9, 1904. The New York Times. 7. ProQuest.
  27. Web site: Mamie Gilroy Broadway Photographs. www.broadway.cas.sc.edu. May 14, 2019.
  28. Web site: Mamie Gilroy. Mixologist. Chief. Epicurus.com Beverages. May 14, 2019.

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