Isabelle Urquhart

Isabelle Urquhart (December 9, 1865 – February 7, 1907), also known as Belle Urquhart, was an American contralto and actress, noted for her performances in comic opera and musical comedy.

Born in New York City, Urquhart ran away from convent school to become a chorus girl. By 1881, she was performing chorus roles with the Richard D'Oyly Carte and E. E. Rice opera companies in America. She moved up to small roles with Augustin Daly's company from 1882 to 1883 and joined the H. M. Pitts comedy company for three London theatrical seasons, starting in 1883, while performing in New York City between those seasons. By this time, she was playing principal roles in Victorian burlesque. In 1886, Urquhart played leading roles in Shakespeare and other dramas at the Globe Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, but she reluctantly returned to comic opera in New York, where she played smaller roles that paid better.

Her first major role was Cerise in the hit musical Erminie, which ran from 1886 to 1888 at the Casino Theatre. She was noted for her impressive figure, and her fashion choices were admired by men and imitated by women. She then played leading roles in other comic operas in New York City, where she had become "one of the reigning queens of comic opera". She appeared in vaudeville in the late 1890s. By 1900, Urquhart ran her own touring company and later took further roles in New York. By this decade, she was starring as older characters, earning strong notices. In 1906, she appeared in Broadway revivals of George Bernard Shaw's comedies Arms and the Man and How He Lied to Her Husband. The latter was her final role.

Urquhart was a popular model for cabinet cards that were distributed as a promotional incentive with cigarettes and other tobacco products. She was married to English actor Guy Standing from 1893 to 1899. She died of peritonitis in 1907 at the age of 41.

Early life Urquhart was born in New York City on December 9, 1865, and was of Scottish ancestry. Her father died when she was five years old. When she was fifteen years old, Urquhart ran away from the convent school to seek a stage career, but her mother found her after two weeks and sent her back to the school.

Career

Early career

Urquhart's first theatrical job was as a chorus girl at the Standard Theatre in New York City for $10 a week ($ in today's money). She soon had a small role in a serio-comedic opera by Charles Brown called Elves and Mermaids. She was in the chorus of another D'Oyly Carte production, the comic opera Claude Duval, the following theatrical season.

Augustin Daly's company engaged Urquhart to play utility parts from 1882 to 1883. In this capacity, she performed as Edinge in Giroutte, Mary Ann in The Passing Regiment, and in a production of Needles and Pins. In September 1884, as a member of the Bijoux Theatre opera company, she played Venus in a burlesque, Orpheus and Eurydice, at Stetson's Fifth Avenue Theatre on Broadway. She performed the role of Mars in another burlesque, Ixion in February 1885 at The New York Comedy Theatre. During the 1885 to 1886 theater season in New York City, Urquhart was also in two comedies by George Bernard Shaw: Arms and the Man and How He Lied to Her Husband.

In 1886, Urquhart acted in dramas with Lawrence Barrett at the Globe Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, appearing as Portia in Julius Caesar, Nicol in The King's Pleasure, and Donna Isabella in The Wonder.

Urquhart joined the Casino Theatre on Broadway, soon rising from the chorus to small parts in comic operas. As a leading lady in Erminie, she started a fashion trend by forgoing her petticoats "to accentuate her gorgeous figure".

Also at the Casino Theatre, Urquhart performed the role of Pompanoa in The Marquis in September 1887, and Princess Etelka in Nadja in May 1888. She also played Dame Carruthers in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard in October 1888 and was the Princess of Granada in the operetta The Brigands, W. S. Gilbert's translation of Offenbach's Les brigands, in May 1899. In an 1889 revival of Nadja, Urquhart understudied Lillian Russell, filling in for the star as Princess Nadja on April 25 and 26. In February 1890, she performed as Iza in The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein, with Russell in the title role. While with the Casino company, Urquhart also played Papanea in Madelen.

In 1893, Urquhart married English actor Guy Standing and announced her retirement from the stage in February. In October 1893, the couple sued Fuller for $1,000 for non-fulfillment of their contracts. The same year, she performed in a show written for her, In Durance Vile, at B. F. Keith's vaudeville theater in Boston. Although she had aged since her time with Casino Theatre company, one critic commented, "She has gained greatly in the quality of her acting, and her performance of the part in the little sketch in which she is making her continuous performance debut is entirely satisfactory to patrons of that form of amusement." The Providence theater manager wrote in his report, "She never was very strong here, and this engagement is no exception. It is a nice clean act, and it is all right to play it about as often as we do. This is the first time we have had her in more than three years. She falls considerably short of being a headline feature." She then returned to Broadway, performing as Mrs. Challoner in Martha Morton's comedy The Diplomat at the Madison Square Theatre in April 1902.

In 1906, she played the role of Mrs. Clandon in a production of George Bernard Shaw's You Never Can Tell in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One critic wrote, "Urquhart played the advanced mother with grace and power." The latter was her final role.

Trade cards Urquhart was a frequent model for cabinet cards that were distributed as a premium or gift with tobacco purchases. She was featured on cabinet cards issued by Newsboy cigars and Falk Tobacco Company. Around 1888, she posed for trade cards issued by Allen & Ginter for its Dixie, Opera Puff Cigarettes, Our Little Beauties, and Virginia Brights. In 1889, she was included in the actresses trade card series issued by William S. Kimball & Co. to market its cigarettes.

Also in the 1880s, Urquhart posed for a trade card for W. Duke, Sons & Company which marketed its Cameo Cigarettes. Duke also included Urquhart in its promotional booklet, Costumes of All Nations. Within two years, Duke was the largest cigarette manufacturer in the United States. In 1890, Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company issued an Urquhart trade card to promote Sweet Caporal cigarettes. Around the same time, Kinney Brothers issued a colorized trade card featuring Urquhart to promote its Sporting Extra cigarettes.

Personal life In 1890, Urquhart lived with her mother and aunt in a New York City apartment that overlooked the Metropolitan Opera House.

She married English actor Guy Standing in London on January 30, 1893. They divorced six years later. In 1906, she lived in New Rochelle, New York.

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