Rose Eytinge

Rose Eytinge (November 21, 1835 – December 20, 1911) was a Jewish American actress and author. She is thought to be the first American actress to earn a three figure salary.

Biography

Eytinge was born November 21, 1835 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She began on the amateur stage at 17 and soon was invited to join a professional touring company. but was divorced in 1862. Her niece, Pearl Eytinge, was also an actress.

In 1869, she married Colonel George H. Butler, U. S. Consul General to Egypt. They lived abroad for two years and Eytinge took a break from performing. They had two children: a daughter, Florence (b. 1875) married Dr. Walsh, and a son, Benjamin Franklin Butler (1871-1904),

Eytinge returned to New York to resume her career with the Union Square Theatre Company. It was at this time that she played one of her most famous roles, Shakespeare's "Cleopatra" for which she drew on her Egyptian experiences. Her personal memoirs were published in 1905.

Eytinge died of a stroke on December 20, 1911, at the Brunswick Home of Amityville, New York, where she was supported by the Actors Fund of America. Her body was sent to Washington for burial.

Selected performances The Fool's Revenge as Fiordelisa (1864) Griffith Gaunt as Katherine Peyton (1866) Under the Gaslight as Laura Courtlandt (1867) Led Astray as Armande (1873) The Two Orphans as Marianne (1874) Rose Michel (in title role) (1875)

Written works