Blanche Whiffen

Blanche Whiffen, better known as Mrs. Thomas Whiffen, (1845–1936) was an American actress born in London. Her maiden name was Galton. She was educated in France; made her stage début at the Royalty Theatre, London, in 1865; came to America in 1868; and toured the United States under John Templeton's management. In 1879 she played Buttercup in the first American production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Pinafore. She joined Daniel Frohman's stock company at his old Lyceum Theatre, where she appeared in more than 25 plays between 1887 and 1899 including The Wife (1887), The Charity Ball (1889), and Trelawny of the 'Wells' (1898).[1][2] Later she was part of Charles Frohman's company at the Empire. She became Broadway's resident old lady character player after the death of Mrs. G. H. Gilbert in 1904. Mrs Whiffen in later years appeared in Zira (1905); The Great Divide (1905–07); The Builder of Bridges (1909); The Brass Bottle (1910); Electricity (1910); Cousin Kate (1912); Tante (1913); A Scrap of Paper (1914); Rosemary (1915). She was still active at 70 and a great favorite.

Blanche Whiffen
Old Heads and Young Hearts ca. 1891
Born
Blanche Galton

1845
London, England
Died1936
OccupationStage actress
Spouse(s)Thomas Whiffen

Footnotes
  1. Chapman and Sherwood, The Best Plays of 1894-1899, p. 70.
  2. Brown, A History of the New York Stage, pp. 424-440.

Bibliography
  • Brown, Thomas Allston, A History of the New York Stage from the First Performance in 1732 to 1901, vol. III, New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903.
  • Chapman, John and Garrison P. Sherwood, ed., The Best Plays of 1894-1899, New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1955.
  • Mrs. Whiffen
  • Blanche Galton, 1868 (AlexanderStreet; North American Theatre Online)
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • Works by Blanche Whiffen at Open Library
  • Biography at IMDb


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