Bates, Blanche (1873–1941)
Bates, Blanche (1873–1941)
American actress. Name variations: The Girl of the Golden West; Blanche Lyon Bates. Born Aug 25, 1873, in Portland, Oregon; died Dec 25, 1941, in San Francisco, California; m. Milton F. Davis; m. George Creel (police commissioner, Denver, Colorado), Nov 28, 1912.
Made stage debut in San Francisco in The Picture (1894) and NY debut as Bianca in Augustin Daly's production of The Taming of the Shrew (1897); had great success as Miladi in The Musketeers (1899); began work with David Belasco in Naughty Anthony (1900); achieved national fame as Cho-Cho-San, the original Madame Butterfly, and was critically acclaimed as Yo-San in The Darling of the Gods and Minnie Smith in The Girl of the Golden West (1905); other NY appearances include Under Two Flags, Nobody's Widow, Diplomacy, Getting Together, and the title roles in Medea and The Famous Mrs. Fair, among others; after ending her relationship with Belasco (1912), had continued success in a variety of works, including Witness for the Defense (1913), Molière (1919) and Mrs. Partridge Presents (1925); following retirement (1926), performed in 2 supporting roles (1933).