Agnes Ethel (May 1, 1845 – May 26, 1903)Agnes Ethel Tracy - US Passport Application - July 6, 1888 was a Broadway actress of the late 19th century. She performed in New York City, the city of her birth, from 1868 to 1871. Her married name was Agnes Ethel Tracy.Obituary 1—No Title, The New York Times, May 27, 1903, pg. 9. She was especially talented in acting emotional roles."Mrs. Agnes Ethel Tracy Dying", Connellsville, Pennsylvania Daily Courier, May 26, 1903, pg. 2.
Theatrical career She was a protégé of Mathilde Heron (1830–1877) and made her stage debut in Camille (1868),Mathilde Heron , The Vault at Pfaff's, Retrieved 1-11-08. at Jerome's private theatre in New York.Agnes Ethel , Picture History, Retrieved 1-11-08. It was situated on the southeast corner of Twenty-Sixth Street.Brown, Thomas Allston, A History of the New York Stage from the First Performance in 1732, Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1903, pg. 596. She studied for a year afterward, accepting minor parts.
Ethel and Fanny Davenport were among the actors in a production of a comedy, Dreams,"Classified Ad 9—No Title", The New York Times, September 15, 1869, pg. 7. by T. W. Robertson. It began playing at the Fifth Avenue Theatre on August 16, 1869."Amusement", The New York Times, August 7, 1869, pg. 4. She was in the first production of Frou Frou in the United States. The Augustin Daly stock company staged it at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, 24th Street, one door from Broadway,"Amusements", June 8, 1870, pg. 7. on February 15, 1870. Kate Newton, Davenport, and George Clarke were other cast members."'Frou Frou' To Be Revived", The New York Times, May 3, 1902, pg. 9. Ethel appeared in Fernande, also at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, in June 1870."Amusements This Evening", The New York Times, June 11, 1870, pg. 4. A critic wrote that her acting was her best thus far."Music And The Drama", The New York Times, June 12, 1870, pg. 4.
In September 1872, she appeared in Agnes, presented by the Union Square Theatre. The play was written especially for her by Victorien Sardou. It ran for one hundred nights.Brown, Thomas Allston, A History of the New York Stage from the First Performance in 1732, Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1903, pg. 147.
She retired at the height of her career for quiet domesticity. She took part in charities and assisted struggling actors and actresses. She performed only twice more on stage, appearing on both occasions in support of charity.
Marriages Ethel married Francis W. Tracy, a millionaire from Buffalo, New York in October 1873."Personals", Newport Daily News, October 27, 1873, pg. 2. Tracy died in 1886. His will was contested by his first wife for her daughter. The entire fortune was awarded to Ethel after it was contested in court. In October 1890, she married Clinton DeWitt Roudebush; they divorced in 1901.
Death Ethel died in 1903 at 80 Irving Place in New York City. She is buried in Buffalo. The cause of death was heart disease which began a year earlier. She was engaged to marry theatrical manager Francis Mahler when she died. The wedding had been postponed because of Ethel's protracted sickness."Agnes Ethel Tracy Dead", The New York Times, May 27, 1903, pg. 16.
References
External links Agnes Ethel New York Public Library Digital Gallery photos