A photo collection of 20 Edwardian actresses with the most beautiful eyes. Chosen and ranked by Vintage Everyday. How about your opinions?
1. Elsie Ferguson.
Born in New York City, Elsie Louise Ferguson (1883 – 1961) raised and educated in Manhattan, she became interested in the theater at a young age and made her stage debut at seventeen as a chorus girl in a musical comedy. She quickly became known as one of the most beautiful women to ever set foot on the American stage.
2. Evelyn Nesbit.
Florence Evelyn Nesbit (December 25, 1884 – January 17, 1967), known professionally as Evelyn Nesbit, was a popular American chorus girl, an artists' model, and an actress.
In the early part of the 20th century, the figure and face of Evelyn Nesbit were everywhere, appearing in mass circulation newspaper and magazine advertisements, on souvenir items and calendars, making her a cultural celebrity. Her career began in her early teens in Philadelphia and continued in New York, where she posed for a cadre of respected artists of the era, James Carroll Beckwith, Frederick S. Church, and notably Charles Dana Gibson, who idealized her as a "Gibson Girl". She had the distinction of being an early "live model", in an era when fashion photography as an advertising medium was just beginning its ascendancy.
3. Gabrielle Ray.
Gabrielle Ray (1883 - 1973), was an English stage actress, dancer and singer, best known for her roles in Edwardian musical comedies.
Ray was considered one of the most beautiful actresses on the London stage and became one of the most photographed women in the world. In the first decade of the 20th century, she had a good career in musical theatre. After an unsuccessful marriage, however, she never recovered the fame that she had enjoyed. She spent many of her later years in mental hospitals.
Julia James (1890-1964) was an actress who was born in London and began her career at the Aldwych Theatre under Seymour Hicks, playing there Supper Belle in "Blue Bell" (1905). She appeared at the Gaity Theatre in "The Girls of Gottenburg", "Havana" and "Our Miss Gibbs.
5. Maude Fealy.
Maude Fealy (1883 – 1971) was an American stage and silent film actress whose career survived into the talkie era.
6. Maud Allan.
Maud Allan (27 August 1873 – 7 October 1956) was a Canadian pianist-turned-actress, dancer and choreographer who is remembered for her "impressionistic mood settings".
7. Lily Elsie.
Lily Elsie (born Elsie Hodder; 1886 – 1962) was a popular English actress and singer during the Edwardian era.
Beginning as a child star in the 1890s, Elsie built her reputation in several successful Edwardian musical comedies before her great success in The Merry Widow, opening in 1907. Afterwards, she starred in several more successful operettas and musicals. Admired for her beauty and charm on stage, Elsie became one of the most photographed women of Edwardian times.
8. Fannie Ward.
Fannie Ward, a.k.a. Fanny Ward (1872 – 1952) was an American actress of stage and screen.
9. Geneviève Lantelme.
Geneviève "Ginette" Lantelme (born Mathilde Hortense Claire Fossey, 1883) was a French stage actress, socialite, fashion icon, and courtesan. Considered by her contemporaries to be one of the most beautiful women of the Belle Epoque and bearing a resemblance to American actress Ethel Barrymore, she is remembered for the mysterious circumstances of her death: on the night of July 24/25, 1911, she fell from the yacht of her husband, Alfred Edwards.
10. Gladys Cooper.
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, DBE (1888 – 1971) was an English actress whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television.
Beginning on the stage as a teenager in Edwardian musical comedy and pantomime, she was starring in dramatic roles and silent films before the beginning of the First World War.
11. Maude Adams.
Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden (1872 – 1953), known professionally as Maude Adams, was an American actress who achieved her greatest success as the character Peter Pan, first playing the role in the 1905 Broadway production of Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. Adams's personality appealed to a large audience and helped her become the most successful and highest-paid performer of her day, with a yearly income of more than one million dollars during her peak.
12. Jane Renouardt.
Jane Renouardt (1890 – 1972) was a French actress of the silent cinema. Born in Paris and died in Ville-d'Avray, Hauts-de-Seine.
13. Ethel Barrymore.
Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; 1879 – 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Regarded as the "First Lady of the American Theater", Barrymore was a preeminent stage actress in her era. Barrymore's career spanned six decades.
14. Arlette Dorgère.
Arlette Dorgère (born Anna Mathilde Irma Jouve; 1880 – 1965) was a French actress, dancer and singer. She was represented on a large number of postcards of the Belle Époque and also a model for posters.
15. Lina Cavalieri.
Lina Cavalieri (1875 – 1944) was born near Rome, orphaned at 15, her voice and beauty quickly made her an opera star. Retiring from the stage in 1914, she opened a beauty salon in Paris, and became a film actor in Italy until WWI when she moved to the USA to make more films.
16. Iris Hoey.
Iris Hoey (1885 – 1979) was a British actress in the first half of the twentieth century, both on stage and in movies. She married twice, but divorced on both occasions.
17. Marie Doro.
Marie Doro (1882 – 1956) was an American stage and film actress of the early silent film era.
She was first noticed as a chorus-girl by impresario Charles Frohman, who took her to Broadway, where she also worked for William Gillette of Sherlock Holmes fame, her early career being largely moulded by these two much-older mentors. Although generally typecast in lightweight feminine roles, she was in fact notably intelligent, cultivated and witty.
18. Billie Burke.
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke (1884 – 1970) was an American actress, famous on Broadway and in early silent film. Her voice was unique in intonation, which she accentuated in her later character roles as dim-witted, spoiled society types.
19. Maud Darrell.
Maud Darrell (1880 – 1910) was a British music hall performer and actress, most notably at The Gaiety.
20. Gertie Millar.
Gertrude "Gertie" Millar (later Countess of Dudley) (1879 – 1952) was an English actress and singer of the early 20th century, known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies.
1. Elsie Ferguson.
Born in New York City, Elsie Louise Ferguson (1883 – 1961) raised and educated in Manhattan, she became interested in the theater at a young age and made her stage debut at seventeen as a chorus girl in a musical comedy. She quickly became known as one of the most beautiful women to ever set foot on the American stage.
2. Evelyn Nesbit.
Florence Evelyn Nesbit (December 25, 1884 – January 17, 1967), known professionally as Evelyn Nesbit, was a popular American chorus girl, an artists' model, and an actress.
In the early part of the 20th century, the figure and face of Evelyn Nesbit were everywhere, appearing in mass circulation newspaper and magazine advertisements, on souvenir items and calendars, making her a cultural celebrity. Her career began in her early teens in Philadelphia and continued in New York, where she posed for a cadre of respected artists of the era, James Carroll Beckwith, Frederick S. Church, and notably Charles Dana Gibson, who idealized her as a "Gibson Girl". She had the distinction of being an early "live model", in an era when fashion photography as an advertising medium was just beginning its ascendancy.
3. Gabrielle Ray.
Gabrielle Ray (1883 - 1973), was an English stage actress, dancer and singer, best known for her roles in Edwardian musical comedies.
Ray was considered one of the most beautiful actresses on the London stage and became one of the most photographed women in the world. In the first decade of the 20th century, she had a good career in musical theatre. After an unsuccessful marriage, however, she never recovered the fame that she had enjoyed. She spent many of her later years in mental hospitals.
4. Julia James.
Julia James (1890-1964) was an actress who was born in London and began her career at the Aldwych Theatre under Seymour Hicks, playing there Supper Belle in "Blue Bell" (1905). She appeared at the Gaity Theatre in "The Girls of Gottenburg", "Havana" and "Our Miss Gibbs.
5. Maude Fealy.
Maude Fealy (1883 – 1971) was an American stage and silent film actress whose career survived into the talkie era.
6. Maud Allan.
Maud Allan (27 August 1873 – 7 October 1956) was a Canadian pianist-turned-actress, dancer and choreographer who is remembered for her "impressionistic mood settings".
7. Lily Elsie.
Lily Elsie (born Elsie Hodder; 1886 – 1962) was a popular English actress and singer during the Edwardian era.
Beginning as a child star in the 1890s, Elsie built her reputation in several successful Edwardian musical comedies before her great success in The Merry Widow, opening in 1907. Afterwards, she starred in several more successful operettas and musicals. Admired for her beauty and charm on stage, Elsie became one of the most photographed women of Edwardian times.
8. Fannie Ward.
Fannie Ward, a.k.a. Fanny Ward (1872 – 1952) was an American actress of stage and screen.
9. Geneviève Lantelme.
Geneviève "Ginette" Lantelme (born Mathilde Hortense Claire Fossey, 1883) was a French stage actress, socialite, fashion icon, and courtesan. Considered by her contemporaries to be one of the most beautiful women of the Belle Epoque and bearing a resemblance to American actress Ethel Barrymore, she is remembered for the mysterious circumstances of her death: on the night of July 24/25, 1911, she fell from the yacht of her husband, Alfred Edwards.
10. Gladys Cooper.
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, DBE (1888 – 1971) was an English actress whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television.
Beginning on the stage as a teenager in Edwardian musical comedy and pantomime, she was starring in dramatic roles and silent films before the beginning of the First World War.
11. Maude Adams.
Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden (1872 – 1953), known professionally as Maude Adams, was an American actress who achieved her greatest success as the character Peter Pan, first playing the role in the 1905 Broadway production of Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. Adams's personality appealed to a large audience and helped her become the most successful and highest-paid performer of her day, with a yearly income of more than one million dollars during her peak.
12. Jane Renouardt.
Jane Renouardt (1890 – 1972) was a French actress of the silent cinema. Born in Paris and died in Ville-d'Avray, Hauts-de-Seine.
13. Ethel Barrymore.
Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; 1879 – 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Regarded as the "First Lady of the American Theater", Barrymore was a preeminent stage actress in her era. Barrymore's career spanned six decades.
14. Arlette Dorgère.
Arlette Dorgère (born Anna Mathilde Irma Jouve; 1880 – 1965) was a French actress, dancer and singer. She was represented on a large number of postcards of the Belle Époque and also a model for posters.
15. Lina Cavalieri.
Lina Cavalieri (1875 – 1944) was born near Rome, orphaned at 15, her voice and beauty quickly made her an opera star. Retiring from the stage in 1914, she opened a beauty salon in Paris, and became a film actor in Italy until WWI when she moved to the USA to make more films.
16. Iris Hoey.
Iris Hoey (1885 – 1979) was a British actress in the first half of the twentieth century, both on stage and in movies. She married twice, but divorced on both occasions.
17. Marie Doro.
Marie Doro (1882 – 1956) was an American stage and film actress of the early silent film era.
She was first noticed as a chorus-girl by impresario Charles Frohman, who took her to Broadway, where she also worked for William Gillette of Sherlock Holmes fame, her early career being largely moulded by these two much-older mentors. Although generally typecast in lightweight feminine roles, she was in fact notably intelligent, cultivated and witty.
18. Billie Burke.
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke (1884 – 1970) was an American actress, famous on Broadway and in early silent film. Her voice was unique in intonation, which she accentuated in her later character roles as dim-witted, spoiled society types.
19. Maud Darrell.
Maud Darrell (1880 – 1910) was a British music hall performer and actress, most notably at The Gaiety.
20. Gertie Millar.
Gertrude "Gertie" Millar (later Countess of Dudley) (1879 – 1952) was an English actress and singer of the early 20th century, known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies.
