Mabel Withee

Mabel Withee
Mabel Withee, from a 1919 publication
Mabel Withee, from a 1919 publication
Bornc. 1897
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
DiedNovember 3, 1952 (aged 54-55)
Bayside, Queens, New York City, U.S.
OccupationActress
Spouses
Herman Leon Sarshik
​
​
(m. 1926; ann. 1928)​
Larry Puck
​
(m. 1928)​
Children1

Mabel Withee (c. 1897 – November 3, 1952) was an American actress on stage and in silent film.

Early life

Withee was born in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Leonard Withee.[1]

Career

Lester Allen, Mabel Withee, and George White, in an embrace, from Scandals of 1919.
Lester Allen, Mabel Withee, and George White, from Scandals of 1919.

Withee's Broadway appearances were mainly in musical comedies and revues, including roles in Sinbad (1918-1919, with Al Jolson and Kitty Doner),[2] George White's Scandals (1919), Just a Minute (1919), The Rose Girl (1921, the first show at the Ambassador Theatre),[3] Sonny (1921), The Rose of Stanboul (1922),[4] The World We Live In (1922-1923), Lady Butterfly (1923), Dew Drop Inn (1923), Artists and Models (1924-1925), The Cocoanuts (1925-1926, with the Marx Brothers).[5][6] She also starred in Mary Ann (1927) on vaudeville.[7][8]

She acted in one silent film, Once to Every Man (1918).[9]

Theatre critic George Jean Nathan considered Withee to have "the most beautiful legs in the world".[10] She retired from show business in 1928, when she married her second husband.[11]

Personal life

Withee was "wooed" by Egyptian prince Mohammed Ali Ibrahim in 1922, but rejected his proposal of marriage.[12] She married real estate broker Herman Leon Sarshik in 1926.[1] She asked for the marriage to be annulled on the basis of fraud in 1928.[13] She married again, to producer Larry Puck, later that year, and through him was the sister-in-law of actress Eva Puck. She had one son, Emmett Puck. She died in 1952, in her mid-fifties, in Bayside, Queens.[11][14]

References

  1. ^ a b "Mabel Withee to Marry". The New York Times. February 8, 1926. p. 23 – via ProQuest.
  2. ^ "Sinbad". Dramatic Mirror of Motion Pictures and the Stage. 78: 5. March 2, 1918.
  3. ^ Naden, Corinne J. (2011-02-01). The Golden Age of American Musical Theatre: 1943-1965. Scarecrow Press. p. 188. ISBN 9780810877344.
  4. ^ "The Rose of Stamboul". Theatre Magazine. 35: 308. May 1922.
  5. ^ Dietz, Dan (2019-04-10). The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 101–104, 50–52, 160–162, 293–296. ISBN 9781538112823.
  6. ^ Green, Stanley (2011). Broadway Musicals: Show by Show. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9781557837844.
  7. ^ "Mabel Withee Will Headline at Palace". The Akron Beacon Journal. July 9, 1927. p. 3. Retrieved May 17, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Sings Comic Songs on Vaudeville Bill". The Evening Sun. July 10, 1928. p. 22. Retrieved May 17, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Youth" Theatre Magazine (November 1918): 317.
  10. ^ "Discriminating Mr. Nathan Says that Mabel's Legs are Prettiest". The Des Moines Register. February 14, 1926. p. 52. Retrieved May 17, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b "Miss Withee, Played in Musical Comedies". The New York Times. November 4, 1952. p. 29 – via ProQuest.
  12. ^ "How it Feels to be Wooed by a Real Sheik". The Des Moines Register. June 18, 1922. p. 49. Retrieved May 17, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Actress Seeks Annulment". The New York Times. February 22, 1928. p. 14 – via ProQuest.
  14. ^ "Mrs. Mabel Puck, Ex-Broadway Star". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 4, 1952. p. 7. Retrieved May 17, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
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