Una Fleming

Una Fleming
A young white woman with a dimpled chin
Una Fleming, from a 1919 publication
Born
Marian Una Strain

1899
California
DiedOctober 26, 1966 (age 67)
Ridgewood, New Jersey
Other namesUna F. Adams, Una F. Wood, Una F. Glassell
Occupation(s)Dancer, actress
SpouseFreeman Wood

Marian Una Strain Fleming Adams (1899 – October 26, 1966), known on stage as Una Fleming, was an American dancer and actress on Broadway.[1]

Early life and education

Una Strain was raised in Los Angeles,[2][3] by her mother Carrie B. Malcolm Strain Fleming, and her stepfather, A. F. Fleming.[4] Her Irish-born father John Strain died in 1904. She attended the Egan School of Music and Drama in Los Angeles, and studied dance with Matildita Fernandez.[5] She danced at public events from her early teens,[6] and was crowned the Queen of May at May Day festivities in Los Angeles in 1914.[7][8] In 1915, she joined a vaudeville dancing act.[9] In 1916, she was premiere danseuse in the ballet of the California Grand Opera Company.[10]

Career

Fleming appeared in the silent film The Talk of the Town (1918).[11][12] On Broadway, she was a dancer in The Velvet Lady (1919),[13] The Sweetheart Shop (1920) and Her Family Tree (1921).[14][15] She also danced in vaudeville programs in New York.[16]

Theatre critic Burns Mantle described Fleming as dancing "with such unusual grace", and considered her part of a trend for "'plain American girl' dancers" who were cast in specialty roles once only assigned to foreign dancers.[13] McClure's Magazine also placed her among other young women dancers in a photo feature in 1919, with the comment that "she seems to be fashioned mostly out of chiffon and grace".[17]

Fleming married in 1920. She was still dancing on stage in 1925, with the George M. Cohan show Little Nellie Kelly in Oakland,[18] and in 1926, when she appeared with Gloria Foy and Lou Holtz in Patsy in San Francisco and Los Angeles.[19][20]

Personal life

Fleming was married four times, to three different husbands. Her first husband was businessman Carleton Adams in 1920;[21] they had a daughter, Barbara. They divorced in 1927, then remarried in 1928, then divorced again in 1935.[22] She married again, to actor Freeman Wood, by 1940. She married a third time, to Gardner T. Glassell, in 1949. Gardner Glassell died in 1958,[23] and she died in 1966, in Ridgewood, New Jersey, at the age of 67.[24]

References

  1. ^ Suriano, Gregory (2021-05-10). Gershwin in Pittsburgh. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-7247-1.
  2. ^ "Una Fleming". Theatre Magazine. 32: 353. December 1920.
  3. ^ "Bids Farewell to L.A. Society, Takes up Stage Dancing". Los Angeles Herald. September 19, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved April 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Obituary for Carrie B. Fleming". The Long Beach Sun. 1936-09-05. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  5. ^ "Catholic Women to Present Two Plays". Los Angeles Herald. November 8, 1913. p. 4. Retrieved April 23, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  6. ^ "To Dance at L.A.A.C. Fellowship Dinner". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1913-07-29. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Fiesta of Flowers, with Public Maypole Dance, to be Monster Pageant Given by Children". The Los Angeles Times. 1914-04-26. p. 85. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Fairylike Ruler's Subjects Happy". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1914-05-02. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "9 Society Girls Turn Professional Dancers". Los Angeles Herald. September 10, 1915. Retrieved April 23, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  10. ^ "Youth, Grace Feature Grand Opera Ballet". Los Angeles Herald. May 18, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  11. ^ Stumpf, Charles (2010-04-13). ZaSu Pitts: The Life and Career. McFarland. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-7864-6023-6.
  12. ^ "Local Girl Stars". Los Angeles Herald. December 3, 1918. p. 37. Retrieved April 23, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  13. ^ a b Mantle, Burns (May 1919). "What's What on Broadway". The Green Book Magazine. 21 (5): 54–59.
  14. ^ "Una Fleming in The sweetheart shop". NYPL Digital Collections. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  15. ^ Dietz, Dan (2019-04-10). The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 25, 48. ISBN 978-1-5381-1282-3.
  16. ^ "Henderson's Music Hall". Brooklyn Life. 1919-08-02. p. 14. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "They Just Can't Make Their Toes Behave!". McClure's Magazine. 51: 16. April 1919.
  18. ^ "Cohan Troupe Will Entertain War Disabled". Oakland Tribune. 1925-11-26. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Musical Comedy 'Patsy' Comes to Curran Monday". The San Francisco Examiner. 1926-05-13. p. 17. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "'Patsy Night' at Roof". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 1926-03-29. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Kingsley, Grace (1920-12-31). "Una Fleming Weds; Popular Dancer Marries Former Naval Officer". The Los Angeles Times. p. 26. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Una Fleming, Ex-Actress, Sues to Divorce C. E. Adams". Chicago Tribune. 1935-08-07. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Glassell, Gardner T." The Los Angeles Times. 1958-12-28. p. 40. Retrieved 2023-04-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Obituary for Una F. Glassell". The Record. 1966-10-27. p. 36. Retrieved 2023-04-23 – via Newspapers.com.