Blanche Dayne

Blanche M. Dayne (December 25, 1871 – June 27, 1944) was an American actress in vaudeville, often in a duo team with her husband, Will M. Cressy.

Blanche Dayne
A white woman, standing, leaning against a chair; her hair is in a bouffant updo, and she is wearing a light-colored dress with a prominent lace overlay.
Blanche Dayne, from a 1910 publicity photo.
BornDecember 25, 1871
Troy, New York
DiedJune 27, 1944
Hackensack, New Jersey
Other namesBlanche Dayne Cressy
OccupationActress

Early life

Dayne was born in Troy, New York on Christmas Day in 1871; she was on the stage from an early age.[1]

Career

She appeared in one Broadway show, A Village Lawyer (1908), and in one silent film, Fifty Dollars a Kiss (1915). Other stage credits were roles in vaudeville comedy sketches, including The Old Homestead, Grasping an Opportunity,[2] The Key of C, Bill Biffin's Baby, The New Depot, Town Hall To-night, and The Wyoming Whoop.[3][4] In 1898, she appeared with A. F. Fanshawe in the sketches A False Life, The Country Postmaster, An American Beauty, and Asa Jenkins.[5][6][7][8]

She and her husband were Cressy & Dayne, a popular vaudeville comedy act from the 1890s into the 1920s.[9][10] They were described as "among the highest-salaried players in vaudeville to-day" in a 1909 account.[11] The couple published Summer Days with Will Cressy and Blanche Dayne, a photo book of their summer travels, including their home in New Hampshire, their automobile tour through California, and photographs they took on a world driving tour in 1910.[12] They entertained troops in France during World War I,[13] with the Overseas Theater League, and were the first entertainers to enter Verdun after the Armistice.[14] Will Cressy's health was permanently damaged by exposure to chemical gas during their time in France.[15]

In 1921, Blanche Dayne Cressy was made "an honorary Rotarian" by the Rotary Club of Providence, Rhode Island (women were not admitted to Rotary membership at the time).[16]

Personal life

Dayne married Will M. Cressy, a writer and fellow vaudevillian, in 1890. He died in 1930. She died in 1944, at her sister's home in Hackensack, New Jersey, aged 72 years.[15]

References
  1. Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2007). Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America. Psychology Press. pp. 279–280. ISBN 978-0-415-93853-2.
  2. "The Orpheum show : grasping an opportunity Will M. Cressy & Blanche Dayne" (1900), theatrical poster, Jay T. Last Collection, Huntington Library.
  3. "Cressy and Dayne in Harlem". New York Star. 2: 8. February 13, 1909.
  4. Briscoe, Johnson (1907). The Actors' Birthday Book: An Authoritative Insight Into the Lives of the Men and Women of the Stage Born Between January 1 and December 31. Moffat, Yard. p. 283.
  5. "The Dayne and Fanshawe (advertisement)". St. Albans Daily Messenger. 1898-09-02. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-11-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "The Dayne and Fanshawe (advertisement)". St. Albans Daily Messenger. 1898-08-25. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  7. "The Dayne and Fanshawe (advertisement)". St. Albans Daily Messenger. 1898-08-26. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-11-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "The Dayne and Fanshawe (advertisement)". St. Albans Daily Messenger. 1898-09-01. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-11-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. Bryan, Mark Evans (2002). "Magnificent Barbarism": The Rube and the Performance of the Rural on the American Vaudeville Stage, 1875-1925 (Thesis). The Ohio State University.
  10. "Two Famous Figures in American Vaudeville". New York Star. 2: 20. December 26, 1908.
  11. "Last Two Weeks in Two Years". New York Star. 2: 28. April 10, 1909.
  12. Cressy, Will Martin. Summer days with Will Cressy and Blanche Dayne. New York: The McConnell Printing Co.
  13. "Title of Offering Very Appropriate". The Pittsburgh Press. 1919-05-11. p. 43. Retrieved 2020-11-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Sullivan, A. C. (1922-11-07). "Cressy and Dayne Have Real Message for Orpheum Fans". The Sacramento Star. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-11-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Blanche Cressy, 73, Was a Star in 'Homestead'". The Record. 1944-06-28. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-11-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "The History of Women in Rotary International" Rotary Club of San Jose East/Evergreen (June 13, 2012).
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