Marie Celeste
Template:About Template:Short description
.jpg)
Marie Celeste Martin Stranahan, known by her stage name Marie Celeste, (November 6, 1875– December 17, 1954) was an American actress, soprano, socialite, and philanthropist. She was an active performer in light operas and musicals in the 1890s and early 1900s. She starred in the Broadway productions of Princess Nicotine (1893), Mother Goose (1899), A Runaway Girl (1900), and San Toy (1900 and 1902). She retired from performance after marrying Frank D. Stranahan who was a co-founder of the Champion spark plug manufacturing company. She and her husband became well known philanthropists and patrons of the arts in Toledo, Ohio.
Early life
The daughter of Benard C. Martin and Marie C. Martin (née De LaMotle),<ref name="Marriage">Marie C. Martin in the Massachusetts, Marriage Records, 1840-1915, 1902, marriages registered in the town of Brookline, record number 16, page 6</ref> Marie Celeste Martin was born in New York City on November 6, 1875.<ref>Marie C Stranahan in the New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, 1934 September 27, Bremen</ref> She grew up in the city of her birth and was educated in New York.Template:Sfn
Career
Marie Celeste made her stage debut performing with a stock theatre company in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1890 in the role of the maid Fantile in Ben Teal's The Great Metopolis.Template:Sfn The company was led by actor William H. Lytell (1851-1925).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She toured with this organization; progressing from smaller parts to leading roles before returning to New York to pursue education for a career in opera.Template:Sfn She trained as a soprano at the National Conservatory of Music of America in Manhattan.Template:Sfn
In 1892 Marie Celeste portrayed Polly Hoss in the original cast of the farce Hoss and Hoss which starred Charles Reed and William Collier Sr. It began its tour at the Hollis Street Theatre in Boston on January 12, 1892.Template:Sfn After this she joined the touring theatre company of Lillian Russell for the 1893-1894 season.Template:Sfn Parts she performed with this company included Paquita in Giroflé-Girofla,Template:Sfn Wanda in The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein,Template:Sfn and Petita in William Furst's Princess Nicotine.Template:Sfn She made her Broadway debut in the latter operetta at the Casino Theatre on November 20, 1893.Template:Sfn
In the 1894-1895 season, Marie Celeste was a member of Della Fox's theatre troupe in which she performed the role of Octavie in William Furst's The Little Trooper.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She returned to Lillian Russell's company for the 1895-1896 season as Duchess Blanche of Parthenay in Le petit duc,Template:Sfn Guadalena in La Périchole,Template:Sfn and Ninetta in La Tzigane.Template:Sfn
In 1896 illness kept Marie Celeste mostly inactive on the stage, and in 1897 she toured as the Queen in Klaw and Erlanger The Brownies.Template:Sfn This was followed by performances as Peone Burn in One Round of Pleasure, Mistress Mary in Robert Barnet and Alfred Baldwin Sloane's Jack and the Beanstalk, and Minutezza in John Philip Sousa's The Bride Elect.Template:Sfn In 1898 she portrayed several roles at The Boston Theatre; including Phoebe Fairleigh in Billee Taylor<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1899 she portrayed Bo-Peep in Louis De Lange and Edgar Smith's musical Mother Goose at the Fourteenth Street Theatre in Manhattan.Template:Sfn She returned to Broadway in 1900 as Winifred Grey in the revival of A Runaway Girl at Daly's Theatre.Template:Sfn She portrayed the title role in both the 1900 and 1902 Broadway productions of Sidney Jones and Edward Morton's San Toy.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Marie Celeste performed only one role from the grand opera repertoire; portraying Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana with the Castle Square Opera Company in Boston.Template:Sfn
Later life and death
In 1899 Marie Celeste met her future husband, Frank D. Stranahan, while performing in Boston.<ref name="Society">Template:Cite news</ref> The couple married on June 2, 1902 in Brookline, Massachusetts.<ref name="Marriage"/> Prior to their marriage Frank had worked as the manager of the Tremont House hotel in Boston which his family owned from 1895-1900.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Frank and his brother, Robert A. Stranahan, co-founded the Champion spark plug manufacturing company in Boston in 1908. The company moved to Toledo, Ohio in 1910. Their the couple became known for their work as philanthropists; although they chose to predominantly give anonymously.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Marie Celeste was a socialite in Toledo.<ref name="Society"/> In 1941 she served a term as president of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra Society (no relation to the present orchestra founded in 2019); an organization that worked to financially sustain Toledo's orchestra.<ref name="nyt">Template:Cite news</ref> She also served a term as president of Toledo Women's Club in 1940,<ref name="nyt"/> and was a financial supporter of a lecture series held at Toledo's city hall.<ref name="DSTOBIT">Template:Cite news</ref> Her nephew was the American sportsman Frank Stranahan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Marie Celeste spent her winters living at a property the Stranaham family owned in Richmond, Virginia known as Windsor Farms. She was an active member of the Woman's Club of Richmond.<ref name="Society"/>
Marie Celeste Martin Stranahan died in Toledo, Ohio on December 17, 1954.<ref>Mrs Marie Celeste Stranahan [Mrs Marie Celeste Martin] in the Ohio, U.S., Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center Obituary Index, 1810s-2016</ref><ref name="DSTOBIT"/> She died at Toledo Hospital of heart disease.<ref name="nyt"/>