Minna Gale

Minna Gale made her theatrical debut in 1884 under the leadership of Daniel Bandmann, playing in East Lynne and similar "popular" plays. Her big break came the following year when she auditioned for Lawrence Barrett, the well-known Shakespearean actor, and was immediately hired by him. She made her debut in his company as Queen Gertrude in Hamlet, an unsuitable role for her since she was only 15 (Barrett, playing Hamlet, was 47.) However, she so impressed Barrett that he made her his leading lady in October, a bare two months after her debut with his company. For the next six seasons, she would be Barrett's only regular leading lady, her beauty and grace lending much to the performances. When Barrett teamed up with Edwin Booth in 1886 for several seasons of joint tours, he insisted on Minna being the leading lady for the new company, at first over Booth's objections. Barrett's confidence in her was soon justified when drama critics singled her out for praise, often declaring her performances more satis- factory than those of her male co-stars. When Barrett died in 1891, Minna continued to support Booth for two more weeks. She played Ophelia in Edwin Booth's final performance on the stage. After this, she formed her own company (many of them from the Booth-Barrett company) with herself as the star and played many of the cities where she had found success with Barrett. She retired from the stage in 1893, not to perform again until 1909 when she created a role in Viola Allen's production of The White Sister. After that, she performed in several plays in the 1910s, mixing her stage work with various productions for the Famous Players Film Co.