Elsie de Wolfe
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Ella Anderson de Wolfe (abt. 1859 - 1950)

Ella Anderson (Elsie) de Wolfe
Born about in New York, USAmap
Ancestors ancestors
Wife of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
[children unknown]
Died at about age 90 in Versailles, Seine-et-Oise, Île-de-France, Francemap
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Profile last modified | Created 12 Oct 2014
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Biography

Elsie de Wolfe was a prominent New York Socialite and interior designer.

Elsie was the daughter of Stephen de Wolfe (1824-1890) and Georgiana Watts (Copeland) DeWolfe (abt.1830-1909)

Elsie was born on 20 Dec 1859 or 1865 in New York City, New York, USA, depending on which source you follow.

She apparently went to the United Kingdom shortly after her birth to visit probably her mother's relatives and was presented to Queen Victoria and London society[1][2]

"Ellen" shows up in the 1870 census as 12 years old.

She performed as an undistinguished amateur theatrical performer before being recognized in a charity benefit 1885 in The White Milliner at the Wyndham Criterion Theatre, London England. She returned to New York with her American amateur debut at Mrs Eggleton's residence at Washington Square in The Loan of a Lover. The death of her father in 1890 necessitated that she had to provide a living for herself even though she was rated as a below average thespian.

She became a professional actress on 5 Oct 1891, playing in Victorien Sardou's, Thermidor, in the role of Fabienne Lecoulteur. She prepared for the role by being mentored by Sardou and a Mlle Bartet, but he New York premier was a flop. When the play opened in Boston she had limited rave reviews. She spent the next to years on the road. On her return to New York she appeared in the American Theatre and then trod the stage with the Empire Theatre Company. She also preformed with John Drew Company. By the late 1890s her acting was described as realistic, quiet, subdued, and simple. Characteristically she was dubbed an intelligent, ambious, hard worker.[3]

The 1910 United States census lists her as Elsie, single, did not state age, place of birth, English-American, building decorator, living in Manhattan, NY. [4]


She was an American actress, interior decorator, nominal author of the influential 1913 book The House in Good Taste, and a prominent figure in New York, Paris, and London society. According to The New Yorker, "Interior Design as a profession was invented by Elsie de Wolfe." During her married life, the press usually referred to her as Lady Mendl.

She challenged the new income tax law in 1913 obtaining financial support from "some powerful interests..." She claimed it was unconstitutional and involved class legislation. [5]

She was married to Sir Charles Ferdinand Simon Mendlq in the British Consulate in Paris on 20 Mar 1936. In 1941 they were forced to leave their villa, Trianon in Versailles, when the Nazis occupied Paris.

She had a bathroom in her Paris apartment with mirrors for floor, walls and ceilings. The only decorations are several green masks.[6]

Her passport shows a date of 12/20/1865 but she appears in the 1880 census as age 20. Typical of an actress to appear younger than she actually was.

She died in Versailles, France.

Sources

  1. https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2018/07/elsie-de-wolfe/
  2. The American pioneer who vanquished Victorian gloom by Edgar Munhall, December 31, 1999. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/dewolfe-article-012000
  3. Famous Actresses of the Day in America, by Lewis E Strang, 1899, L C Page & Co, Boston, MA, Chapter XXIII pes 248-257. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t7np3bv3f&seq=294
  4. 1910 US census, 18 New York, ED 983 Manhattan, pe 2B line 62. "United States Census, 1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M5Z6-LHV : Sat Mar 09 04:21:03 UTC 2024), Entry for Elizabeth Marbury and Elsie Dewolfe, 1910.
  5. The Zion City Independent, Zion City, Illinois. Vol. 4 # 30, pe. 3 col. 2., 18 Dec 1913. https://idnc.library.illinois.edu/?a=d&d=ZCI19131219.1.3&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1-byPU.rev-img-txIN-DeWolfe+---------
  6. The Daily Illini, 14 Jun 1933 pe 2 column 2 https://idnc.library.illinois.edu/?a=d&d=DIL19330614.2.54&srpos=31&e=-------en-20--21-byPU.rev-img-txIN-Mendl---------
  • Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsie_de_Wolfe
  • "United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJP-S13Z : 4 September 2015), Elsie De Wolfe, 1917; citing Passport Application, New York, United States, source certificate #51656, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, Roll 359, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,532,919.
  • "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8JT-Z1J : 17 October 2014), Stephen Dewolf, New York, United States; citing p. 26, family , NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,546.
  • "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZ68-PGQ : 15 July 2016), Georgiana Dewolfe in household of Stephen Dewolfe, New York, New York, New York, United States; citing enumeration district ED 294, sheet 376A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0880; FHL microfilm 1,254,880.
  • Find A Grave: Memorial #157585411
  • Famous actresses of the day in America. First series / by Lewis C. Strang, Published1899, AuthorStrang, Lewis Clinton, 1869-1935.




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It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Elsie by comparing test results with other carriers of her ancestors' mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Elsie:

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As a note of agreement, the 1860 census and Wikipedia both show the birth year as 1859.
posted by Fletcher Trice

D  >  de Wolfe  >  Ella Anderson de Wolfe

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