Charlotte Saunders Cushman (July 23, 1816 – February 18, 1876) was an American stage actress. [1] Her voice was noted for its full contralto register, and she was able to play both male and female parts.

Jun 30, 2020 · This illuminating and enthralling biography of 19th-century queer actress Charlotte Cushman portrays her radical lifestyle that riveted New York City and made headlines across...

In the mid-19th century, Charlotte Cushman was a theatrical superstar who played male and female roles both onstage and off. She got away with it because most people thought women were chaste. But was she?

Feb 14, 2025 · Charlotte Saunders Cushman was the first native-born star on the American stage. Cushman was encouraged by her musically gifted mother to train for the opera, and she joined a Boston company and appeared in April 1835 as Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro.

Nov 14, 2022 · Actor Charlotte Cushman defied gender norms, often dressing in a masculine style represented in this 1853 portrait from the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

Jun 24, 2024 · By the time Charlotte Cushman retired to her newly built home in Newport in 1872 with her partner, Emma Stebbins, she was one of the most—if not the most—beloved Anglophone actresses of her age. 1 With her forceful stage presence, powerful voice, and not inconsiderable height for the time period (a whole five feet six inches tall!), she ...

Oct 25, 2021 · Charlotte Cushman: Radical Feminist, Actress, Patron of the Arts Tana Wojczuk on the Leader of an Unlikely Group of Expats Called the “Jolly Bachelors”

Born in 1816, Charlotte Cushman rose to fame as a dramatic Shakespearean actress, enthralling audiences on two continents. Some of her greatest fans included President Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, and Louisa May Alcott.

Charlotte Cushman was without a doubt the first lady of the American stage. Of course, this costume does not represent a lady. Cushman wore it when she played Wolsey on more than a dozen special occasions, from Boston to New Orleans, between 1857 and 1873.

Jul 23, 2020 · Charlotte Cushman was a queer, cross-dressing 19th-century Shakespearean actress who rose from poverty to become America’s first celebrity. Walt Whitman celebrated her genius, Louisa May Alcott had a stage-struck fit over her, and she was, for a time, as famous as Charles Dickens.