Claudia Carlstedt

Claudia Therese Carlstedt Wheeler Kistler (March 9, 1878[1] – May 30, 1953) was an American actress and singer, known as "The Girl in the Red Tights". Her tumultuous personal life was a matter of public interest through the 1910s and 1920s.

Claudia Carlstedt
A white woman with dark hair, wearing a high plumed white hat embellished with pearls, and holding a fur muff
Claudia Carlstedt Wheeler, from the Library of Congress
Born
Claudia Therese Carlstedt

March 9, 1878
Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedMay 30, 1953(1953-05-30) (aged 75)
Mattituck, Long Island, New York, U.S.
Other namesClaudia Carlstedt Wheeler, Claudia Carlstedt Kistler
OccupationActress

Early life

Carlstedt was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and raised in Chicago,[2] the daughter of Axel B. Carlstedt and Anna Bird Carlstedt. Her father was born in Sweden, and worked as a music educator; he was described in 1898 as the director of conservatories in Boston and Chicago,[3] but this description was disputed at the time.[4]

Career

Carlstedt, a contralto,[3] performed mainly in comic operas. Her stage credits included roles in Reginald de Koven's The Mandarin, Victor Herbert's The Wizard of the Nile (1895–1896), and The Idol's Eye (1897–1898),[3][5] Come Over Here (1913, in London)[6] Experience (1919),[7] Max Reinhardt's The Miracle (1924),[8] and Big Hearted Herbert (1934).[9] She was known as "the Girl in the Red Tights" after her first big role.[10] During World War I, she went to England and sang at events to recruit soldiers.[11]

Personal life

Carlstedt married three times. Her first marriage ended in divorce in 1898.[3] Her second husband was wealthy businessman Albert Gallatin Wheeler Jr.; they married in 1898, and separated in 1910.[12] Their protracted divorce in the 1910s was covered by newspapers nationwide.[13][14][15][16] "Being a wife to a man like Mr. Wheeler, Jr., is like acting one of the small parts that are nothing but 'feeders' to the star," she commented in 1914. "You say stupid, meaningless lines just to enable him to make brilliant replies."[11] She had her ex-husband arrested in 1922, when he reappeared after several years in hiding.[12]

After the Wheelers' divorce, she was involved with an Egyptian prince, but would not convert to Islam to marry him.[8] Her third husband was Frederick Lefevre Kistler; they married in the 1930s. She died at her home on Long Island in 1953.[9]

References
  1. Carlstedt's birthdate is variously given in sources. This is the birthdate given on her application for a United States passport, dated June 11, 1923, in the National Archives; via Ancestry. She appears as a four-year-old with two younger siblings in the 1880 US Federal Census, which might suggest a slightly earlier year of birth; and her gravestone gives the impossible birthdate of 1894. (She married her second husband in 1898.)
  2. "Brief untitled item". The Inter Ocean. 1891-04-03. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Engaged to a Millionaire". Star-Gazette. 1898-03-19. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Editorial item". Musical Courier. 36 (12): 20. March 23, 1898.
  5. Vorse, Albert White (November 13, 1897). "'The Idol's Eye'". The Illustrated American. 22: 638–640.
  6. Wearing, J. P. (2013-12-19). The London Stage 1910-1919: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-9300-9 – via Google Books.
  7. "Love is Viola Carlstedt's First Role on the Stage". The Boston Globe. 1919-09-28. p. 56. Retrieved 2022-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. McCormick, Elsie (1924-05-18). "Unlucky Loves of Claudia Wheeler". Detroit Free Press. p. 99. Retrieved 2022-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Claudia Carlstedt Dies; Actress Appeared in Herbert, De Koven and Reinhardt Works". The New York Times. 1953-05-31. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
  10. "Oust 'Red Tights Girl' 's Ex-Husband". Los Angeles Evening Herald. February 13, 1917. p. 9. Retrieved August 26, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  11. Greeley-Smith, Nixola (December 1, 1914). "The Love that is More than Love--It Failed--Wife Tells Why". The Day Book. pp. 11–12. Retrieved August 26, 2022 – via Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections.
  12. "Wife Finds Wheeler after Six Year Hunt". New York Herald. 1922-09-09. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Former Actress Wins Divorce from Wealthy Husband". The Topeka State Journal. 1915-03-23. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Red Tights All Right; Pink Kimona, Never!". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1915-09-19. p. 42. Retrieved 2022-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "'The Girl in the Rosy Tights' Has Trouble Collecting Alimony". The Akron Beacon Journal. 1916-04-20. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Actress, Who Left Millionaire, in Court Again; Seeks $12,500". The Hutchinson News. 1919-07-10. p. 9. Retrieved 2022-08-26 – via Newspapers.com.
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