Georgia O'Ramey

Georgia O'Ramey (January 1, 1883 – April 2, 1928) was an American actress in comedies and musical theatre.

Georgia O'Ramey
O'Ramey c. 1909
Born
Georgia B. O'Ramey

(1883-01-01)January 1, 1883
Fredericktown, Ohio, U.S.
DiedApril 2, 1928(1928-04-02) (aged 45)
New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, comedian
Years active1908–1928
Spouse
Robert B. Griffin
​
(divorced)​

Early life

Georgia B. O'Ramey was born in Fredericktown, Ohio, the daughter of William B. O'Ramey and Emma Tude O'Ramey. She attended Oberlin College.[1]

Career
The cast of Miss Springtime, from a 1916 publication. Left to right: John E. Hazzard, Sari Petrass, George MacFarlane, Charles Meakins, Georgia O'Ramey, and Jed Prouty.

O'Ramey played violin in revues as a young woman.[2] She acted, sang and danced regularly in Broadway musicals and comedies through the 1910s, with roles in the shows Lonesome Town (1908), The Chaperon (1908-1909), Seven Days (1909-1910),[3] The Point of View (1912), The Switchboard (1913), A Pair of White Gloves (1913), Dancing Around (1914-1915), Around the Map (1915-1916), Miss Springtime (1916-1917), Leave It to Jane (1917-1918),[4] The Velvet Lady (1919),[5] Daffy Dill (1922),[6] Jack and Jill (1923),[7] and No, No, Nanette (1925-1926).[8][9]

O'Ramey appeared in one silent film, The $5,000,000 Counterfeiting Plot (1914). She also had stints in vaudeville.[10] "Every day I am adding to my vaudeville vocabulary," she confessed in 1920, "and when I go back to the legitimate I am afraid my friends who have never been in vaudeville will not understand me."[11]

During World War I, she and her costar Oscar Shaw posed for photos to promote Liberty Loans.[12]

Personal life

Georgia O'Ramey married businessman Robert B. Griffin in 1912.[13] They divorced. After weeks of headaches,[14] she died suddenly in 1928, aged 45 years, at a hotel in New Haven, Connecticut, just hours before the opening night of the show Nize Girl, in which she was to star.[15] Her obituary in the New York Times noted that she was "Distinguished on the American stage for a dozen years as one of the few woman comedians who could successfully sustain a broad burlesque role."[16][17] The Baltimore Sun recalled as "one of the best of our woman clowns. In a fuller sense than many of the others, she had the comedy spirit."[18] She left her estate to her parents and to the Actors Fund of America.[19]

References
  1. Matthew White, Jr., "The Stage" Munsey's Magazine (March 1916): 337.
  2. "'Wizard of Oz' and 'Miss Mazuma' Will Be Played This Week" San Francisco Call (September 18, 1904): 19. via California Digital Newspaper Collectionopen access
  3. "Astor: Seven Days" New York Dramatic Mirror (November 20, 1909): 5.
  4. David A. Jasen, A Century of American Popular Music (Routledge 2013): 37-38. ISBN 9781135352714
  5. "New Amsterdam: The Velvet Lady" Theatre Magazine (March 1919): 143.
  6. "Daffy Dill" Musical Courier (August 31, 1922): 40.
  7. "Georgia O'Ramey is Home Again in 'Jack and Jill'" Buffalo Courier (March 11, 1923): 18. via Newspapers.comopen access
  8. Stanley Green, Broadway Musicals: Show by Show (Hal Leonard Corporation 2011). ISBN 9781557837844
  9. Gerald Martin Bordman, Richard Norton, American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle (Oxford University Press 2010): 232, 374, 388, 430. ISBN 9780199729708
  10. "Georgia O'Ramey Pleases Belasco Vaudeville Fans" Washington Times (February 6, 1922): 10. via Newspapers.comopen access
  11. "Vaudeville Twice as Hard as the 'Legitimate' Stage, Insists Georgia O'Ramey" New-York Tribune (February 15, 1920): 36. via Newspapers.comopen access
  12. "Leave it to Jane Pair First New Loan Buyers" Philadelphia Inquirer (September 22, 1918): 22. via Newspapers.comopen access
  13. "Georgia O'Ramey Will Wed" New York Times (May 22, 1912): 13. via ProQuest
  14. "Miss O'Ramey Long Ill" New York Times (April 4, 1928): 27. via ProQuest
  15. "Milestones: Apr. 16, 1928". Time. 16 April 1928. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  16. "Georgia O'Ramey, Stage Star, is Dead" New York Times (April 3, 1928): 32.
  17. "Georgia O'Ramey Funeral" New York Times (April 6, 1928): 23. via ProQuest
  18. "Georgia O'Ramey's Death" Baltimore Sun (April 8, 1928): 59. via Newspapers.comopen access
  19. "Georgia O'Ramey Estate $11,995" New York Times (April 10, 1931): 27. via ProQuest
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