2 3 Throwback Thursday and Evelyn Nesbit | Ballet Webb

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Throwback Thursday and Evelyn Nesbit


Throwback Thursday and Evelyn Nesbit

She was born Florence Evelyn Nesbit on Christmas Day in 1884 in Pennsylvania.  After her father died, Evelyn Nesbit began modeling to help support the family. She always posed fully dressed, and worked for many different artists.

In 1900, she moved to New York, and her rise to fame began. She became the inspiration for several art pieces, including George Grey Barnard’s Innocence, and Charles Dana Gibson’s Women: The Eternal Question. Soon she was on the covers of many magazines like Harper’s Bazaar, and Ladies’ Home Journal. Her likeness is probably the one everyone thinks about when visualizing the fashions of the early 20th century.

In 1901 she joined the chorus line for the Broadway play Florodora after which she left to accept a speaking role in another Broadway play, The Wild Rose.

But soon things began to unravel. She met Stanford White, New York architect and socialite, but their relationship was short-lived. She then married millionaire Harry K. Thaw, who was apparently a jealous man. He walked up to White one night at Madison Square Garden and, at close range, shot and killed him.

It became the “trial of the century” and Evelyn Nesbit was called as a witness. Due to the huge amount of publicity, the jury was sequestered- the first time in American history that this had been done. Thaw received a life sentence to a hospital for the criminally insane.

Evelyn went on with her life after the trial. She appeared in silent films and in vaudeville, and she penned two memoirs. In 1955, a movie was made about her life called The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing.

She died on January 17, 1967 in Santa Monica, California.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Dance History Factoid #176:
“Evelyn Nesbit was the first supermodel and chorus girl known for being involved in a murder.”

Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“Nobody can live in the past or the future without being something of a nut.”
-         Evelyn Nesbit


                Help expand the knowledge base!
 Leave a comment about any instructions, ideas, or images that worked best for you!

My latest books are coloring books! They are available on Amazon.

Want to know more about me? Read my interview at Ballet Connections:

Or "Like" me on my Facebook Author Page:

Or visit my Pinterest page:




No comments:

Post a Comment