May Belfort

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May Belfort
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - May Belfort - Google Art Project.jpg
Born1872
Ireland
Died1929
United States
NationalityIreland
OccupationCabaret performer
Known forSinger, Actress, Comedian

May Belfort (c1872–1929) was an Irish singer, actress and comedian who was famous across Europe and America.

Biography[]

Born May Egan in Ireland in 1872, she was a comedian and singer on the London music halls and then in Paris where she performed her trademark nonsensical songs at the café des Décadents and the Petit Casino. She commissioned the famous 1895 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec poster showing her wearing the red dress with her ever present black cat. She became a favourite of the artist who painted her more than once. She performed in Russia, South Africa and the United States during her career. Belfort was friends with Jane Avril. was her lover as was Boer General Ben Viljoen. In fact Belfort expected to marry Viljoen. When it turned out he was already married and unwilling to continue the relationship with her, she traveled to Chicago and horsewhipped him in the street. Even after he achieved a divorce, he married another woman. Belfort retired from the stage due to ill health. Due to bad investments in mining, Belfort lost her money and ended working as a rug weaver and living in poverty. She died after a lingering illness in the United States in 1929.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

Gallery[]

References and sources[]

  1. ^ "Met Museum Poster". www.metmuseum.org.
  2. ^ "May Belfort". Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  3. ^ "May Belfort". Cleveland Museum of Art. 2018-10-30. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  4. ^ "MAY BELFORT, ACTRESS, DIES IN POVERTY AT 56; Once Famous Vaudeville Comedienna Had Eked Out a Livingas a Rug Weaver". The New York Times. 1929-03-31. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  5. ^ "May Belfort". Van Gogh Museum. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  6. ^ Offenburger, Andrew (2014). "Cultural Imperialism and the Romanticized Frontier: From South Africa and Great Britain to New Mexico's Mesilla Valley". Amerikastudien / American Studies. 59 (4): 535–552. JSTOR 44071886.
  7. ^ "BEN VILJOEN'S DENIAL".
  8. ^ "BEN VILJOEN. - THE AMERICAN INCIDENT LETTER FROM MAY BELFORT. - The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1950) - 28 Apr 1905". Trove. 1905-04-28. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  9. ^ "BOER GENERAL HORSEWHIPPED. - Miss May Belfort Chastises General Viljoen. SHE INTENDED TO SHOOT HIM - The World's News (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 1955) - 27 May 1905". World's News (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 1955). 1905-05-27. p. 18. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  10. ^ "The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954) - 19 Jun 1929". Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954). 1929-06-19. p. 6. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  11. ^ Offenburger, A. (2019). Frontiers in the Gilded Age: Adventure, Capitalism, and Dispossession from Southern Africa to the U.S.-Mexican Borderlands, 1880-1917. The Lamar Series in Western History. Yale University Press. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-300-24525-7. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  12. ^ "BBC Arts - Toulouse-Lautrec's pin-ups: Original stars of the Moulin Rouge". BBC. 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  13. ^ "Death of a Boer Leader. - Casterton Free Press and Glenelg Shire Advertiser (Vic. : 1915 - 1918) - 26 Apr 1917". Casterton Free Press and Glenelg Shire Advertiser (Vic. : 1915 - 1918). 1917-04-26. p. 4. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
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