Bessie Bown Ricker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
January 4, 1872
Bessie Bown Ricker | |
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| Born | Bessie Digby Bown January 4, 1872 Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | June 30, 1953 (age 81) Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Vaudeville performer, elocutionist |
Bessie Digby Bown Ricker (January 4, 1872 – June 30, 1953) was an American performer popular on the vaudeville stage, "one of the best known entertainers in St. Louis."[1] Her specialties were impersonating child characters in monologues, and giving readings of children's stories and verse. She went to France during World War I to entertain American troops there.[1]
Bown was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, and raised in Kirkwood, Missouri, the daughter of W. J. H. Bown and Mary Digby Bown. Her father worked at a coffee and spice company. She studied at the Columbia School of Oratory in Chicago, and worked with singer Carrie Jacobs Bond.[1]
Career
Ricker gave poetry readings and impersonations, especially of child characters,[2] but also sang, danced, acted and wrote for the stage for over forty years.[3][4] In 1918 she went overseas with the YMCA, to entertain American troops in World War I.[1] She made three recordings of recitations for the Victor label in 1923.[5] She co-directed an amateur entertainment to benefit a scholarship fund in Saint Louis in 1926.[6] She was an active member of the Wednesday Club in Saint Louis.[7][8]