Katherine Witchie
American dancer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Katherine Witchie Riggs (March 4, 1884 – April 19, 1967)[1] was an American dancer, singer, actress, writer, and vaudeville performer.
Katherine Witchie | |
|---|---|
Katherine Witchie, from a 1916 newspaper | |
| Born | March 4, 1884 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | April 19, 1967 (age 84) Babylon, New York, U.S. |
| Other names | Katharine Witchie, Katherine Witchie Riggs |
| Occupations | Dancer, writer, vaudeville performer |
Early life and education
Witchie was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota,[2] the daughter of William Ferdinand Witchie and Mary Agnes Conroy Witchie.[3][4] She was educated at the Academy of Holy Angels where she sang in the school's choir.[5]
Career
![](#/media/File:Ralph_Riggs_as_Bertie_Ashland_and_Katherine_Witchie_as_Gabrielle_Fourneaux_in_"The_Princess_Pat".jpg)
Witchie was a dancer in a duet act with her husband, Ralph Riggs;[6] she also sang and acted on the stage.[4][7] One of her earliest roles was as a Floradora girl in a company in Iowa.[8] Her Broadway credits included appearances in The Enchantress (1911–1912),[9] All Aboard (1913), The Princess Pat (1915–1916, an operetta by Victor Herbert),[10] The Passing Show of 1919 (1919–1920), Cinders (1923),[11] The Grab Bag (1924–1925),[12][13] Nic Nax of 1926 (1926),[14] and Oh, Ernest! (1927).[15] She and her husband also performed as Riggs and Witchie on vaudeville bills[16][17] and on the London stage.[18][19] "This act should be a good closer in the family houses," noted a Billboard report in 1928.[20]
Witchie wrote two one-act musical plays, The Garden[21] and The Gipsy, and a screenplay, The Royal Waltz.[22] In 1917 she danced on the radiator cap of a Hupmobile, as a publicity stunt.[23]
Personal life
Witchie married actor and dancer Ralph Riggs in 1910.[24] Her husband died in 1951,[25] and she died in 1967, at the age of 83, at a nursing home in Babylon, New York.[15]