Frances Raymond (died 1901)
Frances Raymond (1868 or 1869 — June 23, 1901[1]) was an American actress and author. She was also known as Minnie Raymond[2] and Martha Schaffer.[3]
Early years
Raymond was the daughter of Frederick Lapzieu[4] (or Friedrich Lapzien[5]) of Brooklyn.[4] She and her two sisters attended Brooklyn schools.[5]
Career
Raymond's acting career ended in 1894.[6] She acted with the Frohman road companies[7] and had been performing in The Girl I Left Behind Me in Memphis when she and the management parted ways. Management of Charles Frohman's company said that she had been incompetent, while she said that she angered a company official by resisting his advances.[1] Turning from acting to writing, Raymond spent almost three years working on a novel, Maylou, which the G. W. Dillingham Company published in 1897. Critics attacked the book's plot and style, compounding its lack of success while creating "a sort of ephemeral notoriety" for it.[1] That lack of success led to her becoming "melancholy and morose".[2]
Personal life
Around 1891 Raymond married a Chicago lawyer whose last name was Schaffer. They were divorced within about 18 months.[5] In 1892, Raymond married businessman Franklin Raymond Wallace,[7] who was said to be a millionaire involved in mining ventures in the western United States.[5] Some time later "she discovered that Wallace was a married man with a daughter nearly as old as herself."[7] He settled a lawsuit that she had filed by promising to pay her $100 per month. By 1896, she said that he had stopped those payments. Therefore, she sued him for $50,000.[7] Later, Raymond felt deserted by a young doctor whom she had "loved deeply"[2] after he had paid "marked attention" to her for two years before telling her that he intended to marry someone else.[4]
Death
On June 23, 1901, Raymond died of asphyxiation in her New York apartment, aged 32.[2] She committed suicide by inhaling gas[8] in her New York City apartment after she had closed off the keyhole and the space under the door and removed three of the chandelier's four gas burners.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Takes Her Own Life After Years of Failure". Star Tribune. Minnesota, Minneapolis. May 7, 1901. p. 1. Retrieved July 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 3 4 "Pathetic Life Story". The Daily Republican. Pennsylvania, Monongahela. June 26, 1901. p. 2. Retrieved October 1, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "History of a Week". The Marshall Statesman. Michigan, Marshall. August 7, 1896. p. 7. Retrieved October 2, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 3 "Fair woman sought peace in death's embrace". The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 6, 1901. p. 1. Retrieved July 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 3 4 "Peace Only in Death". The Commercial Appeal. May 12, 1901. p. 16. Retrieved April 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "$50,000 for a Broken Heart". Buffalo Evening News. New York, Buffalo. July 30, 1896. p. 38. Retrieved October 2, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 3 4 "She Asks for $50,000". The Anaconda Standard. Montana, Anaconda. New York Journal. August 3, 1896. p. 3. Retrieved October 1, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Actress and Authoress Committs Suicide" (PDF). The New York Times. New York, New York City. May 6, 1901. Retrieved 2 October 2018.