Blanche Oelrichs

This article is about the writer and actress. For the boxer, see Michael Strange (boxer).
Blanche Oelrichs

Blanche Oelrichs
Born Blanche Marie Louise Oelrichs
(1890-10-01)October 1, 1890
Newport, Rhode Island
Died November 5, 1950(1950-11-05) (aged 60)
Boston, Massachusetts
Spouse(s) Leonard M. Thomas
(m. 1910-1919; divorced) 2 sons
John Barrymore
(m. 1920-1925) 1 daughter
Harrison Tweed
(m. 1929-1942; divorced)
Partner(s) Margaret Wise Brown
(1940-1950)

Blanche Marie Louise Oelrichs (October 1, 1890 – November 5, 1950) was an American poet, playwright and theatre actress known by the pseudonym "Michael Strange".

Early life

Born to Charles May Oelrichs and Blanche de Loosey, Blanche Oelrichs was the youngest of four children.[1] Her Austrian mother was the sister of Emilie de Loosey, wife of Theodore A. Havemeyer. The family spent summers in Newport, Rhode Island amidst the Astors, the Vanderbilts, and numerous other wealthy elites of American society during the Gilded Age.

Her sister Natalie, always known as Lily, married and divorced Heinrich Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg (son of Duke Paul Frederick of Mecklenburg), after the premature death of her first husband Peter Martin of San Francisco. Her brother, Charles de Loosey was the father of Marjorie Oelrichs who was married to band leader Eddy Duchin.

Life and career

Blanche Oelrichs was an involved activist for women's suffrage and a writer. French portrait artist Paul Helleu described Blanche Oerlichs as the "most beautiful woman in America."[2]

In 1910, Blanche Oelrichs married her first husband Leonard Moorhead Thomas, the son of a prominent Philadelphia banker, with whom she had two children, Leonard Jr. (1911–68)[3][4] and Robin May Thomas (1915–44). Leonard Moorhead Thomas was a Yale University graduate who had worked in the diplomatic service in Rome and Madrid and served with the United States Army in Europe during World War I, earning the Croix de Guerre. Blanche Oelrichs developed a "literary urge" in 1914 when she began creating works of poetry and theatrical plays. Her first collection of poems was published in 1916 under the pen name Michael Strange. Her interests caused a rift with her husband and they divorced in 1919.[1]

Through her social activities, Blanche Oelrichs met renowned actor John Barrymore. They were introduced by actress Cathleen Nesbitt, Barrymore's leading woman in the 1916 play Justice. Blanche continued seeing him for four years; and, after divorcing Thomas, she married Barrymore on August 5, 1920.[5] She was already several months' pregnant with their only child, Diana Blanche Barrymore, who was born on March 3, 1921.

With drawings provided by John Barrymore, Blanche Oelrichs published a book in 1921 titled "Resurrecting Life." She then turned her writing skills to the creation of theatrical plays including a 1921 Broadway production titled "Clair de lune." Based on "L'Homme qui rit" by Victor Hugo, her play starred her husband and his sister Ethel Barrymore. It was made into a 1932 movie of the same name in France by director Henri Diamant-Berger.

In 1921, Oelrichs was among the first to join the Lucy Stone League, an organization that fought for women to preserve their maiden names after marriage.[6]

Blanche Oelrichs spent a great deal of time in Paris, France during the next few years while her husband performed abroad. After returning to live in New York, she began acting in live theatre. Her marriage to John Barrymore ended in May 1925. She then joined a summer stock company in Salem, Massachusetts and appeared in two Broadway plays in 1926 and 1927.

The monument of Blanche Oelrichs in Woodlawn Cemetery

Another book of Oelrichs' poetry was published in 1928 under the title "Selected poems, by Michael Strange" and the following year she married a third time to the prominent New York attorney Harrison Tweed who later became Chairman of Sarah Lawrence College.[7] During the second half of the 1930s Oelrichs hosted a poetry and music program on New York radio station WOR that gained a strong audience. In 1940, Blanche Oelrichs published her autobiography, "Who Tells Me True." In 1942 she and Harrison Tweed divorced and in 1944 her son Robin died at the age of twenty-nine.

Starting in the summer of 1940 until her death, Oelrichs was in a long-term relationship with Margaret Wise Brown, the author of many children's books.[8] The relationship began as something of a mentoring one, but became a romantic relationship and they lived together at 10 Gracie Square beginning in 1943.[9]

Blanche Oelrichs died from leukemia in 1950 in Boston. She was interred with her son Robin, who'd died in 1944, in the Oelrichs family plot in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York.

Legacy

In 1960 her daughter Diana Barrymore died at age thirty-eight after several years of drug and alcohol addiction. Her older son Leonard was married to painter Yvonne Thomas and they had two daughters together, the only grandchildren of Blanche Oelrichs.[10]

Broadway productions, under the pseudonym Michael Strange

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 Edward T. James; Janet Wilson James; Paul S. Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume 2. Boyer, Radcliffe College. p. 490.
  2. ↑ [NY Times Nov. 6, 1950]
  3. ↑ Leonard Moorhead Thomas, Jr. RASH'S SURNAME INDEX
  4. ↑ Leonard Moorhead Thomas, Jr; son of Blanche and Leonard Sr.; findagrave.com
  5. ↑ "JOHN BARRY MORE WEDS MRS. THOMAS: While Their Engagement Had Been Rumored, the Marriage Now Comes as a Surprise. CEREMONY IS INFORMAL Actor, Who Recently Suffered a Nervous Breakdown, Will Not Resume Work Till Fall." (1920, August 6). New York Times, 9.
  6. ↑ "WIVES DEBATE RIGHT TO MAIDEN NAMES: Elsie Ferguson Learns From Ruth Hale That She May Have Her Own Checking Account. BARRYMORE'S WIFE ATTENDS Lucy Stone League Told Woman May Register at Hotel With Husband Under Separate Name. Barrymore's Wife Attends. Validity of Names Discussed." (1921, May 18). New York Times, 27.
  7. ↑ "MICHAEL STRANGE MARRIES IN LONDON: John Barrymore's Former Wife Weds Harrison Tweed, New New York Lawyer. IN REGISTER'S OFFICE Third Marriage for Bride, Poet and Dramatist—Bridegroom Divorced In Paris Last June." (1929, May 24). New York Times, p. 30.
  8. ↑ Betsy Bird; Julie Danielson; Peter Sieruta (2014). Wild Things! Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature. Candlewick Press. pp. 57–58.
  9. ↑ Marcus, Leonard S. Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon. Boston: Beacon Press, 1992. 167–178, 251. ISBN 978-0688171889
  10. ↑ Obituary of Blanche's daughter-in-law, Yvonne Thomas (1913–2009); AspenTimes.com September 4, 2009

External links

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