Blanche Roosevelt
American opera singer and writer
Died when: 44 years 343 days (539 months)Star Sign: Libra
Blanche Roosevelt (2 October 1853 – 10 September 1898), born Blanche Roosevelt Tucker, was an American opera singer, author and journalist.She is best remembered for creating the role of Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan when that opera premiered on Broadway in 1879.
She made her opera debut in 1876 at the Royal Italian Opera House, Covent Garden and went on to sing in concerts in Europe, having worked as a journalist from Paris in 1875.
In 1879, she joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and played the role of Josephine in Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S.
Pinafore in London before travelling with the company to New York City to play the same role and to originate the role of Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance.
Later in 1880, she co-founded, produced and starred in a new opera company, but this venture soon folded, and Roosevelt retired from the stage.
She and her husband, the Marquis d'Alligri, returned to Europe by 1882 and she pursued a career in journalism and literature, writing biographies and novels.
She became the mistress of Guy de Maupassant.
