| Birth: | 1897
Melbourne
Victoria, Australia | | Death: | Apr. 24, 1917
Manhattan
New York County
New York, USA | 
Entertainer. Known professionally as "Princess Victoria" and "Midget Melba". At the time of her death, she stood 25 ½ inches high and weighed 19 ¾ pounds. A top-billed vaudeville performer, she was known for her "sweet voice" and earned approximately $250,000 during her career from stage appearances and royalties for picture postcards in which she was photographed standing in the palm of a man's hand. In addition to her singing, she was an accomplished musician and could play a full-sized piano, xylophone, organ, sleigh bells, chimes and tubaphone (similar to the glockenspiel). She began performing in Australia, billed as "Little Sylvia", but soon undertook a tour of South African town halls where she was an immediate success. At the age of 14, she was invited to England to give a Royal Command Performance as part of 1911's Festival of the Empire to celebrate the coronation of King George V. She next came to the United States and while she continued to be extremely popular on stage, earning as much as $15,000 in a single week, she developed a sensitivity to what she called the "prying eyes" of the public who would stare at her off stage. She received numerous lucrative offers from Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus to join their side show and appear in the ring, but always turned them down, vowing never to be displayed as a "freak". While appearing in vaudeville in New York City, she developed acute peritonitis and died in the Stern Hospital at the age of 20. (bio by: TomDuse)
Search Amazon for Sylvia Willes | | | Burial:
The Evergreens Cemetery
Brooklyn
Kings County
New York, USA
Plot: Actor's Fund Plot, Prospect Hill Section |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: TomDuse
Record added: Jul 05, 2009
Find A Grave Memorial# 39106817 |
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Added by:
TomDuse
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ronzoni
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