Alice Kemp was an actress and a veteran of the vaudeville stage. During her career of more than three decades, she performed for nine years with the Marks Brothers, who toured widely across the U.S. and Canada. This popular, Canadian-born theatrical troupe (unrelated to the American Marx brothers) was known for their family-friendly mix of melodrama, comedy, and music.
A variety of news accounts described Alice Kemp as a dashing, versatile, clever, and popular actress and singer who had "won innumerable laurels," was a "brilliant star," offered "a full rich voice," and was "the best actress that has ever appeared before a Rhinebeck [New York] audience."
Alice was born in 1855, the daughter of Rufus Kemp, a Manhattan auctioneer, in a family that could afford servants in their home. By the age of 18, she had followed her older sister, Annie (Kemp) Bowler, a celebrated contralto singer, into the entertainment business.
In 1875, Alice joined Annie in touring with the Majiltons, an acrobatic troupe. This proved a perilous choice. While traveling in Pennsylvania, the Majiltons' sleigh overturned, injuring the sisters. Then in 1877, Alice went overseas with the group to perform in London and Moscow. Alice wrote that year to an American entertainment newspaper, the New York Clipper, reporting that the Majilton family had abandoned her in Moscow, telling her "that they could not afford to pay me" and "adding that if I wished to go home I should apply to the American Consul for a passage." To her relief, she found her "seriocomic" performances were considered a novelty in Russia and she was offered an engagement for the rest of the season: "I have been singing here ever since, getting more money and doing better than I did with the Majiltons."
By 1887, Alice was savvy enough as a business woman to take the lead in organizing an American theatrical group herself, advertising for actors wanted for "Kemp's People's Theater Co." She promised salaries that were "low but sure."
Alice spent the last night of her life on the stage in London, Ontario, Canada in May 1907. Diagnosed with stomach cancer only two days before her death, she must have been in great pain. Yet she completed her performance with the Earl Burgess Stock Company and passed away at a hospital overnight.
Alice Kemp almost always performed under her maiden name, though it appears she was married five times to 1) William Burton, 2) a Mr. Morris, 3) John Henry "Harry" Brownridge/Bronridge, 4) Charles McKinley, and 5) Murray Brantingham. Her burial record used the name of her fourth husband, McKinley, though her Michigan obituary and Canadian death certificate gave her the surname of her third husband (Bronridge, aka Brownridge). Alice's work was also a family affair — at least three of her husbands were actors with whom she toured, and her two young daughters joined her on stage as "Little Florinne" and "Little Fannie."
(While her cemetery record and death certificate recorded a birth in 1864, this was incorrect. Her father died in 1856, and multiple census records, as well as her passport application, point to an 1855 birth.)
A variety of news accounts described Alice Kemp as a dashing, versatile, clever, and popular actress and singer who had "won innumerable laurels," was a "brilliant star," offered "a full rich voice," and was "the best actress that has ever appeared before a Rhinebeck [New York] audience."
Alice was born in 1855, the daughter of Rufus Kemp, a Manhattan auctioneer, in a family that could afford servants in their home. By the age of 18, she had followed her older sister, Annie (Kemp) Bowler, a celebrated contralto singer, into the entertainment business.
In 1875, Alice joined Annie in touring with the Majiltons, an acrobatic troupe. This proved a perilous choice. While traveling in Pennsylvania, the Majiltons' sleigh overturned, injuring the sisters. Then in 1877, Alice went overseas with the group to perform in London and Moscow. Alice wrote that year to an American entertainment newspaper, the New York Clipper, reporting that the Majilton family had abandoned her in Moscow, telling her "that they could not afford to pay me" and "adding that if I wished to go home I should apply to the American Consul for a passage." To her relief, she found her "seriocomic" performances were considered a novelty in Russia and she was offered an engagement for the rest of the season: "I have been singing here ever since, getting more money and doing better than I did with the Majiltons."
By 1887, Alice was savvy enough as a business woman to take the lead in organizing an American theatrical group herself, advertising for actors wanted for "Kemp's People's Theater Co." She promised salaries that were "low but sure."
Alice spent the last night of her life on the stage in London, Ontario, Canada in May 1907. Diagnosed with stomach cancer only two days before her death, she must have been in great pain. Yet she completed her performance with the Earl Burgess Stock Company and passed away at a hospital overnight.
Alice Kemp almost always performed under her maiden name, though it appears she was married five times to 1) William Burton, 2) a Mr. Morris, 3) John Henry "Harry" Brownridge/Bronridge, 4) Charles McKinley, and 5) Murray Brantingham. Her burial record used the name of her fourth husband, McKinley, though her Michigan obituary and Canadian death certificate gave her the surname of her third husband (Bronridge, aka Brownridge). Alice's work was also a family affair — at least three of her husbands were actors with whom she toured, and her two young daughters joined her on stage as "Little Florinne" and "Little Fannie."
(While her cemetery record and death certificate recorded a birth in 1864, this was incorrect. Her father died in 1856, and multiple census records, as well as her passport application, point to an 1855 birth.)
Alice Kemp was an actress and a veteran of the vaudeville stage. During her career of more than three decades, she performed for nine years with the Marks Brothers, who toured widely across the U.S. and Canada. This popular, Canadian-born theatrical troupe (unrelated to the American Marx brothers) was known for their family-friendly mix of melodrama, comedy, and music.
A variety of news accounts described Alice Kemp as a dashing, versatile, clever, and popular actress and singer who had "won innumerable laurels," was a "brilliant star," offered "a full rich voice," and was "the best actress that has ever appeared before a Rhinebeck [New York] audience."
Alice was born in 1855, the daughter of Rufus Kemp, a Manhattan auctioneer, in a family that could afford servants in their home. By the age of 18, she had followed her older sister, Annie (Kemp) Bowler, a celebrated contralto singer, into the entertainment business.
In 1875, Alice joined Annie in touring with the Majiltons, an acrobatic troupe. This proved a perilous choice. While traveling in Pennsylvania, the Majiltons' sleigh overturned, injuring the sisters. Then in 1877, Alice went overseas with the group to perform in London and Moscow. Alice wrote that year to an American entertainment newspaper, the New York Clipper, reporting that the Majilton family had abandoned her in Moscow, telling her "that they could not afford to pay me" and "adding that if I wished to go home I should apply to the American Consul for a passage." To her relief, she found her "seriocomic" performances were considered a novelty in Russia and she was offered an engagement for the rest of the season: "I have been singing here ever since, getting more money and doing better than I did with the Majiltons."
By 1887, Alice was savvy enough as a business woman to take the lead in organizing an American theatrical group herself, advertising for actors wanted for "Kemp's People's Theater Co." She promised salaries that were "low but sure."
Alice spent the last night of her life on the stage in London, Ontario, Canada in May 1907. Diagnosed with stomach cancer only two days before her death, she must have been in great pain. Yet she completed her performance with the Earl Burgess Stock Company and passed away at a hospital overnight.
Alice Kemp almost always performed under her maiden name, though it appears she was married five times to 1) William Burton, 2) a Mr. Morris, 3) John Henry "Harry" Brownridge/Bronridge, 4) Charles McKinley, and 5) Murray Brantingham. Her burial record used the name of her fourth husband, McKinley, though her Michigan obituary and Canadian death certificate gave her the surname of her third husband (Bronridge, aka Brownridge). Alice's work was also a family affair — at least three of her husbands were actors with whom she toured, and her two young daughters joined her on stage as "Little Florinne" and "Little Fannie."
(While her cemetery record and death certificate recorded a birth in 1864, this was incorrect. Her father died in 1856, and multiple census records, as well as her passport application, point to an 1855 birth.)
A variety of news accounts described Alice Kemp as a dashing, versatile, clever, and popular actress and singer who had "won innumerable laurels," was a "brilliant star," offered "a full rich voice," and was "the best actress that has ever appeared before a Rhinebeck [New York] audience."
Alice was born in 1855, the daughter of Rufus Kemp, a Manhattan auctioneer, in a family that could afford servants in their home. By the age of 18, she had followed her older sister, Annie (Kemp) Bowler, a celebrated contralto singer, into the entertainment business.
In 1875, Alice joined Annie in touring with the Majiltons, an acrobatic troupe. This proved a perilous choice. While traveling in Pennsylvania, the Majiltons' sleigh overturned, injuring the sisters. Then in 1877, Alice went overseas with the group to perform in London and Moscow. Alice wrote that year to an American entertainment newspaper, the New York Clipper, reporting that the Majilton family had abandoned her in Moscow, telling her "that they could not afford to pay me" and "adding that if I wished to go home I should apply to the American Consul for a passage." To her relief, she found her "seriocomic" performances were considered a novelty in Russia and she was offered an engagement for the rest of the season: "I have been singing here ever since, getting more money and doing better than I did with the Majiltons."
By 1887, Alice was savvy enough as a business woman to take the lead in organizing an American theatrical group herself, advertising for actors wanted for "Kemp's People's Theater Co." She promised salaries that were "low but sure."
Alice spent the last night of her life on the stage in London, Ontario, Canada in May 1907. Diagnosed with stomach cancer only two days before her death, she must have been in great pain. Yet she completed her performance with the Earl Burgess Stock Company and passed away at a hospital overnight.
Alice Kemp almost always performed under her maiden name, though it appears she was married five times to 1) William Burton, 2) a Mr. Morris, 3) John Henry "Harry" Brownridge/Bronridge, 4) Charles McKinley, and 5) Murray Brantingham. Her burial record used the name of her fourth husband, McKinley, though her Michigan obituary and Canadian death certificate gave her the surname of her third husband (Bronridge, aka Brownridge). Alice's work was also a family affair — at least three of her husbands were actors with whom she toured, and her two young daughters joined her on stage as "Little Florinne" and "Little Fannie."
(While her cemetery record and death certificate recorded a birth in 1864, this was incorrect. Her father died in 1856, and multiple census records, as well as her passport application, point to an 1855 birth.)
Gravesite Details
September 2013: Cemetery staff indicated that they found no marker on this grave
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