1. Beatrice Chanler was active in charity and philanthropy during World War I and World War II.
13 Facts About Beatrice Chanler
1. 2.
Beatrice Chanler was born Minnie W Collins on May 7,1881 to Eliza Collins and an unknown father, according to the novelist Stephanie Dray.
3.
Beatrice Chanler appeared in Broadway and London stage productions as Minnie Ashley from 1893 until 1902.
4.
Beatrice Chanler launched her acting career in 1893 as a member of the chorus in 1492 Up to Date by R A Barnet, produced on Broadway by Edward E Rice.
5.
Beatrice Chanler then served as understudy for Edna Wallace Hopper in John Philip Sousa's operetta El Capitan starring DeWolf Hopper.
6.
The union was controversial as Beatrice Chanler's family disapproved of his choice to marry an actress and because of Ashley's previous divorce.
7.
When Beatrice Chanler objected, reminding him that he had a family to support and could not risk his life so easily, Willie revised his will, signing over the better part of his estate to his wife and sons in trust.
8.
Beatrice Chanler remained dissatisfied in particular because Willie's drinking had become a problem.
9.
Beatrice Chanler socialized with prominent members of the theatrical community in Paris, and became close friends with Arturo Toscanini and Lionel Barrymore.
10.
In 1915, her husband Willie had his leg amputated in the American Hospital of Paris and Beatrice Chanler took her sons to visit him.
11.
Beatrice Chanler extensively researched a 1934 biography of Cleopatra's daughter citing English, French, German, Latin and Greek references.
12.
Beatrice Chanler died on June 19,1946, aboard a train from New York to Portland, Maine, where she was going to open her summer home in Islesboro, Maine.
13.
Beatrice Chanler's funeral was delayed to give time for her Order of the Phoenix decoration to be flown from Athens and placed on her casket, along with her Legion of Honor cross.