Edith Crosbie Clasper (October 12, 1894[1] – May 1984) was an English-born American dancer active on the vaudeville stage in the 1920s.
Early life and education
Clasper was born in Stranton, Hartlepool, the daughter of Robert Clasper and Barbara Crosbie Clasper.[2] Her mother was born in Scotland. Her father died in 1898.[3] Clasper moved to the United States as a little girl, with her widowed mother, and lived with relatives in Chicago.[4]
Career
Clasper was billed as "the daintiest of dancers".[5][6] She headlined on tours of the United States and Canada in the 1920s,[7][8] as the leader of Edith Clasper and Boys, a comedy dance act.[9][10] She cautioned beginning dancers that "it is just downright hard work"[11] and advised them to "dance, not only with your heels, but with your head."[12] In 1920 she was stricken mid-performance with appendicitis in Madison, Wisconsin; her male assistants carried her off-stage and continued the act, while she took a train back to Chicago for medical attention.[13]
The Pacific Coast Musical Review reported in 1920 that Clasper "has every asset necessary to the successful dancer — appearance, youth, grace, abandon, and poetry."[14] The Montreal Star observed in 1923 that Clasper "obviously delights to dance. There is a freshness about her work that is infectious."[15]Variety magazine reported on her stage costumes in detail.[16]
In his youth, actor Dick Baldwin was one of the male dancers in Clasper's act.[17]
Personal life
Later in life, Clasper worked as a baby nurse for a family on Park Avenue.[18] She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1953.[1] She died in 1984, at the age of 89.[19]
References
^ abEdith Crosbie Clasper, in the New York, U.S., Index to Petitions for Naturalization filed in New York City, 1792-1989; via Ancestry
^Edith Crosbie Clasper, in the England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975; via Ancestry.
^"Death of Mr. Robert Clasper". Northern Guardian. January 4, 1898. p. 3. Retrieved August 13, 2023 – via The British Newspaper Archive, via The Wikipedia Library.
^Edith C. Clasper, in the 1900 Federal Census, via Ancestry.
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