James Nolan and Ainslee in a touring production of Bus Stop, 1955
Winifred Ainslee (born Winifred MacIntosh; April 17, 1924 – December 14, 1991)[1][2] was an American actress.
Early years
Ainslee was born Winifred MacIntosh,[3] the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. F. Bringle McIntosh. He was a Methodist minister who became president of Ohio Northern University.[2] Winifred contracted polio at age 6, but although she was in a leg brace for several years, she made a complete recovery and took up ballet to strengthen the affected leg. She attended Randolph-Macon Woman's College[4] and graduated from Ohio State University in 1947,[5] double-majoring in English and Music.[6] Before she finished college, she worked for a year as a [jazz] singer at the Cotton Club and a staff announcer at a radio station in Joplin, Missouri.[4] She also studied at the Juilliard School.[6] Ainslee took her stage name from Audra Ainslee, her aunt, who was leading lady with James K. Hackett.[7]
Career
In the late 1940s Ainslee was a member of the Chicago cast of Brigadoon.[8] The production toured in other cities, including Oakland[5] and St. Louis.[7] In 1950, Ainslee appeared in all productions of the Summer at Pitt Stadium operetta season in Pittsburgh.[9] She performed with the Chicago Music Theatre and the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera,[10] and she was musical director for touring productions of Brigadoon and Finian's Rainbow.[11] In 1952 she was the female lead in a production of High Button Shoes in Chicago.[4]
Ainslee married fellow Brigadoon actor/singer James Schlader in Chicago on October 23, 1948.[18] She married off-Broadway producer James Preston on March 5, 1959, in South Bend, Indiana.[19] They have a daughter, Heather Lee Preston Buzasi.[17]
