Elise Bartlett

Elise Bartlett (born Elise Bartlett Porter; October 5, 1897 – May 22, 1947) was an American actress who appeared in numerous stage productions throughout the 1920s and 1930s, as well as several feature films, including the 1929 film Show Boat. She was born into a rich and aristocratic family. Bartlett's several marriages were well-reported during her life, which included Joseph Schildkraut, who she divorced in 1930, Horace Liveright which lasted just several months, and later Michel Picard. She died in May 1947 of alcoholism. Early life Born in Union City, Tennessee, Bartlett grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she lived with her parents and an African-American house servant named Sarah Garnell. She was educated at a convent in Paris and returned to the United States in May 1914. She had always wanted to perform on stage since she was a baby. She used the first two parts of her name for her stage name, dropping her surname of Porter. From watching her first play at Nixon's Theater, her big ambition was to then become an actress, dreaming of "seeing her name in electric bulbs on Broadway." She learnt various languages to perfection outside her stage career, including German, French, Spanish as well as her native English and would spend considerable time studying, as well as training in singing, fencing and dancing. Career