Editing Marie Dressler (section)

==Stage career==
Dressler left home at the age of 14 to begin her acting career with the Nevada Stock Company, telling the company she was actually 18.{{sfn|Lee|1997|pp=11–12}} The pay was either $6 or $8 per week,<ref name="dressler-gaz-obit"/> and Dressler sent half to her mother.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=14}} At this time, Dressler adopted the name of an aunt as her stage name.<ref name="dressler-gaz-obit"/> According to Dressler, her father objected to her using the name of Koerber. The identity of the aunt was never confirmed, although Dressler denied that she adopted the name from a store awning. Dressler's sister Bonita, five years older, left home at about the same time. Bonita also worked in the opera company.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=13}} The Nevada Stock Company was a travelling company that played mostly in the American Midwest. Dressler described the troupe as a "wonderful school in many ways. Often a bill was changed on an hour's notice or less. Every member of the cast had to be a quick study".{{sfn|Lee|1997|pp=15–16}} Dressler made her professional debut as a chorus girl named Cigarette in the play ''Under Two Flags'', a dramatization of life in the Foreign Legion.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=13}}

She remained with the troupe for three years, while her sister left to marry playwright Richard Ganthony. The company eventually ended up in a small Michigan town without money or a booking. Dressler joined the Robert Grau Opera Company, which toured the Midwest, and she received an improvement in pay to $8 per week, although she claimed she never received any wages.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=17}}

Dressler ended up in [[Philadelphia]], where she joined the Starr Opera Company as a member of the chorus. A highlight with the Starr company was portraying Katisha in ''The Mikado'' when the regular actress was unable to go on, due to a sprained ankle, according to Dressler.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=18}} She was also known to have played the role of Princess Flametta in an 1887 production in [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]].{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=18}} She left the Starr company to return home to her parents in Saginaw. According to her, when the Bennett and Moulton Opera Company came to town, she was chosen from the church choir by the company's manager and asked to join the company. Dressler remained with the company for three years, again on the road, playing roles of light opera.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=20}}

She later particularly recalled specially the role of Barbara in ''The Black Hussars'', which she especially liked, in which she would hit a [[Baseball (ball)|baseball]] into the stands.{{sfn|Lee|1997|pp=20–21}} Dressler remained with the company until 1891, gradually increasing in popularity. She moved to Chicago and was cast in productions of ''Little Robinson Crusoe'' and ''The Tar and the Tartar''. After the touring production of ''The Tar and the Tartar'' came to a close, she moved to New York City.{{sfn|Lee|1997|pp=21–22}}

In 1892, Dressler made her debut on Broadway at the [[Fifth Avenue Theatre]] in ''Waldemar, the Robber of the Rhine'', which only lasted five weeks.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=24}} She had hoped to become an operatic diva or tragedienne, but the writer of ''Waldemar'', [[Maurice Barrymore]], convinced her to accept that her best success was in comedy roles.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=24}} Years later, she appeared in motion pictures with his sons, [[Lionel Barrymore|Lionel]] and [[John Barrymore|John]], and became good friends with his daughter, actress [[Ethel Barrymore]]. In 1893, she was cast as the Duchess in ''Princess Nicotine'', where she met and befriended [[Lillian Russell]].{{sfn|Lee|1997|pp=24–25}}

Dressler now made $50 per week, with which she supported her parents. She moved on into roles in ''[[1492 Up to Date]]'', ''[[Girofle-Girofla]]'', and ''A Stag Party, or A Hero in Spite of Himself''{{sfn|Lee|1997|pp=26–28}} After ''A Stag Party'' flopped, she joined the touring [[Camille D'Arville]] Company on a tour of the Midwest in ''Madeleine, or The Magic Kiss'', as Mary Doodle, a role giving her a chance to clown.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=28}}
[[File:The-Lady-Slavey-FC.jpg|thumb|Music for ''The Lady Slavey'' (1896)<br />Dressler had her first starring role as household servant Flo Honeydew, a role she performed for four years.]]
In 1896, Dressler landed her first starring role as Flo in [[George Lederer]]'s production of ''[[The Lady Slavey]]'' at the [[Casino Theatre (New York City)|Casino Theatre]] on Broadway, co-starring British dancer Dan Daly. It was a great success, playing for two years at the Casino. Dressler became known for her hilarious facial expressions, seriocomic reactions, and double takes. With her large, strong body, she could improvise routines in which she would carry Daly, to the delight of the audience.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=29}}

Dressler's success enabled her to purchase a home for her parents on [[Long Island]].{{sfn|Lee|1997|pp=30–31}} The ''Lady Slavey'' success turned sour when she quit the production while it toured in Colorado. The Erlanger syndicate blocked her from appearing on Broadway, and she chose to work with the Rich and Harris touring company.{{sfn|Lee|1997|pp=31–32}} Dressler returned to Broadway in ''Hotel Topsy Turvy'' and ''[[The Man in the Moon (musical)|The Man in the Moon]]''.{{sfn|Lee|1997|pp=33–;37}}

She formed her own theatre troupe in 1900, which performed [[George V. Hobart]]'s ''[[Miss Prinnt]]'' in cities of the northeastern U.S.<ref>{{cite news |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 5, 1900 |title="MISS PRINNT" AT ALBANY; Marie Dressler Scores a Success in G.V. Hobart's New Play |page=5}}</ref> The production was a failure, and Dressler was forced to declare bankruptcy.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=39}} In 1901 she starred as [[Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain]] in the Broadway musical comedy ''[[The King's Carnival]]''.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Dan|last1=Dietz|title=The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield Publishers]]|year=2019|isbn=9781442245280|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRmGDwAAQBAJ|chapter=The King's Carnival}}</ref>

In 1904, she signed a three-year, $50,000 contract with the Weber and Fields Music Hall management, performing lead roles in ''[[Higgledy-Piggledy]]'' and ''Twiddle Twaddle''. After her contract expired she performed vaudeville in New York, Boston, and other cities. Dressler was known for her full-figured body, and [[wikt:buxom|buxom]] contemporaries included her friends Lillian Russell, [[Fay Templeton]], [[May Irwin]] and [[Trixie Friganza]]. Dressler herself was {{convert|5|ft|7|in|m}} tall and weighed {{convert|200|lbs|kg}}.{{sfn|Kennedy|1999|p=2}}

In 1907, she met James Henry "Jim" Dalton. The two moved to London, where Dressler performed at the [[Palace Theatre, London|Palace Theatre of Varieties]] for $1500 per week. After that, she planned to mount a show herself in the [[West End theatre|West End]]. In 1909, with members of the Weber organization, she staged a modified production of ''Higgeldy Piggeldy'' at the [[Aldwych Theatre]], renaming the production ''Philopoena'' after her own role. It was a failure, closing after one week. She lost $40,000 on the production, a debt she eventually repaid in 1930.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=69}} She and Dalton returned to New York. Dressler declared bankruptcy for a second time.

She returned to the Broadway stage in a show called ''The Boy and the Girl'', but it lasted only a few weeks. She moved on to perform vaudeville at [[The Pier Shops at Caesars|Young's Pier]] in Atlantic City for the summer. In addition to her stage work, Dressler recorded for [[Edison Records]] in 1909 and 1910. In the fall of 1909, she entered rehearsals for a new play, ''Tillie's Nightmare''. The play toured in [[Albany, New York|Albany]], Chicago, Kansas City, and Philadelphia, and was a flop. Dressler helped to revise the show, without the authors' permission, and in order to keep the changes she had to threaten to quit before the play opened on Broadway. Her revisions helped make it a big success there. Biographer Betty Lee considers the play the high point of her stage career.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=78}}

Dressler continued to work in the theater during the 1910s, and toured the United States during World War I, selling [[Liberty bond]]s<ref name="dressler-gaz-obit"/> and entertaining the [[American Expeditionary Forces]]. American infantrymen in France named both a street and a cow after Dressler. The cow was killed, leading to "Marie Dressler: Killed in Line of Duty" headlines, about which Dressler (paraphrasing [[Mark Twain]]) quipped, "I had a hard time convincing people that the report of my death had been greatly exaggerated."{{sfn|Silverman|1999|p=23}}

[[File:Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914 film).jpg|right|thumb|With [[Mabel Normand]] and [[Charles Chaplin]] in ''[[Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914 film)|Tillie's Punctured Romance]]'']]
After the war, Dressler returned to vaudeville in New York, and toured in Cleveland and Buffalo. She owned the rights to the play ''Tillie's Nightmare'', the play upon which her 1914 movie ''[[Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914 film)|Tillie's Punctured Romance]]'' was based. Her husband Jim Dalton and she made plans to self-finance a revival of the play. The play fizzled in the summer of 1920, and the production was disbanded. In 1919, during the [[Actors' Equity]] strike in New York City, the [[Chorus Equity Association]] was formed and voted Dressler its first president.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.actorsequity.org/aboutequity/history/ |title=History |publisher=Equity Timeline |website=actorsequity.org |access-date=October 14, 2019}}</ref>

Dressler accepted a role in ''Cinderella on Broadway'' in October 1920, but the play failed after only a few weeks. She signed on for a role in ''[[The Passing Show|The Passing Show of 1921]]'', but left the cast after only a few weeks. She returned to the vaudeville stage with the Schubert Organization, traveling through the Midwest. Dalton traveled with her, although he was very ill from [[kidney failure]]. He stayed in Chicago while she traveled on to [[St. Louis]] and [[Milwaukee]]. He died while Marie was in St.{{nbsp}}Louis, and Marie then left the tour. His body was claimed by his ex-wife, and he was buried in the Dalton plot.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=145}}

After failing to sell a film script, Dressler took an extended trip to Europe in the fall of 1922. On her return she found it difficult to find work, considering America to be "youth-mad" and "flapper-crazy". She busied herself with visits to veteran hospitals. To save money she moved into the Ritz Hotel, arranging for a small room at a discount. In 1923, Dressler received a small part in a revue at the Winter Garden Theatre, titled ''The Dancing Girl'', but was not offered any work after the show closed. In 1925, she was able to perform as part of the cast of a vaudeville show which went on a five-week tour, but still could not find any work back in New York City.{{sfn|Lee|1997|pp=153–54}} The following year, she made a final appearance on Broadway as part of an Old Timers' bill at the [[Palace Theatre (New York City)|Palace Theatre]].{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=156}}

Early in 1930, Dressler joined [[Edward Everett Horton]]'s theater troupe in Los Angeles to play a princess in [[Ferenc Molnár]]'s ''The Swan'', but after one week, she quit the troupe. Later that year she played the princess-mother of [[Lillian Gish]]'s character in the 1930 film adaptation of Molnar's play, titled ''[[One Romantic Night]]''.{{sfn|Lee|1997|p=173}}