Blanche Roosevelt

Blanche Roosevelt (born Blanche Isabella Pauline Tucker; 2 October 185310 September 1898) was an American opera singer, author and journalist. She is best remembered for creating the role of Mabel in ''The Pirates of Penzance'' by Gilbert and Sullivan when that opera premiered on Broadway in 1879.

She made her opera debut in 1876 at the Royal Italian Opera House, Covent Garden, and went on to sing in concerts in Europe, having worked as a journalist from Paris in 1875. In 1879, she joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and played the role of Josephine in Gilbert and Sullivan's ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' in London before travelling with the company to New York City to play the same role and to originate the role of Mabel in ''The Pirates of Penzance''.

Later in 1880, she co-founded, produced and starred in a new opera company, but this venture soon folded, and Roosevelt retired from the stage. She and her husband, the Marquis d'Alligri, returned to Europe by 1882 where she pursued a career in journalism and literature, writing biographies and novels. She became the mistress of Guy de Maupassant. Provided by Wikipedia