Jane Oaker
Oaker in 1907
Born
Wilhelmina Dorothy Peper

June 17, 1878
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
DiedJanuary 15, 1960 (aged 81)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
OccupationActress
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1901; div. 1912)​

Wilhelmina "Minnie" Dorothy Peper (June 17, 1878 — January 15, 1960), known professionally as Jane Oaker, was an American theatre actress.

Early life

Wilhelmina Dorothy Peper was born in St. Louis, Missouri,[1] the daughter of Christian C. Peper, a wealthy tobacco manufacturer.[2][3] Peper attended Vassar College, and the New York School of Dramatic Art.[4]

"I am ready to assert most positively and from personal observation that a big bank account is of the greatest importance in pushing a girl forward in a dramatic career," she wrote of her wealthy background, adding "a trunkful of imported toggery will give the rich girl an opportunity to appear in one of those coveted roles that calls for no more talent than a series of handsome gowns."[5]

Career

Oaker co-starred with Wilton Lackaye in The Pit, 1904

Oaker started on the stage in the 1900, as Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream.[6] In 1903 she headed the Jane Oaker Stock Company.[2][7] Broadway appearances[8] by Oaker included roles in The Pit (1904),[9] The Pillars of Society (1904), The Silver Girl (1907),[10] Love Among the Lions (1910),[11] The Importance of Being Earnest (1910),[12] Cousin Lucy (1915),[13] Lightnin' (1918—1921),[14][15] and Los Angeles (1927—1928). On the London stage, she was seen in The Butter and Egg Man (1927).[16][17] She starred in Clyde Fitch's comedy Girls on tour in 1908.[18]

In 1907 the New York Times reported that Oaker saved a five-year-old child in the path of an oncoming car on Broadway.[19] In 1924 she was hurt as a passenger in an automobile accident in San Francisco.[20]

Personal life

Oaker married actor Hale Hamilton in 1901.[21][22] They divorced in 1912, just before Hamilton married another actress, Myrtle Tannehill.[23]

Oaker died in St. Louis in 1960, and was buried in the city's Bellefontaine Cemetery.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Harry Prescott Hanaford, Who's Who in Music and Drama (H. P. Hanaford 1914): 239.
  2. 1 2 Johnson Briscoe, The actors' birthday book (Moffat, Yard and Company 1908): 145.
  3. ↑ "Christian C. Peper Dies of Heart Disease" Tobacco: An Illustrated Weekly Journal (April 8, 1920): 5.
  4. ↑ "Wins a Fortune" Topeka State Journal (December 28, 1906): 5. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  5. ↑ Jane Oaker, "The Rich Girl on the Stage" Broadway Magazine (September 1904): 55-57.
  6. ↑ "Stage Robs Society Again" Cañon City Record (October 25, 1900): 3. via Colorado Historic Newspapers CollectionOpen access icon
  7. ↑ "Hale Hamilton in Denver" Topeka State Journal (May 16, 1903): 7. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  8. ↑ James E. Sprott, "The Stage" The Business Woman's Magazine (July-August 1903): 76.
  9. ↑ "'The Pit' – 'Tis Pitty" New York Times (February 11, 1904): 9. via ProQuest
  10. ↑ "The Sacrifice Heroic" New York Times (October 27, 1907): X2. via ProQuest
  11. ↑ "The New Plays" The Theatre (September 1910): 69.
  12. ↑ "Portraits of Stage Favorites" Cosmopolitan (April 1911): 660.
  13. ↑ "Julian Eltinge in Klein's Last Play" New York Times (August 28, 1915): 7. via ProQuest
  14. ↑ "Mr. Hornblow Goes to the Play" Theatre Magazine (October 1918): 209.
  15. ↑ "No Joke to Play One Role for Five Years" Boston Globe (March 11, 1923): 60. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  16. ↑ J. P. Wearing, The London Stage, 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel (Rowman & Littlefield 2014): 535. ISBN 9780810893023
  17. ↑ "Hail 'Butter and Egg Man'" New York Times (August 31, 1927): 19. via ProQuest
  18. ↑ "A Quiet Month" The World To-Day (July 1908): 695.
  19. ↑ "Actress in Real Rescue" New York Times (October 18, 1907): 11. via ProQuest
  20. ↑ "Actress Injured" The Herald-Press (February 15, 1924): 3. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  21. ↑ "Jane Oakes to be Married" Los Angeles Herald (January 8, 1901): 3. via California Digital Newspaper CollectionOpen access icon
  22. ↑ "Actors Married at St. Louis" New York Times (December 22, 1901): 2.
  23. ↑ "'Jane Oaker' Divorced Here a Month Ago; Husband Remarries" St. Louis Post-Dispatch (December 15, 1912): 29. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  24. ↑ "Mrs. Jane Hamilton Funeral Held Here" St. Louis Post-Dispatch (January 19, 1960): 9. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
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