Clarita Vidal
Clarita Vidal, from a 1903 publication
Born(1883-01-20)20 January 1883
Died17 June 1919(1919-06-17) (aged 36)
Other namesComtesse de Gaaverda[1]
Mme. Daisy Mazzuchi
Countess Chiquita Mazzuchi
Chick Mazzuchi
OccupationActress
Spouses
  • Lord Seymour
E. G. Mazzuchi
​
​
(m. 1909; div. 1917)​
Children1

Clarita Vidal (20 January 1883 – 17 June 1919) was an actress in Edwardian musical comedies, later known for her wartime work in Italy as Countess Chiquita Mazzuchi.

Early life

Vidal's origins were unclear, even to herself. "I really don't know what my nationality is," she confessed to a reporter in 1901.[2] She said she was born in Singapore, the daughter of a Spanish ambassador and an Englishwoman.[3] Elsewhere she was described as a native of the "Sunny South", raised in Spanish diplomatic circles in Algiers,[4] possibly as Chiquita Saavedra de Cervantes.[5][6][7]

Career

Clarita Vidal, from a 1909 publication.

Vidal was a Florodora girl,[3] and counted among the "beauties" of the stage.[8] Her Broadway appearances included roles in The Silver Slipper (1902-1903)[9] and Cynthia (1903). In London, she was seen in The New Regime (1903), The School Girl (1903), and His Highness, My Husband (1904).[10] "All the beauties of the day were in The School Girl," recalled actress Billie Burke. "I remember Clarita Vidal, famous and smick-smack, who posed as if she were made of wax, with just one expression of sheer beauty."[11]

"Chick" Mazzuchi driving an ambulance, from a 1917 publication.

She married in 1909 and left the stage, but reappeared in the news by late 1915[12] as "Mme. Daisy Mazzuchi"[13] or "Countess Chiquita 'Chick' Mazzuchi",[14] working as a nurse at Latisana, or an ambulance driver,[15] or both,[16] during World War I.[17][18] In 1917 she was a speaker at war relief fundraisers in New York,[19] telling of wounds she received (including a bullet[20]) in her work in Italy.[21]

Her use of the title "Countess" was criticized by the Italian consul in Chicago,[22] and her speeches were found to contain "grossly exaggerated" claims of her nursing experiences in the war zone.[3][23] She agreed to stop speaking or collecting money for war relief[24] when New York district attorney Edward Swann inquired about her work.[25][26][27]

Personal life

She married her first husband, an Englishman called Lord Seymour,[28] when she was sixteen; he was killed on their honeymoon in South Africa.[2] She married E. G. Mazzuchi in 1909.[5] She had a daughter named Rita. She divorced her second husband before 1918.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality". 1909.
  2. 1 2 "Recruiting the Ranks of the Famous Florodora Sextette" Archived 2018-09-15 at the Wayback Machine San Francisco Examiner (December 29, 1901): 28. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  3. 1 2 3 4 United States Congress, Senate Committee on Military Affairs, Regulating Collection of Money: Hearings Before the Committee on Military Affairs (U.S. Government Printing Office 1919): 23-24.
  4. ↑ "Clarita Vidal" The Royal Magazine (October 1903): 483.
  5. 1 2 "To be Married To-Morrow" Sketch (June 30, 1909): 389.
  6. ↑ Jack Drouillard, "Sister Chick, in Trenches since 1914, Decorated Twice for Bravery" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Evening World (May 21, 1918): 16. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  7. ↑ "Countess Gives War Talk Here" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Indianapolis Star (November 12, 1917): 4. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  8. ↑ Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen 2d., "Beauty in the Modern Chorus" Cosmopolitan (March 1903): 494.
  9. ↑ Leslie Stuart, Owen Hall, W. H. Risque, The Silver Slipper: A Musical Comedy (T. B. Harms 1901).
  10. ↑ J. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel (Scarecrow Press 2013): 140, 149, 201.ISBN 9780810892941
  11. ↑ Billie Burke, With a Feather on my Nose (Pickle Partners Publishing 2015). ISBN 9781786256126
  12. ↑ "Wounded Soldiers Nursed in Cellars" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Boston Globe (December 17, 1915): 4. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  13. ↑ "Sails for War Zone with Ambulances" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Chicago Tribune (February 1, 1916): 21. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  14. ↑ "Sister Chick the White Devil of Rheims" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Atlanta Constitution (September 16, 1917): 4. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  15. ↑ "Italy's First Woman Ambulance Driver Here Seeking Aid" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Riverside Daily Press (July 18, 1917): 3. via California Digital Newspaper CollectionOpen access icon
  16. ↑ "Shell-Torn Wounded Tended Under Fire by Woman Nurse and Hospital Organizer on Italian Front" Chicago Commerce (August 3, 1917): 3.
  17. ↑ "Soldiers Worship 'Chick'" Traralgon Record (August 9, 1918): 6. via TroveOpen access icon
  18. ↑ "Italian Nurse Hurt in Aeroplane Raid" New York Times (August 20, 1916): 14. via ProQuest
  19. ↑ Chloe Arnold, "Mrs. Mazzuchi's Work in War Inspiring to Women Throughout the World" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine The Sun (January 13, 1918): 43. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  20. ↑ "Table Gossip" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Boston Globe (June 24, 1917): 57. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  21. ↑ "Representatives Hear War Speakers" Printers' Ink (October 4, 1917): 97.
  22. ↑ "'Angel of Marne' Doffs Halo to Swear Vendetta" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Chicago Tribune (November 16, 1917): 13. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  23. ↑ "Woman's Title False, Italian Consul Says" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Chicago Examiner (November 14, 1917): 1. via Chicago Public LibraryOpen access icon
  24. ↑ "'Countess' Ordered to End 'War Fund'" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine New-York Tribune (August 3, 1918): 7. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  25. ↑ "Swann Summons Countess" New York Times (June 23, 1918): 14. via ProQuest
  26. ↑ "Countess Quits War Work" New York Times (August 3, 1918): 16. via ProQuest
  27. ↑ "Wiping Out the War Charity Profiteers and Wasters" Archived 2018-09-15 at the Wayback Machine San Francisco Examiner (September 22, 1918): 47. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  28. ↑ "Italian Countess from War Zone to Make Talk Here" Archived 2018-09-15 at the Wayback Machine Indianapolis Star (November 4, 1917): 61. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
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