Historic Photo Gallery: 1900 to 1920
1902
The 1902 season opened with
The Wild Rose, starring a young showgirl named
Evelyn Nesbit. Despite her notoriety as a model and Gibson Girl, Nesbit is best
known for her involvement in what would later be called "The Crime of the Century"
when her husband Harry K. Thaw murdered her former lover, prominent architect
Stanford White, on the rooftop garden of Madison Square Garden. Their story was
later sensationalized in the 1955 film
The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing.
Also of note, prior to her marriage to Thaw, Nesbit was courted by John Barrymore,
member of the famous Barrymore acting clan. Despite becoming pregnant by Barrymore
twice, she turned down his marriage proposals. (Photograph courtesy of Library of
Congress, Prints & Photographs Division.)
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