Gilda Varesi

Gilda Varesi, who was named for a character in Verdi's Rigoletto,[2] moved to Chicago as a child, with her family.

[3] Varesi started on stage in Chicago, with the Ben Greet Players, before joining Helena Modjeska's troupe,[4] then working with Minnie Maddern Fiske in Salvation Nell (1908) and Little Italy.

"[9] Varesi co-wrote (with Dolly Byrne) and starred in Enter Madame,[10] a comedy about an opera singer based on her mother,[11] who died months before the show opened on Broadway in 1920.

"[14] Enter Madame was adapted for the screen twice, as a silent film in 1922, starring Clara Kimball Young and Elliott Dexter, and as a sound picture in 1935, with Cary Grant and Elissa Landi.

Gilda Varesi was introduced to English lawyer John Gordon Archibald by actress Doris Keane and playwright Alfred Sutro in London.