Lydia Yeamans Titus was an Australian singer and actress of the stage and motion pictures. She was the daughter of Edward Yeamans, a circus clown and Annie Yeamans(1835 – 3 March 1912). Her mother was a noted stage performer on two continents as well as having traveled to Japan, China, Java and the Philippines. Her parents came to America through San Francisco and shortly after arriving Mr Yeamans died. Lydia had two siblings, older sister Jennie Yeamans(1862 – November 29, 1906) was an even more famous child actress on the stage in the 1870s and 1880s, and died of tuberculosis in 1906. And younger sister Emily Yeamans who was a supporting actress and who died young as well. Lydia also a child actress & singer became more famous to film audiences as a character actress after she started appearing in silent films in the 1910s.

International star

As a vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 attraction in 1900, Titus was made an honorary member of the Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

 Elks Lodge. She was later made an honorary member of the San Francisco lodge.

Titus made popular the song Sally In Our Alley and performed it for Edward VII. She was presented with a gold bar pin by the king with the first notes of the song written in diamonds.

The actress gave life to a variety of characters and was especially skilled in playing child life roles. Her imitations were masterpieces of the art of mimicry. She captivated audiences with the personality she brought to each theatrical production.

Titus began her movie career in 1911. In 1915 she became a screen performer for Universal Studios

Universal Studios

Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

. Later on, she supported, among others, Geraldine Farrar

Geraldine Farrar

Geraldine Farrar was an American soprano opera singer and film actress, noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." She had a large following among young women, who were nicknamed "Gerry-flappers".- Early life and opera career :Farrar was born in Melrose,...

. With the latter she made The World And Its Woman (1919). The story was about a Russian peasant who rises to fame as an operatic diva

Diva

A diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....

. In the movie Titus sang some of the songs(though this was a silent film) that she performed for English royalty in the 1890s.

Titus's extensive filmography encompasses a good part of the silent film era and would've extended far into the talkies if she had not died in 1929. She supported some of Hollywood's most well known and legendary stars like Rudolph Valentino

Rudolph Valentino

Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...

, Lon Chaney

Lon Chaney, Sr.

Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...

 and even Jackie Coogan

Jackie Coogan

John Leslie Coogan , known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family...

.

She was married to the pianist Frederick J. Titus. He had previously been married to the actress Edna May

Edna May

Edna May Pettie , known on stage as Edna May, was an American actress and singer. A popular postcard beauty, May was famous for her leading roles in Edwardian Musical Comedies.- Life and career :...

 from 1896 to 1904. It is not known if Titus and Yeamans had children.

Death

Lydia Yeamans Titus died in 1929 from a paralytic stroke. She was given hospital care by the Motion Picture Relief Fund.
Her remains were cremated and the ashes were thrown into the waves of the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

.

External links

• picture of Lydia Yeamans(on left) & her sister Jennie circa mid 1870s
• Lydia Yeamans Titus photo gallery NY Public Library Billy Rose Collection(man in photos probably Fred Titus)