Mrs. Leslie Carter was an American stage and silent film actress in the 19th century. She was born to Orson Dudley in Louisville, Kentucky in 1862, but spent most of her childhood in Dayton, Ohio. Carter grew to be known as “the American Sarah Bernhardt” (Sara Bernhardt was a legendary French stage and film actress). She married Mr. Leslie Carter, a Chicago socialite, at age 17. Mrs. Carter first became known for a notorious divorce after only nine years of marriage for which she was accused of disloyalty. Carter was born as Caroline Louise Dudley, and after her divorce she turned to a career in acting where she kept her married name in retaliation to her ex-husband. Her fame as an actress was achieved under the direction of David Belasco who directed four shows in ten years that brought Carter to international fame. The quartet of plays included The Heart of Maryland, Zaza, Du Barry, and Adrea. Unfortunately, not many other works of hers would amount to the success of these four plays. During a later performance of Two Women Carter was negatively criticized by a review that stated her as having “the courage to persevere in a form of acting which is now almost extinct”. She then turned to “posing” rather than acting in her fifties when she performed in a few silent films. Later in her career Carter took on some supporting roles on Broadway before retiring to California.
http://academic.reed.edu/theatre/faculty/clinton/00msccarter/
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Mrs._Leslie_Carter
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