Bertha Galland

Bertha Galland (November 15, 1876 – November 20, 1932) was an American dramatic stage actress whose Broadway career spanned from 1900 to 1909, with her work concentrated in romantic roles.

Galland was born near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, though early travel documents and census records list Bergen, New Jersey and New York City as alternative birthplaces. Her father, Berthold Galland, was a native of Posen, Prussia — present-day Poznań, Poland — who emigrated to America in 1860, initially working as a dry goods merchant before establishing himself as a manufacturer of fashionable women's lace undergarments. Her mother, Anna Miller Hawley, was born in Harford, Pennsylvania and worked as a marine and landscape artist. Anna's sister, Effie Julia Hawley, was married to Louis Arthur Watres, who served as Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania.

Galland began studying drama in Europe before continuing her training in America under George Edgar, who had previously instructed actress Margaret Mather. In the summer of 1895, press reports announced that she would debut the following season performing Juliet, Lady Macbeth, and Frou-Frou on a New England tour, but the venture was cancelled two months later when her father and uncle withdrew their financial backing. By 1896 she had formed a stock company with Edgar, presenting scenes drawn from plays by Shakespeare, Sheridan, and Daly at venues including the opera house in Adams and the Columbia Opera House in North Adams, Massachusetts.

Her first major professional success came in 1900 at the Criterion Theatre in New York, where she played Marie Ottilie in The Pride of Jennico opposite James K. Hackett. The following year she appeared at the Lyceum Theatre as Isoult the Desirous in The Forest Lovers, and subsequently returned to the Lyceum to play Pansy de Castro in The Love Match. She also undertook a road production of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, performing the role of Esméralda in an extended engagement.

In 1903, Galland achieved what was considered her greatest success, starring as Dorothy in the Elizabethan drama Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall at the New York Theatre. The production toured for several seasons after its New York run and returned briefly to the city in a revival at the Lyric Theatre near the end of 1904. She also worked with producer David Belasco, playing the title role in Sweet Kitty Bellairs in New York and on tour. After a period away from the stage, Galland returned in 1909 to star in the modern fantasy The Return of Eve, which opened at the Herald Square Theatre early that year.

Beyond her stage work, Galland was present at several notable public events. On May 8, 1910, she was among fourteen prominent actresses who greeted President William Howard Taft before his inaugural address opening the Actors Fund Fair in New York, an event organized to raise $200,000 for the Actors Fund of America that drew approximately 10,000 visitors on its opening day. On May 2, 1929, she presented President Herbert Hoover with an illuminated copy of a song she had composed as a candidate for an American national anthem, titled America Beloved Land, which had previously been performed by the U.S. Marine Band at Hoover's inauguration celebration. She also composed a poem recited at the Twelfth Night Club's annual celebration at the American Women's Association ballroom on West Fifty-Seventh Street in New York, honoring producer Daniel Frohman as the club's guest of honor. Frohman subsequently read another of her poems at a luncheon following his annual inspection of the Actors Fund retirement home in Englewood, New Jersey.

In 1907, Galland was issued a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a lace fastener and yoke designed for a nightgown or kimono. The device could be detached before washing to protect the lace from damage, allowing a more expensive lace upper section to be affixed to a standard nightgown. She also wrote The Coral Girl, a libretto for light opera, which her former manager John James Donnelly had planned to produce; neither lived to see the project completed.

Galland chose to retire following her tour of The Return of Eve in 1910, despite remaining in demand and being only in her mid-thirties. During the years that followed she traveled and wrote, remaining active in theater circles alongside her mother. She died on November 20, 1932, in an automobile accident in White Plains, New York, while riding as a passenger with her mother and a family friend. The collision occurred when a car pulled out from a side street and the driver of Galland's vehicle was unable to stop in time; the impact caused the car to overturn and strike a fire hydrant, injuring several people at a nearby bus stop. Galland died en route to the hospital, and her mother died shortly after arriving. She was survived by her brother Seymour, whose daughter Dorothy Galland was a vaudeville singer, comedian, and quick-change artist active in the 1920s, and by her uncle Louis Watres.