Bessie Clayton

Bessie Clayton (c. 1878 – July 16, 1948) was an American dancer, choreographer, and Broadway and vaudeville performer born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The New York Times identified her as America's first native-born prima ballerina, and critics of her era ranked her among the most versatile dancers of her generation.

Clayton was the daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Clayton and received her early training under ballet master George Washington Smith (1820–1899). Her professional career began during the 1890–91 season, when she performed in The Devil's Auction in Philadelphia under contract to Charles Yale. In 1891 she stepped into the role vacated by Loie Fuller in Charles Hoyt's A Trip to Chinatown at New York's Madison Square Theatre. Following a company tour to Australia, she returned to Broadway in Hoyt's A Black Sheep. By 1895 she had joined the variety team of Lew Fields and Joe Weber, remaining with them until their partnership dissolved in 1904.

Clayton became a vaudeville headliner in 1905 with an appearance at the Hyde and Benham Theatre in New York. She continued building her Broadway career with credits including The Belle of Mayfair (1906), Hip! Hip! Hooray! (1907), and The Merry Widow Burlesque (1908). She was a principal performer in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1909, and subsequently appeared in The Passing Show of 1912, as well as the burlesques Roly Poly and Hokey-Pokey. Her Broadway career spanned from 1899 to 1913.

In 1910, Clayton traveled to Europe to perform and to deepen her classical ballet training, studying with M. Curte of the Paris Opera and M. Bossin of La Scala. Her performances at the Théâtre de la Gaîté brought her considerable recognition in France, and she became the first foreign female dancer to receive the French Legion of Honor. She returned permanently to the United States in 1913 and continued performing in vaudeville until her retirement from the stage in 1924.

On May 23, 1894, Clayton married choreographer Julian Mitchell, with whom she had one daughter, Priscilla. The couple separated in 1910 and formally divorced in December 1923. The following year she married her former manager, Bert Cooper. Clayton spent her later years in West Long Branch, New Jersey, living with her granddaughter. She died in 1948 at Hazard Hospital in Long Branch.