Ethel Dovey

Ethel Dovey (January 12, 1882 – November 20, 1920) was an American singer and stage actress born in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, the eldest child of Margaret and George E. Dovey. She came from a large family that included four sisters and two brothers, among them stage star Alice Dovey, with whom she shared much of her early training and performing life. Dovey was also the niece of the National League of Baseball president and the great-granddaughter of William Kennish, author and poet.

Dovey's musical education began around 1890, when she and her sister Alice studied with Miss Lillian Terry for approximately four years. In 1894, the two traveled to England, where critics responded favorably and predicted promising futures for them. The following year, in March 1895, they performed at a Royal bazaar held at the Cannon Street Hotel before an audience that included the Duchess of Fife and the Ambassador to the United States, under the care of Lillian Terry. Actor and theater figure Henry Gartside Neville expressed his belief at that time that the sisters would go on to become actresses. During this period abroad, Dovey and Alice studied voice and languages at Madame Cellini's School of Music in London, living with their grandmother, and were known collectively as the "Nebraska sisters." Their maternal grandfather, Charles Dawson, had been instrumental in arranging their rigorous training, insisting from an early age that they study under the finest teachers available. Around 1898, Dovey performed under the stage name Marie Louise Nebriska, and in August 1899 she and her sister appeared at The Crystal Palace in London, where Ellen Terry was counted among their admirers. Their musical education was ultimately completed in Paris following the death of their grandmother.

Upon returning to the United States, Dovey enrolled at the Chicago Musical College, graduating in 1901 and receiving the Joseph Jefferson diamond medal for dramatic art. In 1902, she and Alice joined the cast of The Strollers, a successful musical comedy that brought them recognition across multiple seasons and led to engagements at leading musical venues in major cities. Throughout the period from 1902 to 1912, Dovey was recognized as a musical stage star and was a frequent performer in Nebraska City, Nebraska. In June 1906, she appeared for the first time in the same performance as her younger sister Margaret, who played piano. In May 1908, Dovey appeared in the theater production The District Leader, where she was praised as one of the most skilled comediennes to have performed in Butte and was noted for her graceful stage presence. It was in this production that she met actor Fred Truesdell. Her Broadway career included an appearance in 1910 in the musical Alma, Where Do You Live?

Dovey married Fred Truesdell on February 6, 1909, in Oakland, California. The two had met while performing with the Stubborn Cinderella company and had decided privately on an immediate marriage, keeping the news secret until a bridesmaid who had witnessed the ceremony revealed it. Truesdell was at the time a prominent leading man on stage. The couple had two daughters together: Jane Margaret, born around 1910, and Betty Ann, born around 1913. Dovey later married Willis M. Palmer in 1918.

Ill health compelled Dovey to retire from the stage in 1912. She spent time traveling in an effort to recover her health and visited her parents during this period. She died at her home in Des Moines, Iowa, on November 20, 1920, survived by her father, siblings, husband, and two daughters. Her funeral was held on November 30, 1920, in Plattsmouth, Nebraska.