Florence Gerald

Florence Melton Gerald (September 23, 1858 – September 6, 1942) was an American stage actress, poet, and writer whose Broadway career spanned from 1899 to 1934. Born in New Orleans to Omega Melton (1836–1918) and Judge George Bruce Gerald (1835–1914), she came from a family with notable historical connections. Her maternal grandfather, James G. Melton, had owned the only hotel at Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, a property that served as a gathering place following the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836, and was once home to the original Texas Liberty Bell.

Gerald pursued her education at Waco University, now known as Baylor University, in Waco, Texas, where she studied poetry and completed her degree in 1873. In 1880 she published Adenheim and Other Poems, issued by G. I. Jones and Company of St. Louis. Following her graduation, she was employed as an elocution instructor at Waco Female College, and her interest in playwriting developed during this same period.

In 1898, Gerald relocated to New York City to pursue a career on the stage. Under the management of Charles Frohman, she made her Broadway debut in The Girl from Maxim's at the Grand Opera House in 1898, with her credited Broadway appearances continuing through 1934. Her stage credits include the plays Valley Forge, Saint Wench, Maya, The Heaven Tappers, and The Barker, among other productions. During the summer of 1924, she also performed with the R. L. McLaughlin Stock Co. at the Ohio Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio.

Beyond performing, Gerald worked as a playwright. She wrote The Woman Pays, which was adapted into a 1915 silent film by screenwriter Harry Chandlee. Gerald died on September 6, 1942, at the age of 83, at the St. James Hotel at Broadway and 26th Street in New York City. She is buried in the Actors' Fund area of Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.