Kate Elinore

Kate Elinore (December 2, 1876 – December 30, 1924) was an American vaudeville entertainer and Broadway performer born in Brooklyn, New York. She is remembered for her comedy double-act with her sister May and for originating the role of Lizette in Victor Herbert's operetta Naughty Marietta.

Elinore launched her career in vaudeville alongside her sister May Elinore, making their first joint appearance on July 30, 1894, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Two years later, the Elinore Sisters joined Tony Pastor's Company in New York. Over the following fifteen years, the duo built a repertoire of Irish American characters whose humor drew on ethnic, class, and gender hierarchies. Elinore's comedic characters were rooted in the tradition of female impersonators.

Her Broadway career spanned from 1903 to 1910, during which she starred in the musical Mrs. Delaney of Newport. In 1910, she appeared in the original production of Naughty Marietta, playing the role of Lizette. Historian Karen Halttunen has described Elinore as a rare woman working in the rough field of ethnic comedy.

In 1909, Elinore began working with Sam Williams, a vaudeville pianist born in 1884, whom she later married. Elinore died on December 30, 1924, in Indianapolis, Indiana, following a mysterious illness. Papers documenting the Elinore Sisters' vaudeville act are held in the Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation division of the River Campus Libraries at the University of Rochester.