Jump to content

Red Wing (actress): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
 
(23 intermediate revisions by 16 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|American actress}}

{{about|the silent film actress|the [[Narragansett people|Narragansett]] historian|Princess Red Wing|the burlesque dancer|Lili St. Cyr}}
{{about|the silent film actress|the [[Narragansett people|Narragansett]] historian|Princess Red Wing|the burlesque dancer|Lili St. Cyr}}


{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
|image = Red Wing 1914.jpg
| image = Red Wing 1914.jpg
|imagesize = 200px
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = Who's Who in the Film World (1914)
| caption = Who's Who in the Film World (1914)
| name = Red Wing
| name = Red Wing
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1873|2|13}} or {{Birth date|1884|2|13}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1884|2|23}}
| birth_place = [[Winnebago Reservation]], [[Nebraska]], [[United States]]<ref name="filmreference.com"/>
| birth_place = [[Winnebago Reservation]], [[Nebraska]], United States{{Citation needed |date=March 2022}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1974|3|13|1873|2|13}} or {{Death date and age|1974|3|13|1884|2|13}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1974|3|13|1873|2|13}} or {{Death date and age|1974|3|13|1884|2|13}}
| death_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States
| death_place = [[New York City, New York]]
| birth_name = Lillian Margaret St. Cyr
| birth_name = Lilian Margaret St. Cyr
| occupation = [[Actress]]
| occupation = [[Actress]]
| yearsactive = [[1908 in film|1908]]{{spaced ndash}}[[1921 in film|1921]]
| yearsactive = [[1908 in film|1908]]{{spaced ndash}}[[1921 in film|1921]]
| spouse = [[James Young Deer]] (1906-19??)<br>Joe Eaglefoot (1925-1929)
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[James Young Deer]]|1906}}
* {{marriage|Joe Eaglefoot|1925|1929}}
}}
}}
}}


'''Red Wing''' (born '''Lillian Margaret St. Cyr'''; February 13, 1873 or 1884<ref>{{cite web|last=Aleiss|first=Angela|url=https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/100-years-ago-lillian-st-cyr-first-native-star-in-hollywood-feature-TFY0I0VLU0-Y8rRBh2Bllg|title=100 Years Ago: Lillian St. Cyr, First Native Star in Hollywood Feature|date=24 February 2014|work=Indian Country Today Media Network|accessdate=8 March 2020}}</ref>{{spaced ndash}}March 13, 1974) was an American actress of the [[silent film|silent era]]. She and her husband [[James Young Deer]] have been dubbed by some as one of the first [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] Hollywood "power couple(s)" along with [[Mona Darkfeather]] and her actor/director husband [[Frank Montgomery (director)|Frank E. Montgomery]].<ref name="nsea.org"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Brightwell|first=Eric|url=http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2010/11/eric-s-blog/red-wing-and-young-deer-the-first-couple-of-native-american-silent-film-.html|title=Red Wing and Young Deer, the First Couple of Native American Silent Film|date=November 20, 2010|accessdate=February 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>See Billy Doyle’s “Lost Players,” ''Classic Images'', September 1993, 54-55 for Darkfeather's fascinating career, which rose to prominence at the Kalem Company under her husband Frank E. Montgomery.</ref> St. Cyr was born on the [[Winnebago Reservation]] in [[Nebraska]].
'''Red Wing''' (born '''Lilian Margaret St. Cyr'''; February 23, 1884<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waggoner |first=Linda M. |title=Starring Red Wing!: The Incredible Career of Lillian M. St. Cyr, the First Native American Film Star |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=2019 |location=Lincoln, Nebraska |pages=19}}</ref>{{spaced ndash}}March 13, 1974) was an American actress of the [[silent film|silent era]]. She and her husband [[James Young Deer]] have been dubbed by some as one of the first [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] Hollywood "power couple(s)" along with [[Mona Darkfeather]] and her actor/director husband [[Frank Montgomery (director)|Frank E. Montgomery]].<ref name="nsea.org"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Brightwell|first=Eric|url=http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2010/11/eric-s-blog/red-wing-and-young-deer-the-first-couple-of-native-american-silent-film-.html|title=Red Wing and Young Deer, the First Couple of Native American Silent Film|date=November 20, 2010|accessdate=February 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>See Billy Doyle’s “Lost Players,” ''Classic Images'', September 1993, 54-55 for Darkfeather's fascinating career, which rose to prominence at the Kalem Company under her husband Frank E. Montgomery.</ref> St. Cyr was born on the [[Winnebago Reservation]] in [[Nebraska]].


==Early life==
==Early life==
Lillian attended the [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School]] in [[Pennsylvania]], which enrolled students from a variety of Native American tribes. She moved to [[Washington, D.C.]] to work as a domestic servant for [[Kansas]] Senator [[Chester I. Long]] and his wife. There she met and married James Younger Johnson, nicknamed James Young Deer, on April 9, 1906. Young Deer was of mixed [[ethnic groups in Europe|European]], [[African Americans|African-American]] and [[Lenape|Delaware Indian]] ancestry (according to St. Cyr) and a member of the [[Nanticoke people|Nanticoke tribe]]. A native of Washington, D.C., Young Deer served in the US Navy during the [[Spanish–American War]].<ref name="Aleiss">{{Cite web|last=Aleiss|first=Angela|url=http://brightlightsfilm.com/80/80-james-young-deer-silent-movies-pathe-producer-black-native-american-indian-aleiss.php#.UtkhP_ucs6w|title=Who Was the Real James Young Deer?|date=May 2013|work=Bright Lights Film Journal|accessdate=January 17, 2014}}</ref>
Lilian attended the [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School]] in [[Pennsylvania]], which enrolled students from a variety of Native American tribes, between 1894 and 1902.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lilian St. Cyr Student Information Card {{!}} Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center |url=https://carlisleindian.dickinson.edu/student_files/lilian-st-cyr-student-information-card |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=carlisleindian.dickinson.edu}}</ref> She moved to [[Washington, D.C.]] to work as a domestic servant for [[Kansas]] Senator [[Chester I. Long]] and his wife. There she met and married James Younger Johnson, nicknamed James Young Deer, on April 9, 1906. Young Deer was of mixed [[ethnic groups in Europe|European]], [[African Americans|African-American]] and [[Lenape|Delaware Indian]] ancestry (according to St. Cyr) and a member of the [[Nanticoke people|Nanticoke tribe]]. A native of Washington, D.C., Young Deer served in the US Navy during the [[Spanish–American War]].<ref name="Aleiss">{{Cite web|last=Aleiss|first=Angela|url=http://brightlightsfilm.com/80/80-james-young-deer-silent-movies-pathe-producer-black-native-american-indian-aleiss.php#.UtkhP_ucs6w|title=Who Was the Real James Young Deer?|date=May 2013|work=Bright Lights Film Journal|accessdate=January 17, 2014}}</ref>


==Personal life and early roles==
==Personal life and early roles==
After they married the couple performed a Western act in various venues around [[New York City]] and [[Philadelphia]].<ref>''One Reel a Week'' by [[Fred J. Balshofer]] and [[Arthur C. Miller]]</ref> In 1908, St. Cyr appeared in the [[Kalem Company]]'s ''[[The White Squaw]]'', followed in May 1909 by [[Lubin Manufacturing Company|Lubin]]'s ''The Falling Arrow.'' In the summer of 1909 they worked both as technical advisers and extras for two films directed by [[D. W. Griffith]].{{Citation needed|Which two films?|date=March 2020}} St. Cyr also appeared in the [[Vitagraph Studios]]' ''Red Wing's Gratitude'' that Fall as the character "Princess Red Wing". Concurrently, they worked for Bison films ([[New York Motion Picture Company]]), which relocated from New York City to [[Edendale, Los Angeles, California|Edendale]] in the Fall of 1909.<ref name="Aleiss"/>
After they married the couple performed a Western act in various venues around [[New York City]] and [[Philadelphia]].<ref>''One Reel a Week'' by [[Fred J. Balshofer]] and [[Arthur C. Miller]]</ref> In 1908, St. Cyr appeared in the [[Kalem Company]]'s ''[[The White Squaw]]'', followed in May 1909 by [[Lubin Manufacturing Company|Lubin]]'s ''The Falling Arrow.'' In the summer of 1909 they worked as technical advisers and extras for ''The Mended Lute'' and ''Indian Runner's Romance'' both directed by [[D. W. Griffith]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Aleiss|first=Angela|title=Hollywood's Native Americans: Stories of Identity and Resistance|year=2022|publisher=Praeger|location=Westport, CT/London|page=8}}</ref> St. Cyr also appeared in the [[Vitagraph Studios]]' ''Red Wing's Gratitude'' that Fall as the character "Princess Red Wing". Concurrently, they worked for Bison films ([[New York Motion Picture Company]]), which relocated from New York City to [[Edendale, Los Angeles, California|Edendale]] in the fall of 1909.<ref>{{cite book|last=Aleiss|first=Angela|title=Making the White Man's Indian: Native Americans and Hollywood Movies |year=2005|publisher=Praeger|location=Westport, CT/London|page=16}}</ref>


==Film==
==Film==
St. Cyr is best known for her feature role in ''[[The Squaw Man (1914 film)|The Squaw Man]]'' (1914) by producer/director [[Cecil B. DeMille]] and co-director [[Oscar Apfel]], released in 1914. The movie starred [[Dustin Farnum]] and [[Monroe Salisbury]]. DeMille's first choice had actually been Mona Darkfeather, but she was under contract with the Kalem Company and had to turn down the offer.<ref> ''The San Francisco Dramatic Review'', January 10, 1914, p. 11</ref> Her appearance in the film was actually preceded by [[Jesse Cornplanter]]'s lead in the feature film [[Hiawatha (1913 film)|''Hiawatha'']], released in 1913, a year before ''The Squaw Man''. After that last movie St. Cyr had a role with cowboy star [[Tom Mix]] in ''[[In the Days of the Thundering Herd]]'' (1914) and another one in ''Fighting Bob'' (1915). The 1916 version of ''[[Ramona (1916 film)|Ramona]],'' about Native Americans and Spanish colonists in early California, featured St. Cyr in a small role as Ramona's mother.<ref>{{cite web|last=Aleiss|first=Angela|url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/02/28/lillian-st-cyr-story-part-2-squaw-man-and-hollywood-years-153784|title=The Lillian St. Cyr Story, Part 2: 'Squaw Man' and the Hollywood Years|date=February 28, 2014|work=Indian Country Today Media Network|accessdate=March 8, 2014}}</ref>
St. Cyr is best known for her feature role in ''[[The Squaw Man (1914 film)|The Squaw Man]]'' (1914) by producer/director [[Cecil B. DeMille]] and co-director [[Oscar Apfel]], released in 1914. The movie starred [[Dustin Farnum]] and [[Monroe Salisbury]]. DeMille's first choice had actually been Mona Darkfeather, but she was under contract with the Kalem Company and had to turn down the offer.<ref>''The San Francisco Dramatic Review'', January 10, 1914, p. 11</ref> Her appearance in the film was actually preceded by [[Jesse Cornplanter]]'s lead in the feature film [[Hiawatha (1913 film)|''Hiawatha'']], released in 1913, a year before ''The Squaw Man''. After that last movie St. Cyr had a role with cowboy star [[Tom Mix]] in ''[[In the Days of the Thundering Herd]]'' (1914) and another one in ''Fighting Bob'' (1915). The 1916 version of ''[[Ramona (1916 film)|Ramona]],'' about Native Americans and Spanish colonists in early California, featured St. Cyr in a small role as Ramona's mother.<ref>{{cite web|last=Aleiss|first=Angela|url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/02/28/lillian-st-cyr-story-part-2-squaw-man-and-hollywood-years-153784|title=The Lillian St. Cyr Story, Part 2: 'Squaw Man' and the Hollywood Years|date=February 28, 2014|work=Indian Country Today Media Network|accessdate=March 8, 2014}}</ref>


From 1908-1921, St. Cyr performed in more than 35 short Western films.<ref name="newspaperrock"/> She retired from acting in the 1920s and returned to New York City to settle. She was buried in the Roman Catholic St. Augustine Cemetery in [[Thurston County, Nebraska]], near the [[Winnebago Reservation]].
From 1908 to 1921, St. Cyr performed in more than 35 short Western films.<ref name="newspaperrock"/> She retired from acting in the 1920s and returned to New York City to settle. She was buried in the Roman Catholic St. Augustine Cemetery in [[Thurston County, Nebraska]], near the [[Winnebago Reservation]].


==Popular culture==
==Popular culture==
"[[Red Wing (song)|Red Wing]]," a popular song of 1907 by [[Kerry Mills]] and [[Thurland Chattaway]], was said to be have been performed by her and was associated with her. However, film historians question this.<ref>{{cite journal|last=O'Connor|first=Mark|url=http://americanstrings.blogspot.com/2011/07/red-wing.html?m=1|title=Red Wing|publisher=New American School of String Playing|volume=II|date=July 15, 2011|work=The O'Connor Method - A New American School of String Playing|accessdate=July 8, 2013}}</ref>
"[[Red Wing (song)|Red Wing]]," a popular song of 1907 by [[Kerry Mills]] and [[Thurland Chattaway]], was said to have been performed by her and was associated with her. However, film historians question this.<ref>{{cite journal|last=O'Connor|first=Mark|url=http://americanstrings.blogspot.com/2011/07/red-wing.html?m=1|title=Red Wing|publisher=New American School of String Playing|volume=II|date=July 15, 2011|journal=The O'Connor Method - A New American School of String Playing|accessdate=July 8, 2013}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|refs=
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="filmreference.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Race-and-Ethnicity-HOLLYWOOD-WHITENESS-AND-STEREOTYPES.html|title=Hollywood Whiteness and Stereotypes|work=filmreference.com|accessdate=11 August 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="newspaperrock">{{cite web|url=http://newspaperrock.bluecorncomics.com/2008/12/young-deer-and-red-wing.html|title=Young Deer and Red Wing|work=newspaperrock|accessdate=11 August 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="newspaperrock">{{cite web|url=http://newspaperrock.bluecorncomics.com/2008/12/young-deer-and-red-wing.html|title=Young Deer and Red Wing|work=newspaperrock}|accessdate=11 August 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="nsea.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.nsea.org/news/StCyrYoungDeerProfile.htm|title=Profile: Lillian St. Cyr (Princess Red Wing) and James Young Deer|work=nsea.org|accessdate=11 August 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="nsea.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.nsea.org/news/StCyrYoungDeerProfile.htm|title=Profile: Lillian St. Cyr (Princess Red Wing) and James Young Deer|work=nsea.org|accessdate=11 August 2010}}</ref>
}}
}}


==External link==
==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0934969|Red Wing}}
{{Commons category}}
* {{IMDb name|0934969|Red Wing}}
* {{AFI person|199894-Princess-RedWing|Princess Red Wing}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Wing}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Wing}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:19th-century births]]
[[Category:1884 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Nebraska]]
[[Category:Actresses from Nebraska]]
⚫
[[Category:American centenarians]]
[[Category:American silent film actresses]]
[[Category:American silent film actresses]]
[[Category:Native American actresses]]
[[Category:Native American actresses]]
[[Category:People from Thurston County, Nebraska]]
[[Category:People from Thurston County, Nebraska]]
[[Category:Carlisle Indian Industrial School alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Native American women]]
[[Category:20th-century Native Americans]]
[[Category:Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska people]]
⚫
[[Category:Native American people from Nebraska]]

Latest revision as of 04:45, 10 September 2024

This article is about the silent film actress. For the Narragansett historian, see Princess Red Wing. For the burlesque dancer, see Lili St. Cyr.
Red Wing
Who's Who in the Film World (1914)
Born
Lilian Margaret St. Cyr

(1884-02-23)February 23, 1884
Winnebago Reservation, Nebraska, United States[citation needed]
DiedMarch 13, 1974(1974-03-13) (aged 101) or March 13, 1974(1974-03-13) (aged 90)
New York City, New York
OccupationActress
Years active1908 – 1921
Spouses
​
(m. 1906)​
Joe Eaglefoot
​
(m. 1925⁠–⁠1929)​

Red Wing (born Lilian Margaret St. Cyr; February 23, 1884[1] – March 13, 1974) was an American actress of the silent era. She and her husband James Young Deer have been dubbed by some as one of the first Native American Hollywood "power couple(s)" along with Mona Darkfeather and her actor/director husband Frank E. Montgomery.[2][3][4] St. Cyr was born on the Winnebago Reservation in Nebraska.

Early life

[edit]

Lilian attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, which enrolled students from a variety of Native American tribes, between 1894 and 1902.[5] She moved to Washington, D.C. to work as a domestic servant for Kansas Senator Chester I. Long and his wife. There she met and married James Younger Johnson, nicknamed James Young Deer, on April 9, 1906. Young Deer was of mixed European, African-American and Delaware Indian ancestry (according to St. Cyr) and a member of the Nanticoke tribe. A native of Washington, D.C., Young Deer served in the US Navy during the Spanish–American War.[6]

Personal life and early roles

[edit]

After they married the couple performed a Western act in various venues around New York City and Philadelphia.[7] In 1908, St. Cyr appeared in the Kalem Company's The White Squaw, followed in May 1909 by Lubin's The Falling Arrow. In the summer of 1909 they worked as technical advisers and extras for The Mended Lute and Indian Runner's Romance both directed by D. W. Griffith.[8] St. Cyr also appeared in the Vitagraph Studios' Red Wing's Gratitude that Fall as the character "Princess Red Wing". Concurrently, they worked for Bison films (New York Motion Picture Company), which relocated from New York City to Edendale in the fall of 1909.[9]

Film

[edit]

St. Cyr is best known for her feature role in The Squaw Man (1914) by producer/director Cecil B. DeMille and co-director Oscar Apfel, released in 1914. The movie starred Dustin Farnum and Monroe Salisbury. DeMille's first choice had actually been Mona Darkfeather, but she was under contract with the Kalem Company and had to turn down the offer.[10] Her appearance in the film was actually preceded by Jesse Cornplanter's lead in the feature film Hiawatha, released in 1913, a year before The Squaw Man. After that last movie St. Cyr had a role with cowboy star Tom Mix in In the Days of the Thundering Herd (1914) and another one in Fighting Bob (1915). The 1916 version of Ramona, about Native Americans and Spanish colonists in early California, featured St. Cyr in a small role as Ramona's mother.[11]

From 1908 to 1921, St. Cyr performed in more than 35 short Western films.[12] She retired from acting in the 1920s and returned to New York City to settle. She was buried in the Roman Catholic St. Augustine Cemetery in Thurston County, Nebraska, near the Winnebago Reservation.

[edit]

"Red Wing," a popular song of 1907 by Kerry Mills and Thurland Chattaway, was said to have been performed by her and was associated with her. However, film historians question this.[13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Waggoner, Linda M. (2019). Starring Red Wing!: The Incredible Career of Lillian M. St. Cyr, the First Native American Film Star. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. p. 19.
  2. ^ "Profile: Lillian St. Cyr (Princess Red Wing) and James Young Deer". nsea.org. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  3. ^ Brightwell, Eric (November 20, 2010). "Red Wing and Young Deer, the First Couple of Native American Silent Film". Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  4. ^ See Billy Doyle’s “Lost Players,” Classic Images, September 1993, 54-55 for Darkfeather's fascinating career, which rose to prominence at the Kalem Company under her husband Frank E. Montgomery.
  5. ^ "Lilian St. Cyr Student Information Card | Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center". carlisleindian.dickinson.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  6. ^ Aleiss, Angela (May 2013). "Who Was the Real James Young Deer?". Bright Lights Film Journal. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  7. ^ One Reel a Week by Fred J. Balshofer and Arthur C. Miller
  8. ^ Aleiss, Angela (2022). Hollywood's Native Americans: Stories of Identity and Resistance. Westport, CT/London: Praeger. p. 8.
  9. ^ Aleiss, Angela (2005). Making the White Man's Indian: Native Americans and Hollywood Movies. Westport, CT/London: Praeger. p. 16.
  10. ^ The San Francisco Dramatic Review, January 10, 1914, p. 11
  11. ^ Aleiss, Angela (February 28, 2014). "The Lillian St. Cyr Story, Part 2: 'Squaw Man' and the Hollywood Years". Indian Country Today Media Network. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  12. ^ "Young Deer and Red Wing". newspaperrock. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  13. ^ O'Connor, Mark (July 15, 2011). "Red Wing". The O'Connor Method - A New American School of String Playing. II. New American School of String Playing. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Red Wing (actress).
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Red_Wing_(actress)&oldid=1244954131"