Wife Annie Ryan
Annie
Hindle was the first popular male impersonator performer in the United States.
Born in the 1840s in England, she and her adoptive mother, Ann Hindle,
migrated to New York City in 1868. Hall performed as a male impersonator in
solo acts and in minstrel shows from 1868 to 1886.[2]
The obituary of English-born Annie Hindle in the Chicago Herald reported
that in 1886 the famous male impersonator was married to her “dresser
and faithful companion” Annie Ryan, “a pretty little brunette of
twenty-five” by “a minister of the gospel, Rev. E.H. Brooks,” who
“solemnly pronounced Annie Hindle the husband of Annie Ryan.” Hindle
married in male dress, using a male name, but the article noted that
following the wedding she lived with Ryan while dressed as a woman: “The
neighbors respected them. . . . That they could live together openly as
man and wife, the husband always in female attire, and yet cause no
scandal, is the best proof of the esteem in which those around them held
them.”
Annie Hindle was born in England in the mid-1840s and adopted by Ann Hindle. Annie Hindle had an affinity for both singing and wearing men's clothes at an early age and began performing on the musical stage at the age of six.[3] Hindle and her mother moved to the United States in 1868.[2]
Hindle performed as a male impersonator on the American variety stage from 1868 and 1886 and received high reviews and steady bookings.[2] Her skills in male impersonation astounded her audience. A review of one of her performances at the Adelphi Theater in Galveston, Texas, noted, "Annie Hindle has proved a great success. As a male impersonator her sex is so concealed that one is apt to imagine that it is a man who is singing." [2]
Hindle's male impersonation career ended in 1886 when she married her dresser, Annie Ryan.[2]
Hindle's first marriage was to Charles Vivian, a ballad singer and founder of a theatrical fraternity. They married in 1868, but separated with no legal divorce six months later. Hindle later stated that Vivian had abused her during their relationship.[2]
In 1878, some newspapers reported that Hindle married minstrel performer W.W. Long, although no official records can confirm this. In addition, the pair never lived or traveled together.[2]
In 1886, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Hindle married her dresser Annie Ryan while on a tour through the mid-west. Hindle dressed in male clothing and gave her name as Charles and a local Baptist minister performed the ceremony.[2]
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