Dressler was born Leila Marie Koerber in Cobourg, Ontario, to parents Alexander Rudolph Koerber (who was Austrian), a former officer in the Crimean War and Anna Henderson, a musician. Her father was a music teacher in Cobourg and the organist at St. Peter's Church, where as a child, Marie would sing and assist in operating the organ. Her first acting appearance was as Cupid at age five in a church theatrical performance in Lindsay, Ontario. Dressler left home at fourteen and began her acting career as a chorus girl with the Nevada Stock Company when she was fourteen. Her first job paid her $8 a week. It was at this time that Dressler adopted the name of an aunt as her stage name. Dressler's sister Bonita, five years older, left home at about the same time. Bonita also worked in the opera company.
In 1892 she made her debut on Broadway. At first she hoped to make a career of singing light opera, but then gravitated to vaudeville. In vaudeville she was known for her full-figured body—fashionable at the time—and had buxom contemporaries such as her friends Lillian Russell, Fay Templeton, May Irwin and Trixie Friganza. She used the services of 'body sculptor to the stars' Sylvia of Hollywood to keep herself at a steady weight. Dressler appeared in a play called Robber of the Rhine which was written by Maurice Barrymore. Barrymore gave Dressler some positive advice about furthering her career and she later acknowledged his help. Years later she would appear with his sons, Lionel and John, in motion pictures.
Marriage. Marriage
500 × 400 - 586k - bmp
graphicshunt.com
Marriage. Marriage
500 × 400 - 586k - bmp
graphicshunt.com
Marriage. Marriage
500 × 400 - 586k - bmp
In 1892 she made her debut on Broadway. At first she hoped to make a career of singing light opera, but then gravitated to vaudeville. In vaudeville she was known for her full-figured body—fashionable at the time—and had buxom contemporaries such as her friends Lillian Russell, Fay Templeton, May Irwin and Trixie Friganza. She used the services of 'body sculptor to the stars' Sylvia of Hollywood to keep herself at a steady weight. Dressler appeared in a play called Robber of the Rhine which was written by Maurice Barrymore. Barrymore gave Dressler some positive advice about furthering her career and she later acknowledged his help. Years later she would appear with his sons, Lionel and John, in motion pictures.
Marriage. Marriage
500 × 400 - 586k - bmp
graphicshunt.com
Marriage. Marriage
500 × 400 - 586k - bmp
graphicshunt.com
Marriage. Marriage
500 × 400 - 586k - bmp
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