Mrs. Thomas Whiffen

Whiffen, Mrs. Thomas [née Blanche Galton] (1845–1936), actress and singer. The native Londoner studied voice with her mother, Mary, who was an opera singer, and later completed her education in France. She performed for a time in England before coming to America in 1868 with her aunt's opéra bouffe company. In 1879 she was the first New York Buttercup in H.M.S. Pinafore. Subsequently she abandoned the musical stage and spent many seasons with the ensembles at the Madison Square Theatre, Daniel Frohman's Lyceum, and Charles Frohman's Empire Theatre. Among the roles Whiffen created at the Empire were Mrs. Mossop in Trelawny of the Wells (1898) and Mrs. Jinks in Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines (1901). After leaving Charles Frohman she played opposite Mary Mannering, Eleanor Robson, Margaret Anglin, and Henry Miller, including the role of Mrs. Jordan in The Great Divide (1906). She continued to perform actively until she was well into her eighties, one of her last roles again being Mrs. Mossop in a 1928 revival. Not unattractive, despite a low forehead, huge eyes, and a prominent chin, she was probably the last in a long line of New York's “dear old ladies”—actresses, sometimes quite young at the start, who specialized in playing lovable or cantankerous old women. Autobiography: Keeping Off the Shelf, 1928.