Mrs. Leslie Carter: ‘The Lady With Red Hair’

She was a vivacious red-headed, green-eyed beauty who became an actress. After her 1937 death a film loosely based on her life was produced in 1940 called “The Lady With Red Hair.”

She was born Caroline Dudley in Lexington, Ky., on June 10, 1862, to parents Orson and Catherine Dudley. Since Dudley was a wealthy dry goods merchant, he gave his daughter most of the things she desired. She dreamed of a life on stage but understood it was not considered a proper job for a lady. Her father died when she was 8 years old.

After his death, the mother and daughter moved to Dayton. Caroline grew up in Dayton and was educated at the Cooper Seminary.

In 1880 she married Leslie Carter, a lawyer and millionaire’s son from Chicago. Thus, her name became Mrs. Leslie Carter. They had one son, Dudley Carter.

The marriage did not go well. She spent lavish sums of money and also spent much time away from her husband in Europe in classy hotels.

In 1887 she filed for divorce alleging assault and abandonment. Her claims were disproved.

Carter obtained the divorce two years later charging adultery with four different men. He had hired his brother, also, an attorney to monitor her movements. Carter was able to provide names and dates of misconduct. Some of these were actually innocent meetings.

The whole thing was front-page news in newspapers across the country and for months in the Chicago newspapers.

Mrs. Leslie Carter was embarrassed and broke. She had to make a living and chose the stage as her best bet. She was trained by David Belasco, a Broadway manager, in the emotional school of acting.

She decided to use Mrs. Leslie Carter as a stage name. She said she hated the name but wanted to see it in lights to spite her former husband.

As Mrs. Leslie Carter, she became an almost overnight international stage star. This was achieved in four plays, “The Heart of Maryland,”, “Zaza,” “Du Barry” and “Adrea,” performed from 1895 to 1905. She was called “The American Sarah Bernhardt.”

In 1906 she married William Payne, an actor. They later adopted a daughter, Mary Carter Payne.

Her career declined as emotional acting lost popularity. Belasco was so upset at her remarriage that he never spoke to her again. She earned another title, “the queen of bankruptcies” due to a number of costly failed productions.

Mrs. Leslie Carter moved to California in the 1930s. There she starred in two silent films and two low-budget Western talkies.

She died in California in Nov. 13, 1937.