Florence Eldridge was born in Brooklyn in 1901 and made her professional debut in the chorus of a 1918 musical. In 1922, she won theatrical acclaim for her portrayal of the terrified heroine Annabelle West in The Cat and the Canary and the stepdaughter role in Six Characters in Search of an Author.
[Borrillo, Theodore A., (2012). Denver’s historic Elitch Theatre : a nostalgic journey (a history of its times). pp. 135.]
Fredric March and Florence Eldridge were the lead actors for the (1926) season. In a book entitled The Elitch Garden Story (Memories of Jack Gurtler), by Jack Gurtler and Corinne Hunt, and published in 1982, the following story is told about Fredric March and Florence Eldridge. John Mulvihill (Gurtler’s grandfather), had a policy that no leading man would be married to his leading lady because he believed that “people would not pay money to watch a man make love to his own wife on stage.” During the run, Fredric March informed John Mulvihill that he was in love with Florence Eldridge and that they wanted to get married. Mulvihill alerted March to his policy. March may not have taken him seriously, for he and Florence Eldridge drove to Colorado Springs and got married. Mulvihill confronted March, saying “I understand that you are now man and wife,” to which March replied, “That’s right, J.M.! I love this girl too much to take the chance of losing her by waiting till the season’s over.” Mulvihill fired Florence Eldridge. Mulvihill had already engaged another to play her part during the season.
The story is at variance with interviews that Edwin Levy, head of the theater department at the University of Denver, had with Fredric March and Melville Burke in 1952 and 1953, respectively. The interviews revealed the following:
Miss Eldridge met Mr. March at the home of a mutual friend in New York before the summer of 1926. After the Elitch season, they were married in Mexico. Manager Mulvihill, making plans for the season of 1927, believed audiences would not be interested in seeing a leading man play love scenes with his own wife on stage and decided not to rehire Miss Eldridge for the summer of 1927.
[Borrillo, Theodore A., (2012). Denver’s historic Elitch Theatre : a nostalgic journey (a history of its times). pp. 139.]
