This article is about the U.S. child actress. For the U.S. election event, see
Little Tuesday primaries.
Little Tuesday
Charlotte Selina Wood, aka Little Tuesday, circa 1890
Born
c. 1887
Spouse
George T. Zimmerman
Little Tuesday (1887–?), born as Charlotte Selina Wood, was an American child actress and niece of playwright
Joseph Arthur who had a period of novelty popularity in the early 1890s.
Biography
Little Tuesday, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 8) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes, ca. 1888,
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Charlotte Selina Wood was allegedly born on a Tuesday morning (circa 1887) to Annetta Cobb and Harold George Wood, in
Long Branch, New Jersey.[1] Tuesday's uncle was playwright and actor
Joseph Arthur, best known for his melodramatic plays such as Blue Jeans and The Still Alarm. The nickname "Little Tuesday" was reportedly given to her by Arthur because her parents could not immediately decide on a name for her.[2][3][4]
She made her stage debut (playing a baby) in Helen's Inheritance at the
Madison Square Theatre in late 1889.[3] She also appeared a few times in Pine Meadow at the
Fourteenth Street Theatre. On May 18, 1890, a benefit was held in her honor at the Star Theatre, reportedly earning several hundred dollars for her "maintenance and education."[5] By the end of 1890, The New York Times was referring to her as a "remarkably clever child actress" and "a child of the most refreshing unconsciousness of her marvelous ability to entertain."[5][6][7] She would not appear regularly in shows, but would put on private performances for the elite of New York, including the
Astors, Vanderbilts, and Whitneys, and would also appear in charity performances.[1]
Tuesday's appearances, which had never been very frequent, dwindled after 1893 because she was going to school.[11] In 1896 she debuted a one-act play called Beware, the Dog written by her uncle,[12] and was reported to have "retired" from the stage later that year.[13]
After her "retirement", Little Tuesday faded from public memory. She graduated from
Convent of the Sacred Heart school in New York City in 1903,[14] and married New York businessman George T. Zimmerman in 1915.[15] In the late 1920s, she was reported to be serving as president of a women's club founded by her mother called "Theoria" which supported the theater.[16]
^(6 January 1890).
Heard In the Greenroom, The Evening World, p. 3, col. 3 (Alternate name theory: This article reports in January 1890 that her parents called her "Tootsie" as a child, but she declared her name to be "Tuesday" when she could speak.)
^(25 December 1890).
Theatrical Gossip, The New York Times ("that remarkably clever child actress" distributed toys from stage of the Fourteenth Street Theatre the prior night)
^(29 December 1890).
A Merry Xmas Festival,The New York Times ("Little Tuesday, a child of the most refreshing unconsciousness of her marvelous ability to entertain. Tuesday gave several recitations in her inimitable style and exploited a new dance that caused the old actors and actresses to shout with delight.")
^(16 August 1896).
Dramatic Notes, The Morning Times (Washington, D.C.)("Little Tuesday is so called because she was born on Tuesday morning. She is ten years old, is retired from the stage and goes to school.")
^Article (1929?), Theatre Magazine ("Joseph Arthur, who wrote Blue Jeans, The Still Alarm, Lost River and The Cherry Pickers, carries on through his niece, Charlotte Wood Zimmerman. Mrs. Zimmerman is the president of the women's club, "Theoria," which lends its patronage to plays it deems worthy and discourages others by absence and silence. Mrs. Arnetta Wood, the author's sister-in-law, founded the club, and since her death early this year her daughter, Mrs. Zimmerman, has been its president. ...")