Individuals >> Gay, Getty

Actor.

Little is known about Getty Gay except that she was an actor who was connected to the Bohemian world. A. L. Rawson, one of the Pfaffians’ biographers from the late-nineteenth century, connects Gay to the scene at Pfaff’s through the bohemians Ada Clare and Charles Gayler: “Ada [Clare] was never without a woman companion, and one of them was Getty Gay, who was pretty, bright and witty. Her lithe and petite figure and sweetly sad face were ever welcome among the Pfaffians. She became the wife of Charles Gaylor [sic]” (103). Rawson’s assertion that Gay was married to Gayler is unconfirmed, and other sources suggest that he was married to Grace Christian. Getty Gay may have been Christian’s stage name; indeed, Junius Henri Browne speculates that "Getty Gay" was an assumed name--her real name may have been "Getty Christian"--and he calls her "a pretty little creature" (157). Henry Clapp’s obituary calls Gay "a talented bit of womanhood" (7).

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References & Biographical Resources

Browne, Junius Henri. The Great Metropolis; A Mirror of New York. Hartford: American Publishing, 1869. 700 p. [more about this work]

She is mentioned as one of the Bohemians' "female companions" at Pfaff's. Browne describes her as "a pretty little creature," and guesses that "Getty Gay" is an assumed name. She was an actress (157). [pages: 157]

Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things No. IV." New York Saturday Press. 12 Nov. 1859: 2. [more about this work]

Clare recommeds reading Getty Gay's "Waking from Illusions," a sketch found in the previous week's Saturday Press (2). [pages: 2]

Gay, Getty. "The Royal Bohemian Supper." New York Saturday Press. 31 Dec. 1859: 2. [more about this work]

Referred to as "Lady Gay."

Haynes, John Edward. Pseudonyms of Authors: Including Anonyms and Initialisms. New York, 1882. [more about this work]

This text identifies the following pseudonym: Mrs. William Bennett (39). [pages: 39]

Miller, Tice L. Bohemians and Critics: American Theatre Criticism in the Nineteenth Century. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1981. [more about this work]

One of several women who frequented Pfaff's. [pages: 16]

"Obituary: Henry Clapp." The New-York Times. 11 Apr. 1875: 7. [more about this work]

She was a regualar at Pfaff's and described as "a talented bit of womanhood." According to the "Obituary" she "died long ago." [pages: 7]

Rawson, A. L. "A Bygone Bohemia." Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly. 1896. 96-107. [more about this work]

[pages: 103]

Sentilles, Renee M. Performing Menken: Adah Isaacs Menken and the Birth of American Celebrity. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2003. [more about this work]

A regular at Pfaff's. [pages: 142]

"The Queen of Bohemia [From the Philadelphia Dispatch]." New-York Saturday Press. 10 Nov. 1860: 1. [more about this work]