Years active 1867 - 1903 | Name La Titcomb | |
 | ||
Born January 19, 1876
Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.A. ( 1876-01-19 ) | ||
Occupation Vaudeville Entertainer | ||
Heloise McCeney (January 19, 1876 – after 1920), stage name La Belle Titcomb, was an American vaudeville performer known as The Parisian Dancer on Horseback. Her act usually had her riding upon a white horse while singing operatic arias.
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Early life
Heloise McCeney was born on January 19, 1876 in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Robert and Anna (née Broom) McCeney. Robert McCeney, a native of Washington D.C., served as secretary for the National Fair Association in Washington. He died in San Leandro, California on December 9, 1898 after a short bout with pneumonia. Her mother died five years later on February 27, 1903, and was interred at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington D.C., as was her father and a younger brother, Robert, who died in 1884. McCeney also had a half-brother, Charles, from her mother's previous marriage.
Marriages
Heloise McCeney's first marriage was to a San Francisco dentist, Charles B. Titcomb. Her second marriage, to Waine Weinerbet (his last name was given as "McEinbett" in a contemporary New York Times article) ended in divorce on May 13, 1910, in Chicago on the grounds of "extreme cruelty."
Her third marriage was to fellow vaudeville performer Nat M. Wills on May 23, 1910. Upon their divorce four years later, she received a substantial alimony settlement which led to a legal battle to have the amount reduced after Wills married actress May Day (actress).
Titcomb kept her married name after their divorce and listed herself as a widow after Wills died in 1917. La Belle Titcomb continued to perform all over the world, though scant record of her exists after 1920.