EVB2933734: Edwin Booth (1833-1893), American actor, in costume as Hamlet. Photo by J. Guerney, c. 1870 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933737: Capitano, a stock character in the Commedia dell'arte, with theatrical stage set and spectators in background. Commedia dell'arte used professional actors who performed in public and accepted donations. 1618 etching by Jacques Callot / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933738: Mrs. Patrick Campbell, (1865-1940) English actress, holding pet dog. 1901 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933740: Frank S. Chanfrau, (1824-1884) American actor, in costume, c. 1870 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933747: Lotta Crabtree, (1847-1924) American Actress, began her acting career as a child in the goldfields of California. 1868 portrait by J. Gurney / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933754: Marie Dressler (1868-1934), Canadian born comedienne, and later Oscar-winning character actress wearing lamp shade style hat, with brim down. c. 1909 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933759: Minnie Maddern Fiske, c.1896 (photo), Unknown photographer, (19th century) / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933761: Mrs. Fiske, ''Salvation Nell'', 1909 (poster) / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933768: Trixie Friganza (1870 – 1955), vaudeville musical star, supported and demonstrated in the U.S. Suffragist movement. 1908 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933773: Louise Closser Hale (1872-1933), American actress and novelist. From 1929 until her death in 1933, she had roles in several films including SHANGHAI EXPRESS and DINNER AT EIGHT. c. 1925 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933776: F. Ziegfeld Jr. presents Anna Held in ''Papa's'' Wife by Dekoven & Smith, 1900 (poster) / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933789: Joseph Jefferson (1829-1905), American actor. c. 1870 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933792: Joseph Jefferson (1829-1905), American actor, whose signature role of Rip Van Winkle made him one of the most popular actors of the late 19th century. 1893 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933804: Lillie Langtry (1853-1929), as Cleopatra. 1891 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933806: Madge Lessing (1866-1932), English actress and singer, riding bicycle, and holding musical horn to lips. 1898 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933807: Melbourne MacDowell, 1899 (poster) / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933808: Autochrome, early color photography, by Arnold Genthe. Photo subject is American poet, Percy MacKaye (1875-1956), in role of Alwyn, the poet, a character in his play SANCTUARY. 1913 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933809: Richard Mansfield (1857-1907), American actor, performed in classic tragedies, but also starred in works by his contemporaries, George Bernard Shaw and Henrik Ibsen. 1897 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933813: Julia Marlowe, 1898 (poster) / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933826: Lillian Russell (1861-1922), American actress, in role of a gypsy fortune teller. 1895 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933827: Lillian Russell (1861-1922), the plump American actress, represented the feminine ideal of her era. c. 1898 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933830: Lillian Russell (1861-1922), American actress, seated in ornate sleigh, in THE GRAND DUTCHESS. 1894 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933834: Otis Skinner, 1899 (poster) / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933840: Denman Thompson (1833-1911) , American playwright and actor who career was based on one hugely successful role, that of Josh from his play THE OLD HOMESTEAD, 1886. He played Josh, a rural farmer, in baggy pants, an ill-fitting vest, thick glasses, and a large straw hat, who travels to New York to rescue his derelict son. 1900 photo / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933843: Anna May Wong (1905-1961), Chinese-American actress, was an international star, but was usually offered only supporting roles during her Hollywood career. 1935 portrait by Carl Van Vechten., Vechten, Carl Van (1880-1964) / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933846: High Trapeze act, the Flying Dillons, performed for the Barnum & Bailey circus. 1895 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933854: The Barnum and Bailey greatest show on earth - wonderful performing geese, roosters and musical donkey, c.1900 (poster) / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933868: Circus poster with Female aerial acrobats on trapezes at circus, 1890 (poster) / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933876: Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), modern dance innovator in soft focus portrait by Arnold Genthe, c. 1917 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933881: Pretty and Peppy, a stereo photo of exotic dancer with strategically placed fringe and bobbed hair. 1926 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933883: Loie Fuller, (1862-1928), American born dancer who spent most of her professional life after 1892 in France. 1901 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933884: Loie Fuller, (1862-1928), wearing large gown, with arms raised in shape of a butterfly. She developed dances with unique lighting and costumes. 1901 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933886: Modern dance group of young women performing outdoors. c. 1900. Photo by Johnston, Frances Benjamin, Johnston, Frances Benjamin (1864-1952) / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933900: Harry Houdini cannot escape the hold of boxer Benny Leonard and Jack Dempsey prepare to swing. Houdini claimed he could withstand any blow to his stomach. His death from a ruptured appendix followed the punches he accepted from a McGill University student, H. Gordon Whitehead, c. 1920 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933903: After Harry Houdini died suddenly in 1926, his brother, Hardeen, inherited the magic and spiritualism components of the great mystifier's library. Unhappily, Hardeen lacked his brother's dramatic flair and failed to continue his success. c. 1936 / Bridgeman Images

EVB2933910: The United States Marine Band at the White House was lead by Taylor Branson from 1937-1940, 20th Leader of the Marine Band. The band was created by a 1798 act of Congress to provide music for the President and the Commandant of the Marine Corps. 1928 / Bridgeman Images