Louise Closser Hale

Who was Louise Closser Hale?

Louise Closser Hale was an American actress, playwright and novelist.

Louise Closser was born either in Springfield, Massachusetts or Chicago, Illinois. Her father was Joseph A. Closser, a wealthy grain dealer and her mother was Louise M. Closser. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, and at Emerson College of Oratory in Boston.

She made her theatrical debut in Detroit in an 1884 production of In Old Kentucky. Her first theatrical success came in 1903, when she appeared in a Broadway production of George Bernard Shaw's Candida. In 1907, she made her London debut in Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch. She was equally famous on New York and London stages, she was known to the world of literature for such novels as Home Talent and An American's London, as well as to the theater for a play called Mother's Millions, which she co-authored.

In 1899, Closser married artist and actor Walter Hale, whose name she used for her stage career, and who illustrated a number of her travel books. She collaborated with him in the preparation of many travel works. They traveled all over the world. She was a correspondent for Harper's during World War I.