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Bessie Wynn

Bessie Wynn (June 1876 – July 8, 1968) was an American stage and vaudeville actress and singer. She was born in Chicago and sang in church choirs while growing up. At 23 in 1899 she first appeared in the chorus of Papa's Wife starring Anna Held. She continued on Broadway and ultimately appeared in two enormous hit plays The Wizard of Oz(1902) starring Anna Laughlin;, Babes in Toyland(1903-05) with William Norris and Mabel Barrison; and Wonderland in 1905. In 1907 she began appearing in Vaudeville and was a highly paid starrer for the Keith-Orpheum organization. She continued with Keith's in Vaudeville until Keith's folded in the 1930s. She then retired to her own chicken farm but came out of retirement in 1949 for a Palace Theater revival of Vaudeville programs.

As far as motion pictures she appeared in two news animated weeklys in 1913 and 1914. If she appeared for earlier film companies such as Edison, Lubin or Biograph she did so anonymously.

Birth and Death Data: Born Chicago (city and county seat of Cook County, and largest city in State of Illinois, United States of America), Died 1968

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1910 - 1925

Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist, lyricist

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Edison 417 Not documented approximately November 1910 If the wind had only blown the other way Bessie Wynn Female vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist, lyricist  
Gennett 9794 10-in. 10/23/1925 Little butterfly Bessie Wynn Female vocal solo, with piano vocalist  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Wynn, Bessie," accessed December 25, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/117003.

Wynn, Bessie. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/117003.

"Wynn, Bessie." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 25 December 2025.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/117003

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