Lark Bronlee

Biography

Minnette Buddecke studied theater at Washington University in her native St. Louis before heading east to New York City at the end of World War I. It was about the time she understudied Fay Bainter in the Broadway play "East is West" when she changed her professional name to "Lark Bronlee" ("Lark Bronlee Replies to Harris Denial," (Harrisburg, Pa.) "Telegraph," 20 November 1920, 12), and it was as "Lark Bronlee" she performed in films ("Cut Backs and Close Ups," (New York) "Daily News," 6 November 1920, 5) and in stage presentations (particularly with the Provincetown Players; Alexander Woollcott, "Second Thoughts on First Nights," (New York) "Times," February 6, 1921, 95 and Montgomery Belgion, "'Well of the Saints,' A Trifle by J. M. Synge," (New York) "Daily News," 12 September 1921, 15) for the next few months before reverting to her birth name. She was an active member of the Greenwich Village community both before and after her marriage with John G. "Jack" Lange, a cellist, composer and conductor for Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., with whom she had four children. After his death in 1942, Minnette returned to the Village where she opened a restaurant ("Minette's") on Macdougal Street, which was in operation from 1944 to 1956.