Blanche Oelrichs(1890-1950)
- Writer
Blanche Oelrichs (pen name: Michael Strange), was born Blanche Marie
Louise Oelrichs on October 1, 1890, in New York, N.Y., to a socially
prominent family. Blanche was the reigning débutante of Newport
society. In 1910, she married Leonard M. Thomas, a rising young
diplomat. She soon became a devoted suffragist, sporting a bobbed
haircut. In 1914 she began writing poems. Her collection "Miscellaneous
Poems" was published in 1916 under the pen name Michael Strange (she
used that name for all her published and stage work). In 1918, she
adapted Lev Tolstoy's "The Living Corpse"
which was produced successfully on Broadway with
John Barrymore in the lead. In
1919, she had a volume of poems published, titled merely "Poems". After
her divorce from Thomas in 1919, she fell in love with
John Barrymore (1882-1942), and
they got married in 1920; and on March 3, 1921, they had a daughter,
Diana Barrymore. Also that year, Blanche
wrote "Claire de Lune" which was presented in April 1921, starring John
and Ethel Barrymore - it would later be
turned into a movie
Clair de lune (1932). From 1925
to 1927, she performed on stage with a summer stock company in Salem,
MA. She divorced John Barrymore in 1928, and married Harrison Tweed in
1929. In 1936, Blanche had a poetry and music program on a New York
radio station, and her immensely popular radio readings of poetry (hers
and others), accompanied by a full orchestra, became a regular feature
on WOR. Blanche had her autobiography published, "Who Tells Me True"
(1940). Blanche died in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 5, 1950.
Blanche left us a legacy, for the works she'd done as author, actress
and radio personality.
