Grace Henderson - Personal Life

Personal Life

Grace was the widow of David Henderson, a Chicago newspaper man, who managed the Chicago Opera House. In November 1896 David Henderson obtained a divorce decree from her. He charged her with infidelity. George Alexander Ballantine of New York was named as co-respondent. The theatrical manager alleged that Grace visited Paris with Ballantine. On the trip George created a sensation by applying in the French courts for a divorce from his wife. Henderson did not request custody of their son.

Grace was his second wife. He married a third time the same month the divorce was granted from Grace. David Henderson's third wife was Frankie Raymond, formerly a burlesque performer for the Henderson Burlesque Company. During this time Grace was appearing in New York in Under the Polar Star.

George Ballantine lastly married Minnie Howe Parry on August 28, 1896, at the Waldorf. The announcement of their engagement caused a rift between Grace and Ballantine, in which a revolver played a significant part.

Grace allegedly had an affair with actor Maurice Barrymore in the late 1880s and bore a son who was mentally unstable. The son was confined to institutions and was virtually unknown to outside sources until Grace started appearing in early movies and devoting a lot of her salary to his upkeep.

Grace Henderson died in 1944 in Morrisania Hospital, Bronx, New York, aged 84. She was survived by a son, Edwin L. Henderson, of Schenectady, New York.

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