Outsiders: Annie Hindle

Annie Hindle (c. 1840s - c. 1900s) was an actress, comic, and performer who was famous in American variety circuits in the late 1800s. Born in England, and making her name in the Music Hall scene there, she was known mainly as a male-impersonator, becoming the first to bring this performance style to American variety theaters. Annie was also much discussed in newspapers for her multiple marriages, both to men and women. Her marriages to women involved her cross-dressing as a man, under the name Charles E. Hindle. 

For Further Reading:

• The Wondrous Life of America’s First Male Impersonator
• Just One of the Boys: Female-to-Male Cross-Dressing on the American Variety Stage 
• A Character Singer In Male Attire: Annie Hindle In America, 1868–1886
• Digital Transgender Archive: Archival Newspaper Articles on Annie Hindle

This month we're talking about Outsiders -- women who marched to the beat of their own drum and rejected stereotypes about what women "should" be. They are aesthetic pioneers, norm-benders, and often the only woman in their field.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this
is Wamanica. This month, we're talking about outsiders, women who
march to the beat of their own drum and rejected
stereotypes about what women should be. They're aesthetic pioneers, norm benders,
and often some of the only women in their field.

(00:22):
You're sitting in a packed music hall sometime in the
eighteen seventies. A woman takes the stage and a hush
falls over the crowd. But this performer doesn't look like
any woman you've ever seen. She's dressed in male clothing, trousers,
a double breasted sport coat, a neatly crapped haircut, and
even a mustache. In a distinct alto voice, she begins

(00:43):
to sing from the perspective of this finely dressed gentleman character. Then,
as if by magic, she disappears and re emerges in
a flash, this time in a military costume, ready to
jump into another song. That is just a taste of
what audience has witnessed during a performance by today Womanniquin. Today,
we're talking about the first male impersonator to grace America's

(01:05):
variety theater scene. An entertainer who blurred the lines between
male and female, both on and off stage. Please welcome
Annie Hindle. Annie got her start on stage not in America,
but in her home country of England. She was born

(01:27):
sometime in the eighteen forties, though we're not certain exactly
when or where. There are few confirmed biographical records, and
little of her personal archive exists today. What we do
know is Annie's theatrical career began in the eighteen sixties,
when she was a young adult beginning to perform in
British music hall, a popular performance style during the Victorian era.

(01:48):
The male impersonation act, who had become famous for was
part of her repertoire from the beginning. In an early
advertisement in eighteen sixty four, Annie described herself as a
great serio comic and personator of male characters. By eighteen
sixty seven, she had popular and well received performances in
music halls throughout the country. One newspaper announcement noted that

(02:10):
Annie's run at a local theater had to be extended
multiple nights due to its popularity. In eighteen sixty eight,
Annie and her mother immigrated to the United States, taking
a chance on building a more lucrative career in a
new country. Though male impersonation wasn't unheard of in British theater,
the performance style had yet to grace American stages. Variety

(02:30):
was an emerging theater style that featured a range or
variety if you will, of singing, dancing, and comedic acts.
Catered toward working class audiences. The performances often included parity
and social critique. It was on one of these stages
that Annie found success in America. Mere weeks after landing
in New York City, Annie was already booking gigs and

(02:52):
soon began performing with theaer troops and cities all over
the country. Unlike in England, where Annie had performed both
male and female characters, in America, she mostly eliminated female
roles from her show. She performed an array of songs
during her act, each one as a different male character trope.
There was the sturdy working man, the military man, and

(03:12):
the dandy, a meticulously groomed upper class gentleman. This last
caricature was particularly popular with Annie's working class audiences, who
felt more confident in their manliness as they watched her
satirize of feminine and naive rich men on stage. She
would perform quick costume changes in between songs, leaving audiences

(03:33):
in awe and delight. The topics and characters Annie included
in her act were not uncommon for the time, but
she set herself apart through her transgressive approach to gender.
Her audiences were aware that Annie was a woman, and
this added additional humor and scandal to her performances. Not
long after she launched her American career, Annie met and

(03:55):
married fellow British comic and singer Charles Vivian, but their
marriage dissolved with a weeks. Annie later claimed that their
marriage had quickly turned violent, accusing Charles of heavy drinking
and physical abuse. Annie's first marriage falling apart did not
stop her career or her love life. The rest of
Annie's career would be punctuated by a series of new

(04:17):
marriages and romances, several of them with women. While performing
in Baltimore, Annie met dancer Nellie Howard in December of
eighteen sixty eight. They reportedly married in Washington, d C.
Though the union is difficult to verify. Regardless, it is
one of the earliest observed instances when Annie's male impersonation
performance fled into her personal life. She was reported to

(04:40):
have given the name Charles Hindall for the marriage ceremony.
Annie's rumored marriage with Nelly also ended soon after it began.
She had at least two more marriages with other women,
both occurring well into her career. The first was to
her dresser Anna Ryan in eighteen eighty six. They tied
the Knot and Grand Rapids Misis, where Annie again presented

(05:01):
herself as Charles Hindall. This time, the marriage made national news,
with splashy headlines like woman Mary's woman and Miss Ryan's
husband wore petticoats. The Victorian era press didn't quite know
what to make of Annie's union. Some accused Annie of
secretly being a man all along. Others speculated Annie's gender
was a mystery never to be solved. This was just

(05:24):
fine with Annie, who didn't seem too concerned with clearing
things up for the public either way. While they were married,
Annie put her stage career on hold, living a mostly
private life with her new wife in New Jersey. After
Anna died in eighteen ninety one, Annie went back to touring.
Soon Annie was walking down the aisle again, this time
with Louise Spangle and Troy New York. In eighteen ninety two,

(05:48):
Annie's unconventional marriage sparked national coverage again, with the Boston
Globe declaring Annie Hindle Mary's a dear Troy girl. Though
the public reliably reacted to Annie's nuptials with scandal shocking confusion,
her career was not greatly harmed by the sensational coverage.
Though her popularity did decline as the decades passed, she

(06:08):
continued performing professionally until the early nineteen hundreds. She died
around that time, Though we don't know exactly when or where.
Annie's career showcased the boundary pushing nature of Feeder, particularly
as a refuge for those relegated to the margins of society.
Her fame and success in American variety was not hindered

(06:28):
by her cross dressing performance. In fact, it was exactly
what made her so incredibly popular and well regarded. Her
style paved the way for other male impersonators, like her
contemporary Ella Westerner, and also served as a foundation for
decades of cross dressing performance styles to come. Annie's marriages,
despite the tabloid like manner in which they were covered

(06:50):
at the time, also served as evidence that gay marriage
is not a new concept in the United States, though
the terminology didn't exist at the time. Her life and
performance hints at early formations of transness, gender nonconformity, and
legally recognized queer romances. All month, we're talking about Outsiders.

(07:11):
For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at
Wamanica Podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister
and co creator. Talk to you tomorrow.