Carrie DeMar was a retired vaudeville performer and the widow of Joseph
Hart. She entered a Catholic order in 1950.
Miss De Mar first appeared in David Henderson's extravaganza company at
the Chicago opera house. Then she played one of the Duchess' daughters
in Adonis. In 1891, when she was still in her teens, she joined the
company of Hallen and Hart and began to appear in musicals staged by
this company.
She toured the United States and Europe for many years and was given
credit for the vogue of changing her costume and set with each song.
She was a singer and a comedienne. She appeared in "Foxy Grandpa" which
opened February 17, 1902 and played for 120 performances at the 14th
street theater. She also appeared in "Mama's Papa" with Joseph Hart.
She married Joseph Hart on August 1, 1892 on a Wednesday at the home of
Mr. Hart's sister - Mrs. Robert Duncan in St. Nicholas Avenue in
Manhattan.
Miss De Mar had two sisters, Estelle and Fleurette. Fleurette was a
dancer and appeared with her sister in a number of shows, including
"Foxy Grandpa" in which she had a solo dance number. In 1915, Carrie
and Joseph Hart bought a house in Woodcliffe, New Jersey which was next
to Fleurette's home. An article in the N.Y. Star in March 1915 quoted
the sisters as saying "their happiness will be supreme when they can
touch hands and exchange recipes from their back windows." A clipping
from the "Broadway Weekly" indicates that the Harts had a summer home
at Sullivan Lake.
According to her obituary, Carrie retired from active stage work around
1918. Her husband Joseph Hart died on October 4, 1921 at the age of 59.
She lived at the Waldorf Astoria hotel for a number of years. She later
moved to an apartment at 1492 Minford Place in the Bronx which was
owned by her sister Estelle's husband Arthur Schell. Her sister
Fleurette also had an apartment in the same house. She lived there
until the death of Arthur Schell in 1947. At that time, she moved and
was not heard from again until her obituary appeared in Variety in
1963.
