Carrie Swain | |
|---|---|
 Carrie Swain in blackface as Topsy in Uncle Tom's Cabin, 1882 | |
| Born | Caroline Madeline Wisler April 7, 1860 |
| Died | June 20, 1944 (aged 84) |
| Burial place | Batignolles Cemetery, Paris, France |
| Other names | Caroline Gardner |
| Occupation(s) | Acrobat, actress, singer |
| Known for | One of the first women in minstrel |
Caroline Madeline Gardner (née Wisler; April 7, 1860 – June 20, 1944), better known by her stage name Carrie Swain, was an American actress, acrobat, and singer. One of the first female acrobats and belting vocalists to appear in vaudeville, she began her career performing in variety and minstrel shows during the 1870s. She first rose to national prominence in the early 1880s, touring in the musical The Tourists of the Palace Car. In 1882 she created the role of Topsy in composer Caryl Florio and dramatist H. Wayne Ellis's musical adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and then toured nationally in several plays written for her, among them Leonard Grover's Cad, the Tomboy and Frederick G. Maeder's Mat, the Romp.