Francis Leon (born Francis Patrick Glassey; November 21, 1844 – August 19, 1922 [1]) was an American vaudevillian actor best known as a blackface minstrel performer and female impersonator.[2] He was largely responsible for making the prima donna a fixture of blackface minstrelsy.
- ^ Chicago Daily Tribune, August 20, 1922, p. 9
- ^ Bordman, Gerald Martin; Hischak, Thomas S. (2004), The Oxford Companion to American Theatre, Oxford University Press, p. 221, ISBN 0-19-516986-7