Passport Application - Louise Spalding (Spaulding) Pani - 1921

Louise Spalding Pani, daughter of William L. & Nancy Spalding, was born 29 June 1888, at Hartford. She states in her application that she is known as Louise Alexander; that she resides in New York; and that she has previously lived in Cuba. She planned to visit France, Switzerland, Holland and Germany.  I found an earlier passport application by her dated January 23, 1920 that says her mother is then named Nancy Spalding Miller and lives in Chicago, IL; also, the earlier application states that her husband is named Joseph Pani and that he was born in Milan, Italy.

Her surname is properly spelled Spaulding.

My research leads me to believe that this lady was an actress, and that she had several husbands.  Here are a few items that I found:

From the Indianapolis Star, 1909, in an article about the race car driver, Lewis Stang:  In 1908 Lewis Strang had married Jeanne L. Spaulding, better known on the stage as Louise Alexander, a professional actress and dancer. In those days before the two-career marriage, she had promised not to go back on the stage. A publicity photo shows a young woman with a flawless face and long, dark hair that any young man might covet.

The feature race of the day was the G & J Trophy dominated by Buick’s star driver, Lewis Strang. The press ate up the opportunity to capture Strang and his wife embracing for a romantic hero’s welcome after the big win. His wife, the stunningly gorgeous Kentuckian actress Jeanne L. Spaulding (stage name Louise Alexander) laid a big kiss on her oil-coated husband’s lips in an unabashed public display of affection. The two were celebrity gossip fodder. 

His wife, an actress known as Louise Alexander, performed as the Vampire in a musical production in New York, performing “a dreadfully shocking dance” according to the Washington Post. Born Jeanne L. Spaulding, she had promised not to go back to the stage again when they married in 1908. However, she returned to the stage in 1909, and they separated, Strang believing that she would tire of the stage and return to him. He was disabused of this notion in 1910 when she was named by Mrs. Bessie Clayton, another well-known dancer, in a divorce suit against her husband Julian Mitchell, who was Mrs. Strang’s partner in the Vampire dance.

From the Pittsburgh Gazette, July 21, 1911: Strang's name was known in Europe and America a year or two later when he became acquainted with Miss Jeanne Lou Spaulding of Hartford, Kentucky, who was then in "The Follies of 1908" under the name of Louise Alexander. 


APPLICATION:

Name:  Louise Spalding Pane

Birth Date: 29 Jun 1888

Birth Place: Hartford, Kentucky

Age: 32

Passport Issue Date: 13 Jun 1921

Passport Includes a Photo: Yes

Residence: 149 East 40th, NY

Father Name: Wm L. Spalding

Father's Birth Location: Louisville, Kentucky

The left side of the following image is not related:

Image from application: