January 30, 1873 - Rose Melville (Jan 30, 1873 – Oct 8, 1946)

By Sherri Wright

Rose Melville was born January 30, 1873 at the St. Clair House, located at 202 Wabash in Terre Haute. She was among America’s elite stage and screen celebrities and originator of a new theatre genre. She was the youngest daughter of Rev. Jacob and Caroline Smock and was christened “Rosa.”

Rose’s sisters, Josephine, Ida, and Maud adopted stage names and founded “The Meville Sisters Stock Company, and in 1891 she joined the company as “Rose Melville.” Ida and Rose remained together touring in Zeb, a comedy written by Ida’s husband, Samuel M. Young, Jr., also a native of Terre Haute. Zeb was about a southern Indiana hillbilly family. Among the characters was “Sis Hopkins,” an unsophisticated teenager.

In 1895, Rose was on her own—dubbed “The Artistic Comedienne.” She started in a three-act musical comedy, “Sis Hopkins,” which became a Broadway hit. Sis’s lament “There ain’t no sense in doin’ nuthin’ for nobody what won’t do nuthin’ for you,” was among the most quoted stage lines for a decade. Two humor magazines, “Sis Hopkins” and “Foolish Humor’ capitalized on its popularity and a novel was written based on the play. The “Sis Hopkins” doll with wired pigtails became a collectible.

On June 12, 1910, Rose married songwriter Frank Minzey, her stage costar. Minzey was introduced to Terre Haute audiences at the Grant Opera House in 1905. In 1910, Rose portrayed “Sis” on the silent screen in She Came, She Saw, She Conquered, and in at least nineteen “shorts.” The character Sis Hopkins was so popular, Motion Picture magazine featured Rose on its cover on the May 1916 issue.

Rose appeared in the role of Sis Hopkins more than 5,000 times before more than 5 million people. Rose served in an advisory role when both the silent and “talkie” versions of Sis were made (in 1919 and 1941, respectively,) rather than appearing in either film. By that time she had retired to her husband’s estate in Highwood, New York. Rose died in 1946 and is buried in Massachusetts.