STRONG, ELEANOR PAINTER (12 Sept. 1891-3 Nov. 1947), singer, actress and author, settled in Cleveland after a 19-year career as an operetta star. Strong was born in Walkerville, IA. She spent part of her childhood in Colorado and later went to New York City to become a singer. She studied singing in Berlin, Germany (1912) and sang in Covent Garden in London the next year. Her career took off: she was offered a 5-year contract at the Charlottenburg Opera in Berlin and hired to sing in The Lilac Domino, an operetta produced in New York City in 1914. Later, composer Victor Herbert wrote the operetta Princess Pat for her. Between 1914 and 1931, Painter starred in dramatic productions as well as musicals and operas, including Madame Butterfly and Carmen, in New York City, Philadelphia, PA, and Berlin.
After the dissolution of an earlier marriage to Louis Graveure (Wilfred Douthitt), Painter married Major Charles H. Strong, president of WILLIAM TAYLOR SON AND COMPANY in 1931. She gave up her professional career but not her interest in MUSIC. The couple lived in BRATENAHL; there were no children. Strong supported the musical arts and theater in Cleveland, performed locally, and wrote a novel about music, Spring Symphony (1941). Her local performances included the leading role in Wolf-Ferrari's Secret of Suzanne (1935) and a presentation of Peter and the Wolf (1941), both in conjunction with the CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA. Strong died in Cleveland.