Yohé, May (1869–1938)

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Yohé, May (1869–1938)

American actress. Name variations: Lady Francis Hope; Lady May Hope, May Yohe. Born Mary Augusta Yohé, April 6, 1869, in PA; died Aug 28, 1938; m. Lord Francis Thomas Hope (owner of the Hope diamond), 1894 (div. 1902); m. Captain Putnam B. Strong, 1903 (div. 1910); m. Captain Jan Smuts, 1914 (wounded in WWI and disabled, not to be confused with the South African statesman).

Made stage debut in Chicago in repertory under management of David Henderson (1887); made NY debut in Natural Gas (1888) and London debut in The Magic Opal (1893), coming to prominence there as Christopher in Little Christopher Columbus when she sang "Honey, ma Honey"; hired by William Hammerstein to sing at his NY theater wearing a replica of the famous Hope diamond, a 44.52-carat jewel that had been owned by her husband before he sold it in 1902 to pay off debts (it was later owned by Evalyn Walsh McLean); co-wrote and appeared in film The Hope Diamond Mystery as Lady Francis Hope (1921); published The Mystery of the Hope Diamond (1929), launching the legend of the curse of the Hope diamond.