Grace La Rue was an American actress, singer, and vaudeville headliner. La Rue was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1882 to Mrs. Lucy L. Parsons. Parsons adopted the stage name of La Rue finding it a little more exotic than the family name. She began her career as part of the team Burke and La Rue with her first husband Charles Burke. One of their numbers was a minstrel piece entitled "Grace La Rue and her Inky Dinks." She soon broke away from the act - and Burke - to appear in musical comedy. In this photograph, she wears a tasseled dress and a satin pillbox hat. She is rigidly posed and holding an extension of her belt before her indicating that she is aware of the camera although looking away from it.