On February 6th, 1892, Beatrice Anderson was born in the village of Calhoun in Ouachita County, Louisiana. She was the one of three children to John Anderson. Beatrice, like many members of the Anderson family, was affected by Piebaldism, a rare, inherited disorder of pigmentation characterized by patchy areas of skin and hair that lack melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells. This leads to white patches of skin and hair, most notably a white forelock of hair. Because of this condition, several members of the Anderson family, traveled the United States and Europe with Vaudeville companies and freak shows. Three of Beatrice's aunts, Sadie, Fannie and Rosie were touring Europe as the Three Tiger Graces.
Around 1901, Beatrice and her Aunt Hattie (who was a year older), traveled to New York in the care of retired acrobat, Henry “Harry Mack” McDonough (Apr.22, 1839-Mar.2, 1909) and his German wife, Emilia Marie Margarethe Franke (Jan.1, 1877-Apr.7, 1948). There the girls were given lessons in song, dance and acrobatics. That November, the young duo sailed to France with Barnum and Bailey's Circus, touring for months before the circus returned to the United States.
However, Beatrice (now Tiger Lily) and Hattie (now Texas Hattie) relocated to Berlin with their caretakers and began touring for the next 13 years around Continental Europe, North Africa and the United Kingdom. In April 1907, while appearing at Rome's Salon Marguerita, were interviewed by Fabio Frassetto (1876-1953), Italian anthropologist and professor at the University of Bologna about the Anderson family history and their pigment condition.
In March 1909, after Harry Mack's death, Margarethe took over as their manager for the next eight years. After the outbreak of the First World War, the duo departed Switzerland for the Russian Empire where they signed a contract with Anatoly Durov's Salamonsky Circus in Moscow.
In January 1916, after a thirteen month tour across Russia, Finland, Latvia and Estonia, Anatoly Durov suddenly died in the Ukraine. The women began appearing in cinemas, cabarets and variety halls in Petrograd and Moscow until departing for Finland in September for a four month appearance with Helsinki's Circus Olsen.
Returning to Petrograd in January 1917, the women were engaged again for four months at the Circus Salamonsky (now run by Durov's son). It was during this engagement that the February Revolution broke out. After renewing passports at US Embassy, the women made appearances in Tula, Helsinki and Riga throughout the summer before returning to Petrograd in September.
In October, the women returned to Moscow for another four months at the Circus Salamonsky. During this engagement, they were caught up in the October Revolution. Instead of fleeing, they continued touring Russia and Estonia throughout 1918.
In February 1919, Durov Jr. escaped with the Salamonsky Circus to France, however Beatrice and Hattie Anderson were stopped at the Russian frontier and returned to Moscow. Their manager, Margarethe McDonough was able to return home to Germany. Beatrice Anderson, who was already suffering from an illness, was hospitalized for seven months. Hattie disappears from records and may have perished. After being released from the hospital, Tiger Lily resumed working at the Aquarium Theater in the fall. In February 1920, she received a medical operation and with the help of the Red Cross, was able to relocate to Reval, Estonia seven months later, where she made appearances before sailing to Germany.
Tiger Lily resided at Cranachstraße 51 in Berlin's Friedenau district with Margarethe McDonough and after a month of rest in a clinic, resumed performing in January 1921. After running a dance school in Berlin briefly, she left for an extended European tour across Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands until 1924. From 1924-25, she traveled Central Europe as a tap dancer with the Bailey Brothers. Afterwards, she joined Louis Douglas's Black Follies company, with whom she traveled as a chorus girl for a year.
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| 1932 Marriage Certificate |
From 1929-1932, Tiger Lily's career began to fade. She toured Eastern Europe, Turkey and Egypt as a member of the Cubanola Trio. On October 22nd, 1932, while appearing in Copenhagen, she married Karl Kristian Olsen and settled in Denmark, becoming a Danish citizen. Unfortunately the marriage was brief, as Tiger Lily was listed as a widow in the 1940 Danish Census.
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| 1940 Danish Census |
She lived quietly in Denmark, surviving the German occupation until April 1953, when she sailed from Copenhagen aboard the SS Oslofjord to New York. She listed 312 Manhattan Avenue as her destination.
Her trail goes cold afterwards. It's possible she joined her Aunt Sadie Anderson (June 20, 1886-July 1965) in Harlem, who had returned to the US in 1925 and was still touring across America in the 1950s as Sadie: The Leopard Skinned Woman. Another aunt, Rosie Meschi-Anderson (December 28, 1877-December 10, 1955) had retired and was living quietly in Syracuse with her daughter Victoria.
