Marie Meeker (born Maybelle Meeker; November 6, 1886 – April 2, 1960), who performed under the name Dainty Marie, was an American vaudeville and circus performer.
She was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, the daughter of a prison guard, and niece of pioneer Ezra Meeker. She was apprenticed to a small circus as a child, and learned such skills as bareback riding, rope spinning, and aerial acrobatics.[1][2]
She rose to fame quickly in the early 1900s, and appeared in Broadway shows with Blanche Ring, Lew Fields, and Julian Eltinge.[2] She became a headline performer in vaudeville, with an act in which she first sang in an evening gown, or period costume, and then disrobed to perform acrobatic feats on a trapeze while clad in a leotard and tights.[3] She also performed living recreations of statues by Rodin.[4] In her youth she was noted for her attractive figure,[5] and also became known for her physical strength after an altercation with some "mashers" while she was walking on Broadway.[1] A follower of Christian Science, she promoted the values of exercise and moral reform.[6]
She became a featured performer with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, where she was billed as "the world's greatest aerialist".[7] She later returned to vaudeville. In 1923, her act was described as "in a class by itself as a vaudeville novelty that Is different".[8]
She retired in 1931 in order to start a physical culture school for women in Milwaukee.[5] In about 1948 she moved to Saugus, California, where she died in 1960 at the age of 73.[7]
She was married four times. She had brief marriages, ending in divorce, to Ewald "Wally" Hupel in 1903; to actor Earle Foxe in 1914; and to Clarence Williams in 1928. Her final marriage was to Walter Hickey, who predeceased her.[7]