Caroline Louise Dudley (June 10, 1857 – November 13, 1937) was an American silent film and stage actress who found fame on Broadway through collaborations with impresario David Belasco. She was a strikingly beautiful and vivacious performer, known as "The American Sarah Bernhardt". She acted under her married name, Mrs. Leslie Carter, which she continued to use even after her divorce. Early life Caroline Dudley was born in Lexington, Kentucky. The exact date is not known but research points to the year 1857. Her father, Orson Dudley, was a wholesale dry goods merchant of means, who gave his daughter every advantage that money could bestow. Her mother was the former Catherine Dudley. Most of Dudley's childhood was spent in Dayton, Ohio. She aspired to the stage from the time she was a girl, but did not get to do so before her marriage. In 1880, married lawyer Leslie Carter. They had one child, a son, Dudley Carter. In 1887, she filed for divorce on the grounds of physical assault and abandonment. But in 1889, Mr. Carter obtained the divorce, naming actor H. Kyrle Bellew as co-respondent. Her son, Dudley, chose to live with his mother and was cut from his father's will as a result. The filing and results of the divorce became a scandal and was covered by contemporary press. Career Her subsequent career on stage became a success. Her association with Broadway impresario David Belasco propelled her to great theatrical fame. Her first hit was as the lead character in The Heart of Maryland (1895), set during the American Civil War. It was a huge hit. In this play, she wore a wig with six-foot tresses. Her great scene came as the heroine swinging in a belfry tower, her hands gripping the clapper to prevent the ringing of a huge curfew bell. The swinging of Mrs. Carter 35 feet above the stage, with off-stage fans used to blow her long tresses streaming, set New York audiences cheering. This was followed by her even more sensational successes in Zaza (1898) and Madame Du Barry (1901). In July 1906, she married actor (William) Louis Payne (1875 – August 17, 1955). He was often her leading man on stage and later managed her business affairs. They adopted a daughter, Mary Carter Payne. She broke with Belasco after her second marriage and abandoned Broadway in favor of vaudeville. In 1915, pioneer producer