Queenie Foote

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Queenie Foote (1857–1937) was an American performer, often billed as The Fairy Queen. Born Eliza S. Nestel in Fort Wayne, Indiana, she was a dwarf and the daughter of Daniel Nestel and Henrietta Goebel Nestel, immigrants from Prussia. She started appearing in public as a child with her older brother Charles W. Nestel, known as Commodore Foote, under the management of William Ellinger, with their father as chaperone.

Queenie and Charles toured widely in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. They even met President Abraham Lincoln at the White House in 1864, and they also met Queen Victoria. They performed with the Lilliputian Comic Opera Company and with other little performers such as Commodore Nutt, Admiral Dot, and Jennie Quigley. Charles insisted they were actors, not freaks, rejecting the idea of a sideshow.

In 1895 Queenie helped another brother sell jewelry in Ohio. She was injured in 1909, and by 1912 she and Charles had retired to Fort Wayne. Queenie Foote died in Fort Wayne in 1937, just days after her brother’s death.