It was business before romance for Pittsburgh newspaper editor Alexander Moore and actress Lillian Russell.

The two were married June 12, 1912, at the Hotel Schenley in Oakland -- now the University of Pittsburgh's student union.

"Miss Russell, who is here with the Weber-Fields company, will leave at 12 o'clock tonight for the east," The Pittsburgh Leader reported the day of the wedding. "About the same time, Mr. Moore will leave for Chicago to attend the Republican national convention, in fulfillment of a promise he had made to Colonel Roosevelt some time ago."

Russell, 51, was one of the stars of the Weber and Fields Jubilee, a variety show that was touring the country. A reporter for her new husband's newspaper called it "the most conspicuous theatrical event [in] years."

Moore, 44, was, by most accounts, Russell's fourth husband. He had to leave his bride because he was expected in Chicago to build support for the presidential campaign of former President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was feuding with his hand-picked successor, President William Howard Taft. He was seeking to deny Taft a second term and run as the GOP candidate himself in 1912. When Roosevelt did not get the Republican nod, he ran as the candidate of the new Progressive, or Bull Moose, Party. He polled more votes than Taft, but both lost to Democrat Woodrow Wilson.

While the story about the wedding of the editor and the actress was a modest three inches or so, Pittsburgh readers did not lack for information concerning Russell. She was the author of an advice column, "Lillian Russell's Philosophy," that appeared regularly on the Leader's "Women, Home, Heart, Beauty" page.

During the month of her marriage, she had advice on the most attractive ways to sit and on the benefits of vigorous dance.

Awkwardly placed feet were an aesthetic danger, she warned. "I have seen a tall, beautiful graceful woman walk through a room full of admirers, sit down upon a piano seat, lean her arms gracefully up the piano, making a charming picture," she wrote in a column that appeared on her wedding day. "Then spoil it all by twisting her ankle around the leg of the seat to steady herself, toes turned in and heel out of her slipper. She had studied every stance for a fascinating effect and those disagreeable little feet betrayed her."

Russell had a solution to the problem. She recommended that her readers hang a few mirrors at floor level in various rooms of their homes. Those looking glasses would permit an occasional "glance at your unconscious little offenders" to make sure they were fetchingly displayed.

Dancing, she advised a few days later, would be of particular benefit for women who work outside the home. "Some women who are in business assume a manner of stiffness in their walk and carriage which is unwomanly," Russell wrote. "Such women should dance ... they should lighten up when away from business, drop responsibilities and feminize themselves."

Russell had been a Broadway and London star since the early 1880s. Joe Weber and Lew Fields had been doing a "Dutch act," two characters speaking with thick German accents, almost as long. In 1896, they opened their own theater where they performed satires, known as burlesques, of popular Broadway musicals.

The Weber and Fields Jubilee, which ended its national tour with two Pittsburgh performances June 14, 1912, was capitalizing on nostalgia. "Many prominent actors and actresses of old-day fame appeared in the all-star cast," an anonymous reviewer wrote in the next day's Leader.

"The performances consisted of a medley of old Weber and Fields nonsense with the added spice of burlesque of the New York comedy success 'Bunty Pulls the Strings,' " the reporter wrote.

The audience expected stereotypes. Weber and Fields offered their "language destroying dialogues, which end up in highly amusing choking scenes." John T. Kelley was "the famous old Irishman," and George Beban appeared as "the affectionate and excited Frenchman."

The boss's wife wasn't forgotten. "Lillian Russell was radiant in a number of beautiful gowns and sang splendidly," the reviewer noted.

After her marriage, Russell appeared in a few more plays and silent movies. In her later years, she lobbied for women's suffrage.

She died in Pittsburgh in 1922 at age 61. She and her husband, who died in 1930, are entombed in Lawrenceville's Allegheny Cemetery.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.