Take a gander at The American Stage of To-Day, published in 1909. I’m sure everyone here recalls the Barrymores, Lillian Russell, Billie Burke—and a handful of you must know of Maude Adams, Geo. Arliss, Doug Fairbanks . . . and you damn well better know of Anna Held!
But how many of these others have been lost to history? This is my business, so I’ve heard of most of these folks. But even I’m at a loss when it comes to, say, John “who?” Mason, Florence “wha’?” Roberts, Hattie “hmmm?” Williams . . .
So, “people on the street,” how many of these once-famous names—once on cigarette cards, cigar bands and 24-sheet posters—ring a bell with you?
Well, the Barrymores. of course, George M. Cohan, Douglas Faibanks, William Gillette (but only becuase he was in an early silent film of Sherlock Holmes), DeWolf Hopper (but only because he married Hedda), Alla Nazimova, May Robson (she was in “Dinner at Eight”), Ruth St. Denis (her connection to Martha Graham).
The ones Eve named, natch, (except Maude Adams) plus…
George M. Cohan, of course.
May Irwin, who was in the seminal 1896 film The Kiss.
May Robson was quite a famous actress, starring in Bringing Up Baby and A Star Is Born and getting an Oscar nomination for Capra’s Lady for a Day.
A few others (Breese, Starr, Richman, Faversham, Roberts) sounded familiar and though they did appear in movies I’d seen, they still didn’t register as more than bit players. Alla Nazimova I remember from the Walk of Fame in Hollywood but don’t know anything about her. I recognized Gillette, St. Denis & Hopper’s names but only made vague connections (writer, dancer, husband).
Gosh Eve, up until now I’d always denied the rumor that you were in “Our American Cousin” the night Lincoln was shot…
Most of the ones previously mentioned, plus Marguerite Clarke, Rose Coghlan, Marie Doro, William Faversham, Minnie Fisk, James O’Neill (Eugene’s father IIRC, famous for his Count of Monte Christo). But I don’t recall where I remember most of them from. A few others ring faint bells but I’m damned if I know why. But where is the divine Mrs. Patrick Campbell?
Ooooh, ArchiveGuy, you shouls read Gavin Lambert’s recent bio of Nazimova. She was openly bisexual, a huge, colorful diva, made tons of silent films (including the high-camp “Salome”). Quite a character!
I’m surprised you’ve never heard of Maude Adams, she was probably the most famous stage actress of 100 years ago. Did a lot of Barrie, was the first Peter Pan. And as you can see, one of the hgreat beauties of all time.
I guess that list is just limited to stage, right?
One name I missed was Donald Crisp.
Granted, he was a character actor. He would already have been a character for a couple of years(a film called “The French Maid” started it in 1907).
His final film would be “Spenser’s Mountain” where he played Grandpa. Nearly 60 years. Pretty good for a business that chews 'em up and spits 'em out.
Oh, he did more than that. William Gillette wrote the stage play Sherlock Holmes (Doyle is credited, too, but he didn’t actually write the play). It’s still in production, and pretty good. I saw the Royal Skespeare company do it on Broadway in 1975. John Wood was Holmes. Gillette was the guy who introduced the Calabash Pipe (that’s the U-shaped one) as the “standard” Holmes pipe.
Aside from him, Anna Held (I read the book!), Fairbanks, Cohan, and the others Eve mentions, draw a blank. I don’t even know Maud dams (I do know a later Maud adams, because she appeared in two James Bond flicks, but this early one is a mystery to me). I even heard of George Arliss.
What about Eddie Foy, John Bunny and Weber and Fields, Buster Keaton was young but was featured even then with his family, and what about Bill Robinson. Don’t forget DeWolf Hopper and the Devine Sara was still (sort of) trodding the boards (well at least, half trodding). And as long as I bring up Bernhart, let us not forget her fellow frenchperson, Coquelin.
Hardly at the highth of his fame but Eddie Cantor was also a recognizable name at the time. The same pretty much went for the Oklahoman fellow Zigflieldian of Robinson, Burke and Cantor’s - a young man with a solid talent with a lasso and wit named Will Rogers. Fanny Brice was just starting to make a name for herself about that time too.
And let us not forget Harry Houdini.
In music they didn’t get any bigger than Caruso.
England’s Max Linder was at his peak in films about this time and Fatty Arbuckle was poised to take off on his ill-fated journey but was probably still an overweight unknown at the date you stated.
Maud Adams - Peter Pan, yes, but had anyone mentioned Billie Burke (married Flo Ziegfeld, as did Anna Held (I think there’s a very good book out on her) and played (Billie that is) inThe Wizard of Oz and Dinner at Eight.
I once played George M. Cohan in the musical, so I know that his sister Josie married a man who became a pioneer film maker.
Minnie Fiske is mentioned in passing in “All About Eve”, am
d I’ve always had a simple minded convicion that just as the actor George De Reszke had a brand of cigarettes named after him, so William Gillette had an eponymous brand of razors. Was I wrong?
Elsie Janis- - I’m sure she played in a Noel Coward play some twenty years later, in the UK.
James O’Neill was the father of Eugene O’Neill, famous for the\his role as The Count Of Monte Cristo, in which he toured year after year after year.
Nazimova, of course, made a selfish grab for attention at Valentino’s funeral, with fainting and dramatics.
Mr. Maclyn Arbuckle was one of the first of the silent movie stars (along with Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin) that I could readily identify as a kid on the old Bob Monkhouse silent comedy collections on TV. 'Course, he was Fatty Arbuckle by then, and hadn’t yet met Virginia Rappe.
Baseball fans should know DeWolf Hopper – he made “Casey at the Bat” famous.
Maclyn Arbuckle was not Fatty Arbukle – Fatty’s first name was “Roscoe,” the two have separate entries in the IMDB, and Macklyn was 20 years older.
But the main reason so few are known was that few made it into the movies. You’d be even harder pressed to recall the big names of entertainment in 1888. Once films were invented, people could see an entertainer years after his death; before then, they were quickly forgotten (note that most of those listed are listed because of their film work).
Otis Skinner is one I’ve heard of, only because there were rumors that we were related to him on my father’s side. The evidence runs to the contrary, but nonetheless I guess it counts, eh?