The Valentine Theatre Performers and Bios

Al Jolson (May 26, 1886- October 23, 1950

Al Jolson was a popular American vaudeville performer, actor, composer, lyricist, and producer. Jolson was the first recording artist to sell over ten million records and had the equivalent of twenty-three number one hits.  Jolson is best known on the silver screen for his portrayal of Jack Robin in Hollywood’s first “talkie,” The Jazz Singer.

Anna Pavlova (1881 – 1931)

Anna Pavlova graced the world’s stages as the perfect romantic ballerina.  She began touring in 1914 and mesmerized audiences from all cultures with her magical grace and poetic beauty.

Egbert “Bert” Austin Williams (November 12, 1874 – March 4, 1922)

Bert Williams was a popular actor, playwright, singer and dancer of musicals, plays and vaudeville.  One of the most revered African American actors at the beginning of the twentieth century, Williams performed all over the world, including Broadway.  Williams often performed in blackface,[1] even though he was black. 

Bill “Mr. Bojangles” Robinson (1878 – 1949)

“Mr. Bojangles, shall we dance?” The lyrics of Jerry Jeff Walker song memorialize Bill “Mr. Bojangles” Robinson as a cultural icon. The African American tap dancer was on of the great dancers and entertainers of the twentieth century. He hoofed his way across the country in the vaudeville circuit, eventually leading to Broadway and Hollywood.

Billie Burke  (August 7, 1885 – May 14, 1970)

Best known to contemporary audiences for her role as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the film The Wizard of Oz, Billie Burke had a prolific career and performed in many roles on stage, in film, and on television. 

Joseph Frank “Buster” Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966)

Buster Keaton was born to be a performer.  He was born while his parents, who were traveling medicine show performers, were on the road in Piqua, Kansas.[2]  Keaton would appear in more than sixty other feature length and short films in his career, as well as racking up directing credits for such classics as The General and Sherlock, Jr.–in which he also starred.

Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915)

Charles Frohman was a popular American theatrical producer and agent who dominated the business for twenty five years and is credited with bolstering the business from the run of stock companies to a system of a bright “galaxy of stars.”[3]  From his beginnings in Sandusky, Ohio, where he was born to a traveling peddler in 1856, Frohman’s life is an example of the power of the American Dream. 

David Montgomery (21 April 1870 – 20 April 1917)

A composer, musician, and comedic performer, Montgomery had a very diverse career.  He performed in and wrote an early musical version of The Wizard of Oz (1903). This version focused on the Scarecrow and Tin Man, instead of Dorothy, allowing these two characters to serve as a vaudeville team throughout the show.[4] 

 Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. (May 23, 1883-December 12, 1939)

Although he is best known for his swashbuckling performances in early films, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was also an extremely successful stage actor.  Fairbanks began acting while growing up in Denver.  Fairbanks went on to act in numerous films that were very popular, including Robin Hood (1922), Thief of Baghdad (1924), The Taming of the Shrew, with his wife Mary Pickford (1929), and Mr. Robinson Crusoe (1932).[5] 

Ed Wynn (November 9, 1886 – June 19, 1966)

Ed Wynn was a great character actor famous for his silly and clownish, but clean and family-friendly, humor, and his cartoon-like voice to match.  He was billed as “the Perfect Fool” and also known for his role as “The Fire Chief” and his work on The Colgate Comedy Hour.

Dame Ellen Terry (February 27, 1848 – July 21, 1928)

Born into a family of actors, Dame Ellen Terry was a popular British Shakespearean actor who ventured into vaudeville and burlesque.

Enrico Caruso (1873 – 1921)

Enrico Caruso, one of the most popular singers of the early twentieth century, was born in Italy in 1873. A specialist in opera, Caruso became one of the most popular tenors in history and was one of the most beloved musical stars of his time.

Ethel Mae Blythe Barrymore (August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959)

Known as the “First Lady” of American theatre, Ethel Barrymore was a charismatic, award-winning star of the stage and early screen for over forty years as well as an activist of union rights.[6] 

Fanny Brice (October 29, 1891 – May 29, 1951)

Fanny Brice was born Fania Borach in New York City to the Hungarian-Jewish owners of a saloon on the lower East Side.  She was given her “big break” by Florenz Ziegfeld as a featured performer in his Follies of 1910.  Brice was a Ziegfeld headliner for well over two decades.

Fred Stone (August 19, 1873 – March 6, 1959)

Stone’s first major stage success was in the first production of The Wizard of Oz (1903), starring as the Scarecrow. His longtime collaborator, Dave Montgomery, was the Tin Man and wrote the script.

Marie-Elise-Gabrielle Caire “Gaby Deslys” (November 4, 1881 – February 11, 1920)

Gaby Deslys was born Marie-Elise-Gabielle in 1881, in Marseille, France.  In 1902 she landed a chorus position at the “Folies-Bergere.”  She would be known for her revealing costumes and sensual roles.

George M. Cohan (July 3, 1878 – November 5, 1942)

George M. Cohan, often touted “Broadway’s Best Man” or “the man who owned Broadway,”1 is perhaps one of the most famous Broadway stars of all time. In an age when media publicity and communication was in its infancy, Cohan made a name for himself from coast to coast. He was a composer, lyricist, actor, dancer, singer, entertainer, playwright, and producer.

Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926)

Harry Houdini was a popular magician, escapologist, stunt performer, film producer, actor, amateur aviator, and an investigator of spiritualists. 

Helena Modjeska (October 12, 1840-April 8, 1909)

Helena was most noted for playing Shakespearean roles and for raising production and performance standards significantly.  She insisted on being treated as an equal to men.

Henry Irving (Sir John Henry Brodribb) (February 6, 1838 – October 13, 1905)

Henry Irving was one of the most famous stage actors and theatre managers of the Victorian era, distinguishing himself in over five hundred roles.  In 1895, Irving was knighted by the Queen of England, the first of his profession to be granted that honor. 

Ignace Jan Paderewski (November 6, 1860- June 21, 1941)

Jan Paderewski (pronounced Yahn Pad-uh-REV-skee) was born on a pleasant and well-to-do farm in southern Poland.  Critics and serious musicians thought his passionate style was simply pounding on the piano, but audiences loved him.  Because of his good looks and outgoing personality women began to crowd around him, often screaming and fainting as he entered and left concerts, a phenomenon that newspapers termed “Paddymania.” 

Jeanne Eagels (June 26, 1890 [?] – October 3, 1929)

Eagels developed a reputation for being a difficult actress to work with. Eagels’s stage career hit its apex in 1922 with the opening of Rain, in which she was cast in the starring role.

Johanna Gadski (June 15, 1872 – February 22, 1932)

Johanna Gadski was one of the best known and most recorded sopranos of her time.  Born and trained in Germany, she debuted in 1889, when she was seventeen, and remained active in her career until her death at the age of fifty-nine. 

John Sidney Blythe Barrymore (15 February 1882 – 19 May 1942)

A very popular American theatre and film actor, John Barrymore was most famously known for his Shakespearean performances.

John Drew (November 13, 1853 – July 9, 1927)

As the son of John and Louisa Lane Drew, he was the uncle of three other Valentine Theatre performers: John, Ethel, and Lionel Barrymore.  Drew starred in over thirty Broadway productions, beginning in 1875 under the direction of Augustin Daly.

John Philip Sousa (November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932)

Known throughout the world as the “March King,” composer, conductor, and patriot John Philip Sousa is probably best known for the marches he composed. [7]  In addition, he conducted many concerts; among them, Sousa conducted a concert in Toledo in 1909.

Joseph Jefferson III (Jan. 20, 1829 – Apr. 23, 1905)

Jefferson portrayed Rip Van Winkle on the opening night of the Valentine Theatre’s first production.  On Christmas Night, 1895, Jefferson’s production of Rip Van Winkle played to a full house. As the Valentine opened, Jefferson addressed the crowd, comparing the Valentine to some of the greatest opera houses and theatres worldwide that he had performed in. 

Katharine Cornell (February 16, 1893 – June 9, 1974)

Born in Berlin, Germany in 1893 to American parents who were studying abroad, Katharine Cornell, over the span of her career, became known as the “First Lady of the American Theatre.”

Lillian Russell (December 4, 1860 - June 6, 1922)

Lillian Russell was one of the most famous actresses of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and was also considered to be an ideal feminine sex symbol of the age.  She was known for her flamboyant style both in her stage performances and in her off-stage celebrity persona.

Lionel Barrymore (April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954)

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as Lionel Herbert Blythe, Barrymore began acting at fifteen years old.  He had a very successful film career, playing almost 200 roles and winning the 1931 Academy Award for Best Actor for A Free Soul.[8]  He was one of the “Fabulous Barrymores,” along with his brother John and his sister Ethel. 

Marilyn Miller (September 1, 1898 – April 7, 1936) 

The popularity of the name “Marilyn” soared exponentially in the United States over the course of Marilyn Miller’s career.  Such a remarkable detail is representative of Miller’s widespread acclaim as the darling of the Ziegfeld Follies and one of the most popular Broadway stars of her time. 

Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden (November 11, 1872 – July 17, 1953)

Most famous for her portrayal of Peter Pan, Maude Adams was arguably the best actress of the early 1900s. Her acting career began at age five.

Minnie Maddern Fiske “Mrs. Fiske” (December 19, 1865 – February 14, 1932)

Born in New Orleans on December 19, 1865, Mary or Marie Augusta Davey, later known as Minnie Maddern Fiske, was one of the first “realistic” actresses to grace the late nineteenth and early twentieth century American stage.

Robert B. Mantell (1854 – 1928)

Robert Mantell was a popular Shakespearean actor.  When he died in 1928, he had appeared in approximately 4,900 Shakespearean performances, possibly more than any American in the history of the stage.[9]

Robinson Locke “Rodney Lee” (March 15, 1856 – April 20, 1920)

Robinson Locke was born in Toledo to Martha and David Ross Locke, the former editor, writer, and owner of the Toledo Blade.  Just as his father had entertained readers with his “Nasby” writings about anti-slavery (of which Abraham Lincoln was said to be a fan), Locke wanted to give Blade readers a column that spoke of his own individual interest. He chose the theatre.  Along with being a critic, he was also a major collector of theatre-related newspaper clippings from across the U.S.

Ruth St. Denis (c. 1879 – July 21, 1968)

Ruth St. Denis’s contribution to modern dance and the entertainment industry is far reaching. Denis began as a “skirt dancer” in a dime museum and in vaudeville houses in New York City in 1892.1 St. Denis’s dances were enamored with spirituality and the orient.  She began teaching her methods, eventually joining with her future husband Ted Shawn and forming their own school of dance, Denishawn, in 1914.

Sarah Bernhardt (October 23, 1844 – March 26, 1923)

Sarah Bernhardt was born as Henriette Rosine Bernard in Paris, France, the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy Frenchman.  She was sent to a convent for her upbringing. She lived in the convent until age fifteen. She became a major international celebrity after performing on tours in North and South America.

Vaslav Nijinsky (March 12, 1890 – 1950)                                                                                                                                   Hailed as “the god of dance,” Vaslav Nijinsky earned his fame with feats of physical prowess equal to “Air Jordon.”  He achieved international fame with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in the early twentieth century.

W. C. Fields (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946)

W.C. Fields was a popular American comedian, actor, and juggler.  Born William Claude Dukenfield in Darby, Pennsylvania, Fields was the descendant of English and Irish noblemen.  At the age of eighteen, Fields left home for a career in vaudeville and just three years later was headlining tours in North America and Europe.

William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935)

Will Rogers was a popular American vaudeville performer, actor, newspaper and radio columnist, and humorist.  Born in Cherokee Territory (now Oklahoma), Rogers was a poor student, far more skilled with a lariat than a textbook.  Rogers then starred in 21 “talkies”; he was America’s #1 box office draw in 1934, as well as its most popular newspaper columnist and weekly radio broadcaster. 

William Gillette (July 42, 1853 – 1937)“Oh, this is elementary, my dear fellow.” William Gillette is immortalized around the world by this iconic quote. Although he was a versatile artist, playwright, director and actor, he was best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes.

 

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