(1869?-1931)
The Irish-born actor came to California in 1886 and soon found employment with stock companies. He gained a popular following as leading man with the Woodward Stock Company in Kansas City for several seasons at the turn of the century. He played both contemporary and Shakespearean roles, including Hamlet. In 1901, he organized an open-air production of Shakespeare's As You Like It in Kansas City's Troost Park, with electric lights and an orchestra in the shrubbery; he played Orlando and directed. In New York, he acted with major figures like John Barrymore and Minnie Maddern Fiske, but increasingly turned to directing. Two of his own plays were produced in New York: The Golden Age (1928) and House Unguarded (1928).
The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. James Fisher.