CIVIL WAR ERA BROADWAY THEATER STAGE ACTOR STODDART AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ANS!

Description

JAMES H. STODDART
(1827 – 1907)
ESTEEMED AMERICAN CIVIL WAR ERA BROADWAY THEATER STAGE ACTOR, WHOSE CAREER LASTED 63 YEARS!
&
AUTHOR OF “
RECOLLECTIONS OF A PLAYER
” PUBLISHED IN 1902, “THE SEVEN SAGAS OF PREHISTORIC MAN,” Etc.
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HERE IS AN AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED BY STODDART WITH SENTIMENT:
“With the very best wishes of
Sincerely yours
J. H. Stoddart”
On the verso is a partial typed letter form concerning a subscription to the “
PLAYGOERS’ CLUB
” dated at Boston, Dec. 26
th
1895.
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The document measures 5½” x 3¾” and is in very good+ condition, with some age spots which add character.
A FINE PIECE OF AMERICAN THEATER HISTORY.
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BIOGRAPHY OF
JAMES HENRY STODDART
James Henry Stoddart
, English-born American Actor, was born on October 13, 1827 in Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, one of a family of ten. His father was James Henry Stoddart, a provincial actor from Scotland; his mother was Mary (Pierce) Stoddart of Yorkshire. In appearance, however, the son always suggested very strongly the Scotch side of his ancestry. The elder Stoddart had been for many years connected with the Theatre Royal, Glasgow, and all five of his sons became actors.
Career
James Henry began as a child of five and as a youth acted with the American star, Charlotte Cushman, in Glasgow, playing a gypsy boy in Guy Mannering. In 1854 he made a hazard of new fortunes and came to New York, where James William Wallack engaged him as a member of his company. He remained in Wallack's company for two years and then joined Laura Keene.
In 1859 he was at the Winter Garden, where Dion Boucicault was the stage manager and Joseph Jefferson the leading player. There he played Lafourche in the famous production of Boucicault's The Octoroon.
From 1864 to 1866 he was at the Olympic, where he played Moneypenny in The Long Strike. In 1867 he went back again to Wallack's Theatre on Broadway at Thirteenth Street, and in 1875, after two unsuccessful seasons of touring as the star in The Long Strike, joined the company of Albert Marshman Palmer at the Union Square Theatre. He remained with this famous organization for two decades, moving with it to the Madison Square Theatre and playing in almost all the dramas to which it gave life.
Consequently, he was identified at one time or another with most American actors of his period and with the works of many rising American playwrights, including Bronson Crocker Howard and Augustus Thomas. One of his famous roles was that of Pierre Michel in Rose Michel. Another, which illustrated his versatility and his sympathy with the newer drama of local color, was that of Colonel Preston in Augustus Thomas' play, Alabama. Here, in spite of his Scotch ancestry, he gave a convincing performance, carefully composed and natural in execution, of an old-school Southerner.
During the season of 1901-02, at the Republic Theatre, New York, he played Lachlan Campbell in a dramatization of the then popular story by Ian Maclaren (John Watson), Beside the Bonnie Briar Bush. He was still playing this role when he was stricken with paralysis in April 1905 in Galt, Ontario.
He died on Dec. 9, 1907 at his home in Sewaren, New Jersey, and is buried in Hazel Wood Cemetery, Colonia, Middlesex County, NJ.
Achievements
·
James Henry Stoddart's career as an actor lasted sixty-three years. Though, in all conscience, his career had been a long one, it was not till five years later that, for the second time, he became a star, and for the first time a successful one. In 1902 he published his Recollections of a Player. Till his final illness, he scarcely ever lacked employment in the best companies, and for fifty years was a valued and beloved figure on the American stage.
Personality
Stoddart was so striking in appearance, especially in later life, that disguise was impossible, and he applied his skill to fitting his own personality to a part. Tall and slender, wiry of frame, with an extraordinarily wide mouth and wide-set, penetrating blue eyes, he had the face and figure of some old Scotchman carved out of rock and heather. But it was a face and figure oddly appealing, and Stoddart knew how to make the most of it, both for humor and pathos. He could play with a light touch, and he could strike deep.
He had waited long, and worked hard, for his honors.
Familial Connections
His wife was Matilda (Phillips) Conover, whom he met and married, October 28, 1855, when both were playing with Lester Wallack. They had two sons, one of whom died young, and a daughter.
Father:
James Henry Stoddart
Mother:
Mary (Pierce) Stoddart
Wife:
Matilda (Phillips) Conover
BROADWAY CREDITS
The Bonnie Brier Bush
(Sep 23, 1901 - Nov 1901)
Performer:
James H. Stoddart
Play Drama Original
The Only Way
(Sep 16, 1899 - Nov 1899)
Performer:
James H. Stoddart
[Mr. Lorry]
Play Drama Romance Original
A Pair of Spectacles
(Oct 30, 1890 - Closing date unknown)
Performer:
James H. Stoddart
Play Original
Men and Acres
(Apr 06, 1870 - Closing date unknown)
Performer:
James H. Stoddart
[Mr. Bunter]
Play Comedy Original
Oliver Twist
(Feb 14, 1860 - Closing date unknown)
Performer:
James H. Stoddart
[Mr. Brownlow]
Play Original
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