McKee Rankin burst upon the theater world in the 1860s. By the age of twenty-one, Rankin, a Canadian by birth, had become leading man at the Arch Street Theatre in Philadelphia, considered to be the best theater in the country. A matinee idol and a superb character actor, he formed one of the first combination companies to tour America. He wrote successful Western dramas, in which he and his wife, the famous Kitty Blanchard, created unforgettable characters. He built a theater in New York City and one in San Francisco where, in the 1880s, he created a nationally famous repertory theater.
Persevering, intelligent, and dedicated, his passion for the theater brought him into conflict with the commercial attitudes of managers. Throughout his ups and downs, from riches to poverty, from handsome man to obese alcoholic, he continued to create great roles. When Rankin died in 1914, the brilliant innovations of this actor-manager, playwright, and director had changed theater forever.
This thoroughly documented biography is also a lively story of one of the most important, but least known, periods of American theater, encompassing a wealth of information about great but forgotten actors, a fascinating account of the relationship between the stage and its audience, and several rediscovered, once famous, plays.
Students of acting, historians of the theater, and those interested in the cultural development of a continent will find the book invaluable. All readers will be entranced by a world from which today’s entertainment emerged.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 792/.028/092
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 21
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-us---
- ISBN
- 0889203903 9780889209473
- LCCN
- PN2287.R24
- LCCN Item number
- B42 2002eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaBNVSL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xvii, 520 p.)
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)gtp00521616 (OCoLC)123419999 (CaOOCEL)402683
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaBNVSL
Table of Contents
- CONTENTS 10
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 14
- PREFACE 16
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 18
- PROLOGUE 22
- Preliminaries 26
- 1860: The Tyro in Rochester 28
- ACT ONE: REPERTORY THEATER 36
- 1863: Cincinnati 36
- 1863–1864 45
- Indianapolis 45
- Lexington 52
- Kitty Blanchard 54
- Rankin on Canadian Stages 59
- 1864–1865 61
- Pittsburgh 61
- Boston 65
- 1865–1866 70
- Leading Man: Philadelphia 70
- Boston and E.L. Davenport 82
- 1866–1867 84
- New York City and Light Comedy 84
- Chicago and St Louis 87
- On the Road 88
- The Burlesquing of American Drama 90
- 1867–1868 96
- Rankin Tours as Actor-Manager 96
- 1868–1869 103
- Variety and Chicago’s Plaudits 103
- ACT TWO: STARDOM 110
- New York City in 1869 110
- 1869–1870 114
- Pike’s Dramatic Company 114
- Acting in Tandem 116
- 1870–1871: Go West, Young Actor 121
- 1871–1872: St Louis and Rankin’s Comedy Theatre 133
- 1872–1873: Fame as Rip Van Winkle and Bankruptcy 139
- 1873–1875 143
- The Boucicault Interlude 143
- The Union Square Theatre Company 144
- The Two Orphans 150
- 1875–1876: The Two Orphans on Tour 157
- 1876–1877: Philadelphia 160
- 1877–1878: The Fabulous Danites 170
- 1878–1879: The Theater Changes 179
- 1879–1880: England Welcomes the West 185
- 1881–1882 193
- Blanchard’s Troubles 193
- ’49, Successor to The Danites 197
- 1882–1883: Stock and Saxe-Meiningen 202
- 1883–1884: Rankin’s Third Avenue Theatre 206
- 1884–1885 211
- Rankin’s Cooperative Stock Company 211
- 1885–1886 219
- Successful San Francisco Days 219
- Macbeth 232
- The American Theatre Company Continues 239
- ACT THREE: OBSESSION 258
- 1886–1887: The Rise of Mabel Bert 258
- 1887–1888: Reversals 264
- 1888–1889: The Runaway Wife versus The Golden Giant Mine 268
- 1889–1890: The Canuck 275
- 1890–1891: Sued for Support 278
- 1891–1892: Abraham Lincoln and Frank Mayo 282
- 1892–1893: Setback and Reconciliation 287
- 1893–1894 292
- The Drew–Barrymore–Rankin Connection 292
- The Great Discovery 295
- 1894–1895: Lamson Blossoms into O’Neil 300
- 1895–1896: Interlude with “Gentleman Jim” Corbett 304
- ACT FOUR: THE REIGN OF NANCE O’NEIL 306
- 1896–1897: Creating a Star 306
- 1897–1898 312
- The Murray Hill Experience 312
- Nance O’Neil’s Star Begins to Rise 315
- 1898–1899 320
- Homecoming 320
- London Bound 327
- 1899: Star Rising 330
- 1900 333
- The Australian Experience 333
- Melbourne and Adelaide 338
- 1901 340
- Au Revoir Sydney 340
- New Zealand 344
- 1901–1902: Africa 347
- 1902 351
- London 351
- The Syndicate 355
- 1903 357
- Retrieving Lost Fortunes 357
- The Debacle in Chicago 367
- 1904 375
- Boston: Unimaginable Success 375
- Lizzie Borden Interlude 389
- New York City: The Big Chance 391
- 1905 396
- Licking the Wounds 396
- The Great Australasia Return 400
- 1906: Coming through Disaster 405
- 1906–1907: The Last Chance 412
- 1907–1908: Vaudeville—Where the Money Is 416
- 1908: Agnes and the Shubert Imbroglio 421
- 1909: Larkin Bunce, Belasco, and The Lily 429
- ACT FIVE: RANKIN ON THE REBOUND 438
- 1909–1911: Lionel, Doris, and Mac 438
- 1911–1913: Margaret Drew and the West 443
- 1914: Death 451
- APPENDIXES 456
- Appendix A: Progeny 456
- Appendix B: Plays 460
- NOTES 464
- SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 518
- INDEX 522
- A 522
- B 523
- C 525
- D 526
- E 527
- F 528
- G 528
- H 529
- I 530
- J 530
- K 530
- L 531
- M 531
- N 533
- O 533
- P 534
- Q 535
- R 535
- S 537
- T 538
- U 540
- V 540
- W 540
- Y 541
- Z 541
