Joseph Jefferson, great American 19th century actor

[Dr Doran]

Fascinating article/book review from the always-great New York Review of Books, October 22, on the American sensation Joseph Jefferson. He had a Dickensian youth, pulled himself up and toured the country acting, was close friends with John Wilkes Booth, he acted in Australia, England, and America, bought lots of real estate and died filthy rich. The article also gives you a picture of what stage acting was like in the nineteenth century.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23186

 

[vitanola]

I have autographed photos of him in the roles of Rip van Winkle (of course) and as "Brother Johnathan". I've always liked Jefferson's recording of the awakening scene from "Rip Van Winkle". I never was able to find a clean copy of the Columbia black and silver disc, but have for many years owned a copy of the HRS reissue form the 1930's. It is a fascinating document of mid-nintenth-century performance practice!

 

[Fletch]

When a bunch of us NY Loungers attended a do at the venerable Players Club last summer, I spotted Jefferson's portrait on a wall. (The place is lousy with portraits of actors, both known and forgotten.)
It reminded me of a song I heard years ago - I can't remember who sang it - but it was the story of a backstage cat who was pressed into service to go onstage with Jefferson the night his stage beard got lost!

 

[Dr Doran]

Very cool. It's so wonderful how people on the Lounge know about so many things.

 

[Widebrim]

You've inspired me, Doran, to do research on Jefferson!

 

[Dr Doran]

Great!

 

[Fletch]

You've inspired me, Doran, to do research on Jefferson!

Find that song if you can...It had the line, "I played Joe Jefferson's beard!" It's quite obscure. Probably done for a New York "industry" type revue - don't know who else would have heard of him.

 

[dhermann1]

More Joe Jefferson

I was looking for another thread and stumbled on this one, so I thought I'd give it a bump.
That painting of Joseph Jefferson is by John Singer Sargent, arguably America's greatest painter. It's not one of his better efforts, but if you look closely you'll see a lot of wonderful qualities in the painting. On the adjoining wall is another portrait of an actor whose name I don't recall, but the signature is Gilbert Stuart, of George Washington fame.
The Players club took down a bunch of wonderfully eccentric and varied images from one stairway recently, and replaced them with a bunch of decidedly second rate paintings of more recent and better known actors. Understandable, but aesthetically a baaaaad choice.
I was at an event at the Museum of the City of New York recently (actually it was their 20's Speakeasy [arty, much fun, continuing every Wednesday all ssummer). They have an interesting exhibit of early connections bewteen the US and Japan. One interesting item shown is a program of a special theatrical gala given in 1860 for some visiting Japanese dignitaries, with Joseph Jefferson as the headliner.

 

[vitanola]

THE OLD TROUPER

i ran onto mehitabel again
last evening
she is inhabiting
a decayed trunk
which lies in an alley
in greenwich village
in company with the
most villainous tom cat
i have ever seen
but there is nothing
wrong about the association
archy she told me
it is merely a plutonic
attachment
and the thing can be
believed for the tom
looks like one of pluto s demons
it is a theatre trunk
archy mehitabel told me
and tom is an old theatre cat
he has given his life
to the theatre
he claims that richard
mansfield once
kicked him out of the way
and then cried because
he had done it and
petted him
and at another time
he says in a case
of emergency
he played a bloodhound
in a production of
uncle tom s cabin
the stage is not what it
used to be tom says
he puts his front paw
on his breast and says
they don t have it any more
they don t have it here
the old troupers are gone
there s nobody can troupe
any more
they are all amateurs nowadays
they haven t got it
here
there are only
five or six of us oldtime
troupers left
this generation does not know
what stage presence is
personality is what they lack
personality
where would they get
the training my old friends
got in the stock companies
i knew mr booth very well
says tom
and a law should be passed
preventing anybody else
from ever playing
in any play he ever
played in
there was a trouper for you
i used to sit on his knee
and purr when i was
a kitten he used to tell me
how much he valued my opinion
finish is what they lack
finish
and they haven t got it
here
and again he laid his paw
on his breast
i remember mr daly very
well too
i was with mr daly s company
for several years
there was art for you
there was team work
there was direction
they knew the theatre
and they all had it
here
for two years mr daly
would not ring up the curtain
unless i was in the
prompter s box
they are amateurs nowadays
rank amateurs all of them
for two seasons i played
the dog in joseph
jefferson s rip van winkle
it is true i never came
on the stage
but he knew i was just off
and it helped him
i would like to see
one of your modern
theatre cats
act a dog so well
that it would convince
a trouper like jo jefferson
but they haven t got it
nowadays
they haven t got it
here
jo jefferson had it he had it
here
i come of a long line
of theatre cats
my grandfather was with forrest
he had it he was a real trouper
my grandfather said
he had a voice
that used to shake
the ferryboats
on the north river
once he lost his beard
and my grandfather
dropped from the
fly gallery and landed
under his chin
and played his beard
for the rest of the act
you don t see any theatre
cats that could do that
nowadays
they haven t got it they
haven t got it
here
once i played the owl
in modjeska s production
of macbeth
i sat above the castle gate
in the murder scene
and made my yellow
eyes shine through the dusk
like an owl s eyes
modjeska was a real
trouper she knew how to pick
her support i would like
to see any of these modern
theatre cats play the owl s eyes
to modjeska s lady macbeth
but they haven t got it nowadays
they haven t got it
here
mehitabel he says
both our professions
are being ruined
by amateurs

archy

 

[dhermann1]

Applause!

Applause!!! Applause!!!
:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap
:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[David V]

New York theater has the "Tonies", Chicago theater has the "Jeffs".