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Al. H. Wilson (akaAlphonse or Alfonso H. Wilson; néAlphonse Heerwich Niederhöfer; 3 March 1868 – 6 March 1936) was an
American stage actor, comedian, singer,
monologist, songwriter, theater stock company director, and playwright. He was the brother of actress Lizzie Wilson (née Elisabeth Niederhöfer; 1863–1939).[1][2] Until
World War I, he was billed as "the great German dialect comedian and golden voiced singer".
Who's Who verbatim
Wilson was born in
Buffalo, New York, to Johannes (John) Niederhofer (1827–1892) and Joanna (Anna) Stengel (maiden; 1826–1872). He was educated in the Buffalo public schools. Wilson began his professional career as a member of the Messenger Boys' Quartette, in variety, 1885–1886, then becoming member of Wilson's All Star Minstrels (George Wilson; 1844–1930), in which, from 1887 to 1888, he appeared as featured vocalist and vocalist with the Messenger Quartette (with Falke, Sanders, and Zimmerman).[3]
Wilson's All-Star Minstrels
Fox & Ward, comedians, Joe Fox (né Joseph Monahan, 1852–1934) and William H. Ward (1852–1937) – comedy team for 70 years, from 1868 to 1928
Professor A.L. Gleason and His 10,000 Dog Circus
Falke & Semans, musical artists
Marba Con tortionist – "the human snake"
Messenger Quartette – Wilson, Falke, Sanders, and Zimmerman
The Boston Four
He then played several parts in the touring show, A Soap Bubble, 1888–1889, a three-act comedy produced by Irish-born comedian from Buffalo, Thomas J. Farron (1851–1923), and written by James Montgomery Phister (1852–1917), a Yale graduate who, among other things, had been dramatic editor of the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune for 35 years.
He began vaudeville as a single act, 1889–1890, making his first appearance in Chicago, singing German songs. His success was immediate, and he joined Nelson's Great World Combination (see combination company) ("America's representative vaudeville company"), a group of vaudeville artists, 1890–1892. Robert Nelson (1940–1916).
Wilson played Jacob Blotzmeyier in Two Old Cronies, 1891–1893. Fannie Bloodgood was in the cast as Elsie Rush. Wilson and Fanny Bloodgood (née Fannie Mauran; 1867–1951) were married in Chicago April 19, 1892, during the production. The play was written by Frank M. Wills (né Franklin M. Wills; 1854–1903) and William C. Anderson. It premiered in 1887 under the auspices of Wills, Henshaw, and Ten Broeck – composed of Frank M. Wills, John E. Henshaw (1853–1939), and Miss May Ten Broeck (né Mary Hale; 1848–1908; married 1868 to George Williams Beardsely; 1840–1917). Around 1890, Henshaw and Ten Broeck sold their interest to Frank Wills' brother, John B. Wills (né John Buchanan Wills; 1859–1913).[4]
Selected songs:
"Blame It On the Girls," sang by Ada Deaves (1855–1920)
"Poppy," sang by Bloodgood
Fannie Bloodgood was a daughter of Carlo "Harry Bloodgood" Mauran (1844–1886), a comic actor.
Appeared as Karl Pretzel, with
Frederick Hallen and
Joseph Hart, in The Idea, 1892–1895. Wilson's wife, Fannie Bloodgood, play the part of Peach Blow.[5] The play opened in 1892 in Kansas City at the Grand Opera House, formerly on 704 Walnut Street (erected 1891, demolished 2007).
Wilson starred as John Stoppel, an elderly German-American shoemaker, in the comedy-drama, Struck Oil, 1894–1896.[a] Venues for the production included the
Fourteenth Street Theatre, New York. The production co-starred Jane Stuart (née Jane Holohan; 1871–1936) as young Lizzie Stoppel, the shoemaker's daughter. The play was a revival by Augustus Pitou (1843–1915) of an 1877 production that premiered during the throes of the
Pennsylvania oil rush. The
Union Square Theatre in
Manhattan was among the engagement venues. The play was written by Samuel W. Smith, Clay Meridith Greene (1850–1933), and
J.C. Williamson (1845–1913). The original production starred Williamson and and
Maggie Moore. Pitou, in 1906, married actress
Gertrude Coghlan. Struck Oil was produced in Australia as a
silent film in 1919.[6] Jane Stuart – on February 26, 1895 – married Louis Auer III (1857–1910) of
Milwaukee and retired from the stage.
Thomas H. Davis (1859–1911)[7] and William T. Keogh's (né William Trokes Keogh; 1860–1947)[8] farce-comedy in three acts, The Finish of Mr. Fresh, about life in New York, 1898–1899, by Thomas H. Davis (1859–1911) and
Scott Marble. Fanny Bloodgood was in the cast. The production opened at Butler's Grand Opera House in
Washington, D.C.,[b] October 25, 1898, in preparation for a November 7 premiere at the
Star Theater in
New York, performing for a week, then the
Metropolis Theatre in
The Bronx for another eight performances, then abruptly dissapeared.[9][10]
Wilson remained a season with this company and then returned to vaudeville for seasons 1896–1898; appeared as Capt. Dietrich in Evangeline, 1899, staged and directed by
Edward E. Rice.
After a season with Imperial Stock Company, St. Louis, he went west on tour playing Pelig Kalsenheimer in The Evil Eye, or the Many, Merry Mishaps of Nid and the Weird, Wonderful Wanderings of Nod, 1899–1901, produced by
Charles H. Yale's and written by Sidney R. Ellis. Fannie Bloodgood played Adora Van de Voort of New York.
He then became a star under Sidney R. Ellis (1857–1924) and
Charles H. Yale's management, beginning his famous series of "Metz" parts, first in The Watch on the Rhine, 1900–1903[12]
"Johnny in the Army"
"Love Is All in All"
"My Little Fraulein"
"Tea Kettle Song"
"In Tyrol"
"The Song of Home"
"My Own Sweet German Rose"
"Naughty, Naughty"
"The Voice of the Storm"
As Prince von Reppert, an exiled Austrian, in A Prince of Tatters, 1903–1905, a play by Sidney R. Ellis. Wilson's wife, Fannie Bloodgood was in the cast as Ann Clatterkopf.
One of the venues, The Kempner Theatre in
Little Rock, was involved in a syndicate war that peaked during the company's first performance, a
matinée, on October 20, 1910.
October 20, 1910, the Al H. Wilson company, managed by Sidney R. Ellis and under contract to
Klaw & Erlanger, arrived in Little Rock with the intention of playing at the Kempner Theatre rather than at the Capital Theater. The Kempner Theater, built and owned by Isaac "Ike" Kempner (1871–1931), had its grand opening a month earlier – September 20, 1910.
This attempt by Al appear to appear at the independent Kempner brought the theatrical was in Little Rock out into the open. The Capital Amusement Company (chartered in Little Rock, June 15, 1910), as lessee of the Capital Theatre and holders of the Syndicate's contracts, immediately moved
Pulaski County chancery court to secure an injunction against Oppenheim and Weis, the lessees of the Kempner Theater. The injunction was issued the grounds of "the old contract with the Capital Theater for the production in that house." According to the Capital Amusement Company, there was a breach of contract by the management of Al H. Wilson Company, because said management entered into with the Capital Theater on March 11, 1910, which specified that Wilson's company would appear at the Capital Theater on October 20. The Capital Amusement Company exhibited a contract signed by themselves and Sidney R. Ellis, acting as manager for Al H. Wilson. The injunction requested that Wilson's company be restrained from appearing at the Kempner for either a matinée or night performance. Ellis Martineau concurred, and issued the injunction at 2:36 pm. The matinee performance by Wilson at the Kempner had already begun at the regular time, 2:30, and was in progress the injunction was served. But with the consent of John Frank Head (1869–1949) – a manager and founding secretary of the of Capital Amusement Company – the matinée performance was allowed to proceed. The Kempner's manager then announced that there would be no night performance by the Wilson company. Although the Capital Amusement Company had requested a further order binding the company to maintain its contract to play at the Capital Theater, this order was not issued. The Capital management did offer the Capital Theater to Wilson for his evening performance, but Wilson declined, stating that his company would not put on any show in Little Rock that evening.[13][14]
Albert Weis (1841–1918) was, at the time,
Founding treasurer and a founding director in the National Theater Owners' Association, founded May 1910, foes of the
Theatrical Syndicate.
Weis was also, in 1909, head of the American Theatrical Exchange (created in opposition of the
Theatrical Syndicate).
Weis also owned a theater chain in the Southwest and Texas.
L.R. Oppenheim was the representative of
Klaw & Erlanger in the Southwest.
Look-up Vaudeville War, 1908
Wilson played the title role of Prince Metz Von Archeim (various spellings of the character surname by theater critics), an impoverished prince of the German Empire, in A German Prince, 1911–1912, a singing comedy" adaptation of a story by
Archibald Clavering Gunter (1847–1907). Produced by Sidney R. Ellis, starring Al. H. Wilson, Edward Barbour, Ben Holmes, Edith Yeager (née Edith Hillman Yeager; 1885–1959), who, in 1916, married Walter Ashlin Fairservis (1889–1941), with whom she had a son, archeologist
Walter Ashlin Fairservis, Jr. (1921–1994).
"When You Part From the Girl You Love"
"Memory"
"Her Smile"
"Song of Old Fatherland"
Wilson played Metz Von Klatz in It Happened in Potsdam, 1912–1913, a adaptation of The French, by Cyril Reed
As the Years Roll On (1915–1916), by
Herbert Hall Winslow and Charles Horwitz (1864–1938). Winslow's wife, Laura Lemmers, acted in the production.
"Yesterday"
"Mother O Mine"
"As the Years Roll On"
"She Left Me for a Teddy Bear"
"My Old Pine"
"Al Wilson in Irish character as Tom Carey in My Killarney Rose (1916), an Irish romance written by Thomas Hall Winslow. Wilson's second wife, Laura Lemmers, played Rose Langley.
From about 1922 to 1927, Wilson sang on live radio broadcasts from New York, often with soprano Judith Roth.
In each of his stellar productions, he appears as Metz, a singing comedy role in which he has won great success. Married Fanny Bloodgood, 1892. Clubs:
Green Room Club, New York;
Eccentric Club, London. Permanent address: 16 Columbia Ave.,
Grantwood, New Jersey.
Fannie Blake (Fannie Bloodgood), who Wilson married April 19, 1892, in Chicago, in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank M. White. During the period, both were on tour performing in the show, Two Old Cronies. Witnesses were Mr. and Mrs. White and two members of the cast, Florence Myatt, featured soprano, and Lindsay Morison (néDavid Lindsey Morison; 1865–1917), featured bass. Fannie Bloodgood was an acclaimed dancer.
Fannie Bloodgood was a daughter of minstrel actor Harry Bloodgood (né Carlos Mauran; 1844–1886).[16]
Fannie Bloodgood was a daughter of actress Lisle Bloodgood (né Lisle Riddell; 1854–1916).
One of Fannie's sisters, Linda Bloodgood (née Linda Mauran; born 1873), married to Ferdinand A. Russy, was an accomplished pianist, actress, and songwriter.
Al H. Wilson's sister, Fannie Wilson, was a singer, comedienne, and actress.
Al H. Wilson was a nephew of Senator
James F. Wilson (1828–1895) of
Iowa.(can't confirm)[18]
Death
Alphonse H. Wilson's name is inscribed on a vertical-type monument, 10 feet high, 8 feet wide (front face, right margin, 13th row), honoring Catholic Actors Guild of America, in
Calvary CemeteryWoodside, Queens. Inscribed at the top of the front face is a quote from Macbeth, "A poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more". Inscribed at the top of the back face is a quote from Hamlet, "Flights of angels sing thee to thy rest". (see Findagrave, and BillionGraves references, below)[19][3][20]
‡ Theatrical poster collection, Prints and Photographs Division,
Library of Congress
† Russell-Morgan Print, the poster department of United States Lithograph Company (Unites States Printing Company),
Cincinnati and
New York. The U.S. Lithograph Company was founded 1867 in Cincinnati as the printing plant of the Cincinnati Enquirer. That year, 1867, Anthony Octavius Russell (1826–1900), John Franklin Robinson II (1843–1921) (2nd generation family owner of the
John Robinson Circus),[21] Col. Robert "Bob" J. Morgan (1838–1917), and James Monroe Armstrong (1812–1895)[22] purchased the plant from the Enquirer Company, and became widely known as the
Russell-Morgan Company. From that plant, the
United States Playing Card Company, the largest plant of its kind in the world, the
United States Printing Company and the
United States Lithograph Company consolidated.
^Struck Oil was based on a one-act play called The Dead, or Five Years Away by an itinerant Irish miner and amateur playwright named Samuel W. Smith, which told the story of about John Stofel, a Dutch shoemaker, and had a plot somewhat similar to Rip Van Winkle. The American actor
J.C. Williamson (1845-1913) came across this text and bought it outright for $100. He then had it rewritten by his friend Clay Meridith Greene, who retitled it Struck Oil. Though Williamson claimed that he had re-written the last act himself, it is usually credited to Greene.(Sydney Morning Herald)
^Albaugh's Grand Opera House, on the second floor of a 4-story building erected in 1884, was a 2,000-seat opera house – billed as "only a trifle smaller than the
Metropolitan Opera House in New York." The building was designed by Gray & Page, Washington, D.C. (William Bruce Gray; 1849–1906; and
Harvey Lindsley Page; 1859–1934), for the Washington Light Infantry – commanded by Lt. Col. William G. Moore (né William George Moore; 1829–1898) – who occupied its armory and drill hall on the ground floor. The building was located on the northeast corner of
Fifteenth and E Streets, Northwest, with the entrance on
Pennsylvania Avenue, just a few blocks from the
White House. The Washington Light Infantry Corps, in 1887, became a part of the
District of Columbia National Guard, and henceforth known as its First Battalion, First Regiment.
Butler's Grand Opera House:
1884–1894: Albaugh's Grand Opera House, operated by
John W. Albaugh (1837–1909)
Allen's Grand Opera House, 1425 Staughton Street, N.W. (renamed around 1906 Belmont Street), managed by Edward H. Allen. –
Ormond H. Butler
900 E Capitol (residence in 1899)
Before,
Ormond Hook Butler (1854–1915), who, from 1894 to 1895, managed the Bijou Theatre, at Ninth Street and Louisiana Avenue (erected as a carriage house in 1850, razed in 1931)
Butler managed the Grand Opera Theater for two weeks.
The Grand Opera Theater was sold at auction to Burke and Chase
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„In Cincinnati ist Herr James A. [sic] Armstrong in seinem 84. Jahre an Altersschwäche gestorben. Er war der Gründer der großen Druckerei-Firma Russell Morgan & Co., und der Erste, der in Cincinnati, wenn nicht in den Vereinigte-Staaten, spielt arten druckte. Er vertrat mehrere Jahre lang Hamilton County im Staatssenat, zog sich aber bald ganz von der Politik zurück. Auch von den aktiven Geschäften zog er sich vor Jahren zurück.“
Leonard, John William (1849–1932), ed. (1901). "Mitchell, Maggie". Who's Who in America, 1901–1902. Vol. Vol. 2. Chicago:
A.N. Marquis & Company. p. 790.Retrieved August 24, 2020. {{
cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (
help)CS1 maint: numeric names: editors list (
link) CS1 maint: postscript (
link)
Death Certificate – New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795–1949 (June 3, 2020). "Alphonse Wilson". Place of death:
Manhattan,
New York → DOD: March 6, 1936 → father: John Wilson → mother: Anna Stengel → spouse: Laura Wilson → death certificate no. CN 6317. New York Municipal Archives. Retrieved February 4, 2021 – via
FamilySearch. {{
cite web}}: External link in |last= (
help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)FHL (
GS) microfilm no. 2,079,282; digital folder no. 4,007,605; online image no. 555; indexing project (batch) no. I07962-7; record no. 316. (note: Alphonse Wilson's middle initial "H" is on the actual death certificate).
Maruan Family (1893); Mauran, James Eddy (1817–1888) (data collector); Stockbridge, John Calvin (1818–1896) (compiler).
Memorials of the Mauran Family.
Providence, Rhode Island: Snow & Farnham, Printers. Retrieved February 10, 2021 – via
Internet Archive (re: Harry Bloodgood, stage name of Carlo Mauran){{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link) CS1 maint: postscript (
link)