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William Blaisdell

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For the American army officer, see William E. Blaisdell.
William Blaisdell
Cabinet card of Blaisdell, pre-1914
BornApril 1865
San Francisco, California, United States
DiedJanuary 1, 1931 (aged 65)
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Resting place
Kensico Cemetery

William Blaisdell (April 1865 – January 1, 1931) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He was a member of the Peake family of musicians through his the mother, the harpist Julia Peake Blaisdell. He grew up performing in the Peak Family Bell Ringers as a child, and also performed on the stage in his father's theatre troupe as an actor and musician. As a teenager and young adult he performed as a singer and dancer in vaudeville before moving into work on the stage as a comic actor and singer in both light operas and plays. On screen he appeared in silent films released between the years 1917-1929.

Early life and career

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The son of William Blaisdell[1] and harpist Julia Peake Blaisdell,[2] William Blaisdell was born in April 1865[3] in San Francisco, California.[4] He was trained by his mother as a musician and began performing as a child.[2] His mother was part of the Peak family of musicians, and by 1870 young William was performing in the family music act, the Peak Family Bell Ringers, as a vocalist and instrumentalist.[5] He also performed as an actor and musician in his father's theatre troupe.[2] As a teenager he worked as singer in vaudeville under the name Willie Blaisdell.[6]

By 1883 Blaisdell had formed a dance act with Josie Granger.[7] He wrote the song "That's The Idea Exactly" which was published in Boston in 1886 under the name William Blaisdell, Jr.[8] In 1886-1887 he toured as Prof J. Potiphar in the musical comedy Si Perkins;[9][10][11] a production which was produced by his father. His father died of heart disease in Cincinnati in 1888.[12] In 1888-1889 he toured as Felix Crackle in the musical farce Skipped By the Light of the Moon.[13][14][15] For the 1889-1890 season he toured in Lizzie Evans's troupe as Charlie Childs in The Buckeye.[16][17]

In 1890 Blaisdell was appointed a leading comic with the McCaull Comic Opera Company, replacing Jefferson De Angelis.[18] With this organization he portrayed Spatzle in Karl Millöcker's The Seven Suabians (original German name Die sieben Schwaben)[19] and Cassimir in Clover (an English language adaptation of Franz von Suppé's Jagd nach dem Glücke).[20] For the 1891-1892 season he joined Pauline Hall's opera troupe for their touring productions of Jacques Offenbach's La belle Hélène (as King Ménélas of Sparta)[21] and Offenbach's Madame Favart (as the Marquis de Pontsablé).[22] For the fall of 1892 he was with Jennie Yeamans's company performing in 12 P.M.[23]

In 1893 Blaisdell played in William Haworth's war drama A Flag of Truce[24] before returning to Pauline Hall's troupe to perform as Sparacaui in Amorita in the summer of that year.[25] In the Fall of 1893 he joined Fay Templeton's opera company to perform once again in Madame Favart.[26] In 1894-1895 he toured in the farce A Railroad Ticket.[27][28] In the Fall of 1895 he performed at Broadway's Fifth Avenue Theatre as Lord Fitzpoodle in Rupert Hughes's and Robert Coverly's comic opera The Bathing Girl[29][30] before joining Lillian Russell's opera company with whom he toured as Don Pedro in La Périchole in the 1895-1896 season.[31][32]

Blaisdell portrayed the prince in La mascotte by Edmond Audran in August 1896 at the Academy of Music in Atlantic City, New Jersey.[33] After this he joined May Ten Broeck and John E. Henshaw's theatre troupe with whom he toured in the comic opera The Nabobs; or Dodge at the French Ball in 1896-1897.[34][35] He returned to Broadway in 1897 as the French spy M. Auguste Pompier in The Girl from Paris at the Herald Square Theatre.[36] This show was produced by Edward E. Rice, and Blaisdell toured in this work to the Chicago Grand Opera House among other theaters in 1897-1898.[37][38] In the summer of 1898 he portrayed Sir Joseph in Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore at the Auditorium Theatre in Baltimore.[39]

Later life and career

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In 1898-1899 Blaisdell toured in Alfred J. Kuttner and Sidney R. Ellis's musical The Evil Eye in the role of Peleg Philemon.[40] The tour included a stop in New York City at the Grand Opera House in January 1899.[41] He subsequently returned to Broadway as Otto Work in Star and Garter (1900, Victoria Theatre);[42] Franz in Vienna Life (1901, Broadway Theatre);[43] and Pettifer in The Toreador (1902, Knickerbocker Theatre).[44] In 1905 he starred as Polycop in a production of Stanislaus Stange's The Wedding Day with Dorothy Morton as Lucille.[45] In 1906 he toured in Raymond Hubbell's musical Fantana with Jefferson De Angelis's theater troupe.[46] In 1907 he performed in vaudeville with Pat Rooney among other entertainers,[47] and portrayed August Lump in a revival of The Strollers staged in Los Angeles.[48]

In 1908 Blaisdell portrayed Kibosh in Victor Herbert's The Wizard of the Nile with the Aborn Opera Company,[49] and toured as a member of the Manhattan Comic Opera Company.[50] In 1909 he toured with Al Cameron's theatre company in The Last of the Regiment.[51] After this his career had a lull after he was seriously injured in an assault at a railway station. The perpetuator had recently been released from an insane asylum.[52] In 1911 he performed as a smuggler in Georges Bizet's Carmen at the Terrace Garden (also known as the Lexington Opera House) on 58th St in New York City with Bertha Shalek in the title role.[53]

From 1912-1915 Blaisdell portrayed Monsieur Larose in a long running touring production of The Quaker Girl starring Natalie Alt (and later Bernice McCabe) in the title role.[54][55][56][57] After leaving this tour he portrayed Gaspard in Robert Planquette's The Chimes of Normandy at the Standard Theatre in Manhattan where the production opened in May 1915.[58] In 1916 he toured in Jerome Kern's musical Nobody Home.[59]

In his later career, Blaisdell's work shifted away from the stage towards film. In 1917-1918 he worked as an actor numerous comedic short films made for Pathé Exchange with Harold Lloyd. These included All Aboard (1917),[60] Bashful (1917),[61] The Big Idea (1917),[62] Over the Fence (1917),[63] We Never Sleep (1917),[64] Step Lively (1917),[65] Are Crooks Dishonest? (1918),[66] Fireman Save My Child (1918),[67] Follow the Crowd (1918),[68] Beat It (1918),[69] On the Jump (1918),[70] Pipe the Whiskers (1918),[71] Take a Chance (1918),[72] A Gasoline Wedding (1918),[73] Hey There! (1918),[74] The City Slicker (1918), Look Pleasant, Please (1918),[75] An Ozark Romance (1918),[63] Bees in His Bonnet (1918),[76] Swing Your Partners (1918),[77] Hear 'Em Rave (1918),[78] Here Come the Girls (1918),[79] The Non-Stop Kid (1918),[80] Nothing but Trouble (1918),[81] It's a Wild Life (1918),[82] Kicked Out (1918),[83] and Two-Gun Gussie (1918).[84]

Blaisdell continued to work regularly in film into the late 1920s. Some of his many other films include Love's Young Scream (1919),[85] On the Fire (1919),[70] A Fat Chance (1924),[86] Hot Sands (1924), Racing Luck (1924, as Cafe Proprietor),[87] Don't Pinch (1925),[88] Good Spirits (1925),[89] Crazy like a Fox (1926),[90] Dizzy Sights (1927),[91] The Yankee Clipper (1927, as Ike),[92] Sappy Service (1929), and Rough Dried (1929).[93]

Blaisdell died in 1931. His widow, fellow actor Clara Lavine, died at age 75 on December 29, 1948.[94]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ "A Scattered Family". Chicago Tribune. February 22, 1885. p. 6.
  2. ^ a b c "William Blaisdell, Actor, Dies at 63". The Brooklyn Daily Times. January 2, 1931. p. 40.
  3. ^ William Blaisdell in the 1900 United States Federal Census, New York, New York
  4. ^ "William Blaisdell's Funeral Tomorrow". Brooklyn Eagle. January 2, 1931. p. 10.
  5. ^ "The Peak Family Bell Ringers". The Star-Ledger. April 21, 1870. p. 2.
  6. ^ "A Special Entertainment at the Windsor". The Boston Globe. November 14, 1882. p. 2.
  7. ^ "The Olympic". The Inter Ocean. November 4, 1883. p. 13.
  8. ^ "New Music Received". The Boston Globe. January 3, 1886. p. 16.
  9. ^ "Si Perkins". Springfield News-Sun. January 8, 1886. p. 3.
  10. ^ "Si Perkins". Poughkeepsie Journal. December 19, 1886. p. 3.
  11. ^ "Si Perkins". Illinois State Register. March 17, 1887. p. 3.
  12. ^ "William Blaisdell". The Day. October 31, 1888. p. 3.
  13. ^ "Skipped". The Herald News. April 6, 1888. p. 2.
  14. ^ "Amusements". Lincoln Journal Star. September 22, 1888. p. 7.
  15. ^ "Harris's Bijou Theatre". The Washington Post. January 1, 1889. p. 4.
  16. ^ "The Buckeye an Opener". The Bangor Daily News. August 17, 1889. p. 6.
  17. ^ "Ninth Street Lizzie Evans". The Kansas City Times. February 4, 1890. p. 5.
  18. ^ "The Stage". Buffalo Courier. August 24, 1890. p. 12.
  19. ^ "Programme of the Week". The Philadelphia Times. September 28, 1890. p. 10.
  20. ^ "The Coates— McCaull Opera Company". The Kansas City Times. December 16, 1890. p. 2.
  21. ^ "The Alvin Theater". Pittsburg Dispatch. September 20, 1891. p. 12.
  22. ^ "Announcements". Omaha Daily Bee. January 7, 1892. p. 2.
  23. ^ "Plays Here and Coming". New-York Tribune. September 25, 1892. p. 5.
  24. ^ "A Flag of Truce". The Jersey City News. January 3, 1893. p. 2.
  25. ^ "Tremont Theatre: Amorita". Boston Evening Transcript. June 27, 1893. p. 10.
  26. ^ "Next Week's Theatres". The Philadelphia Times. October 12, 1893. p. 5.
  27. ^ "The Empire". The Philadelphia Times. September 30, 1894. p. 14.
  28. ^ "A Railroad Ticket". The Washington Post. March 10, 1895. p. 17.
  29. ^ "All Kinds of New Plays". The New York Times. September 1, 1895. p. 11.
  30. ^ "The Bathing Girl". The New York Times. September 3, 1895. p. 3.
  31. ^ "Music and Drama". Boston Evening Transcript. September 24, 1895. p. 5.
  32. ^ "Amusements". The Norfolk Virginian. January 3, 1896. p. 2.
  33. ^ "At the Academy". Press of Atlantic City. August 1, 1896. p. 6.
  34. ^ "The Theatre". The Wilmington Messenger. December 4, 1896. p. 4.
  35. ^ "Henshaw". The St. Joseph Herald. February 9, 1897. p. 5.
  36. ^ "Theatrical Gossip". The New York Times. May 22, 1897. p. 7.
  37. ^ "Grand Opera House". The Inter Ocean. December 5, 1897. p. 41.
  38. ^ "Farce is King". The San Francisco Examiner. January 23, 1898. p. 15.
  39. ^ "This Week's Amusements". The Baltimore Sun. June 7, 1898. p. 7.
  40. ^ "A Single Novelty Offered Last Night". The Philadelphia Inquirer. September 13, 1898. p. 5.
  41. ^ "Romance and Comedy". Brooklyn Eagle. January 10, 1899. p. 5.
  42. ^ "The Star and Garter". The New York Times. November 27, 1900. p. 5.
  43. ^ Dietz 2022, p. 58.
  44. ^ Dietz 2022, p. 87.
  45. ^ "Brooklyn Attractions". The New York Times. June 11, 1905. p. 52.
  46. ^ "Entertainments". The Morning Journal-Courier. February 17, 1906. p. 12.
  47. ^ "Novelties in the Vaudeville Theaters". The New York Times. September 8, 1907. p. 49.
  48. ^ "Prima Donna a Comedienne". Los Angeles Herald. September 30, 1907. p. 5.
  49. ^ "The Wizard of the Nile". The Brooklyn Daily Times. February 15, 1908. p. 10.
  50. ^ "Lafeyette Theatre". Detroit Evening Times. September 2, 1908. p. 7.
  51. ^ "Al Cameron & Company". The Morning Star. February 2, 1909. p. 4.
  52. ^ "Actor Sues Railroad for $50,000.00 in Damages". Brooklyn Eagle. March 1, 1911. p. 18.
  53. ^ "Opera at Terrace Garden". The Brooklyn Citizen. June 25, 1911. p. 17.
  54. ^ "The Quaker Girl- Duval". The Florida Times-Union. October 6, 1912. p. 30.
  55. ^ "The Quaker Girl in English". Vancouver Daily World. January 4, 1913. p. 30.
  56. ^ "In the Theaters". Democrat and Chronicle. October 21, 1914. p. 9.
  57. ^ "The Quaker Girl". The Ann Arbor News. January 16, 1915. p. 2.
  58. ^ "Uptown Chimes of Normandy Good to Hear". The Evening World. May 26, 1915. p. 11.
  59. ^ "Nobody Home". The Ithaca Journal. October 6, 1916. p. 6.
  60. ^ Braff 2002, p. 11.
  61. ^ Braff 2002, p. 32.
  62. ^ Braff 2002, p. 42.
  63. ^ a b Braff 2002, p. 376.
  64. ^ Braff 2002, p. 294.
  65. ^ Braff 2002, p. 478.
  66. ^ Braff 2002, p. 19.
  67. ^ Braff 2002, p. 158.
  68. ^ Braff 2002, p. 164.
  69. ^ Braff 2002, p. 35.
  70. ^ a b Braff 2002, p. 366.
  71. ^ Braff 2002, p. 390.
  72. ^ Braff 2002, p. 491.
  73. ^ Braff 2002, p. 177.
  74. ^ Braff 2002, p. 217.
  75. ^ Braff 2002, p. 296.
  76. ^ Braff 2002, p. 36.
  77. ^ Braff 2002, p. 490.
  78. ^ Braff 2002, p. 204.
  79. ^ Braff 2002, p. 216.
  80. ^ Braff 2002, p. 356.
  81. ^ Braff 2002, p. 357.
  82. ^ Braff 2002, p. 259.
  83. ^ Braff 2002, p. 271.
  84. ^ Braff 2002, p. 526.
  85. ^ Braff 2002, p. 304.
  86. ^ Braff 2002, p. 147.
  87. ^ Munden 1971, p. 628.
  88. ^ Braff 2002, p. 124.
  89. ^ Braff 2002, p. 189.
  90. ^ Braff 2002, p. 99.
  91. ^ Braff 2002, p. 121.
  92. ^ Munden 1971, p. 929.
  93. ^ Couderc 2000, p. 426.
  94. ^ "The Final Curtain". Billboard. January 15, 1949: 49.

Bibliography

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