English actor
Frank Westerton
Born Francis Henry Westerton
(1866-04-06 ) April 6, 1866Died August 25, 1923(1923-08-25) (aged 57) Occupation Actor Years active 1880–1922 Spouse
Madge E. McNulty
(
m. 1905)
Francis Henry Westerton (6 April 1866 – 25 August 1923) was a British stage and silent film actor of the 19th and early 20th centuries who carved a successful career on Broadway from 1905 to 1922.
Early career
Frank H Westerton c1893
Frank Westerton was born in Kensington in London in 1866, the eldest of five sons of Adelaide née Adkinson (1843–1915) and Samuel John Westerton (1840–1889), a Drysalters Agent. By the time of the 1881 Census the family were living in Liverpool where Westerton is recorded as a Junior Clerk.[ 1]
Frank Westerton commenced his successful stage career sometime in the late 1880s and in 1891 he was playing opposite Ellaline Terriss in a revival of Arrah-Na-Pogue at the Princess's Theatre in London.[ 2] Also in 1891 he played Richard Hare in East Lynne at the Royalty Theatre .[ 3] In 1892 he appeared as Red Mike in The Life We Live at the Princess's Theatre.[ 4]
For about a decade he was with the theatrical company of Ben Greet .[ 5] In 1895 he appeared for Greet as Silvius in As You Like It , Ernest Vane in Masks and Faces , Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing , George Hastings in She Stoops to Conquer and Antigonus in The Winter's Tale at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon .[ 6] [ 7] In December 1896 he appeared for Greet as Antigonus in The Winter's Tale at the Theatre Royal in Aldershot in Hampshire .[ 8] In 1897 during the Ben Greet Season at the Olympic Theatre in London Westerton played Sextus Pompey in Antony and Cleopatra , Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice and Banquo in Macbeth .[ 9] By 1901 he is listed on the Census as a Theatrical Actor.[ 10]
Move to America
Westerton first went to the United States in 1902 where he toured in Everyman for The Ben Greet Players and again in Sweet Kitty Bellairs (1903-04) at the Belasco Theatre [ 12] before moving there permanently, marrying the American actress Madge E. McNulty in Manhattan on 16 February 1905, and joining The Lambs Club in 1906.[ 13] Westerton appeared regularly on Broadway from 1905 to 1922, making his Broadway début as Bevilaccas, a licensed news-bearer in Adrea (1905) at the Belasco Theatre . Other appearances include The Rose of the Rancho (1906) at the Belasco Theatre; in the farce The Patriot (1908) at the Garrick Theatre ; The Scandal (1910) at the Garrick Theatre; in A Lucky Star (1910) at the Hudson Theatre ; in the 1910 revival of Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman at the Gaiety Theatre ; The Phantom Rival (1914) at the Belasco Theatre; What Money Can't Buy (1915) at the 48th Street Theatre ; The Pride of Race (1916) at the Maxine Elliott's Theatre ; The Tempest (1916) at the Century Theatre ; Rich Man, Poor Man (1916) at the 48th Street Theatre; as Captain Spicer in the musical romance Kitty Darlin' (1917) at the Casino Theatre ; as Lieut. Arthur Bennett in Three Faces East (1918) at the Longacre Theatre , and as George Burroughs in the comedy farce The Champion (1921) at the Longacre Theatre.[ 14] Westerton's final Broadway role was as Edward Harley in It Is the Law (1922) at the Ritz Theatre .[ 12] [ 15] [ 16]
Westerton played Lescaut opposite Lina Cavalieri in the American-made 1914 silent film Manon Lescaut .[ 17] The film is now considered lost .
Frank Westerton died in New York City in August 1923.[ 12]
References
^ 1881 England Census for Francis H. Westerton - Lancashire, Toxteth Park, District 7 - Ancestry.com (subscription required)
^ Programme for the revival of Arrah-na-Pogue (1891) at the Princess's Theatre in London - University of Kent Special Collections & Archives]
^ J.P. Wearing, The London Stage 1890-1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel , Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books pg. 90
^ Wearing, pg. 114
^ Mr Frank H Westerton currently appearing with the Ben Greet Company - The Stage , 1 August 1895 pg. 4
^ Frank H Westerton - Shakespeare Birthplace Trust database
^ Frank Westerton in Much Ado About Nothing - Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon - Theatricalia database
^ Signed autograph from Westerton dated 1896 from the Theatre Royal in Aldershot - the Glenn Christodoulou Collection
^ William Archer, The Theatrical World of 1897 , W. Scott, London (1897) - online ebook
^ 1901 England Census for Francis H Westerton - Lancashire, Bootle cum Linacre, District 07 - Ancestry.com (subscription required)
^ a b c Frank H. Westerton - Internet Broadway Database
^ "The Lambs" . the-lambs.org . The Lambs, Inc. 6 November 2015. (Member Roster). Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2021 .
^ Thomas S. Hischak, Broadway Plays and Musicals: Descriptions and Essential Facts of More Than 14,000 Shows Through 2007 , McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers (2009) - Google Books pg. 843
^ Hischak, pg. 2614
^ Frank Westerton on the Playbill website
^ LINA CAVALIERI AS PHOTO PLAY HEROINE; Acts Manon Lescaut in Abbe Prevost's Famous Love Story at Republic Theatre - The New York Times 14 June 1914
External links