David Warfield
David Warfield | |
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New York, New York, USA | |
| Years active | c. 1888-1930 |
| Spouse | Mary Gabrielle Bradt (married 1899) |
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David Warfield (November 28, 1866 – June 27, 1951) was an American stage actor.
Life and career
Warfield was born David Wohlfeld in
Although he appeared in many productions, his fortune and success in theater centered on his playing four major roles over a 25-year period: Simon Levi in The Auctioneer (1901), Anton von Barwig in The Music Master (1904), Wes Bigelow in A Grand Army Man (1907) and the title role in The Return of Peter Grimm (1911).[3]
One of his best-known roles was that of Anton von Barwig in The Music Master, which he played from 1904 to 1908, appearing in the part more than 1000 times. In 1908, Warfield and his company appeared at the Elitch Theatre in The Music Master and A Grand Army Man. Warfield's company included Denver-native and eponym of the Tony Awards, Antoinette Perry.[3]
In 1911 Warfield created the title role in The Return of Peter Grimm, a play Cecil B. DeMille claimed that David Belasco stole from him.
Warfield's position as a leading American actor in comedy was established by the masterly style in which he portrayed, in each of these plays, a kindly old gentleman who is pathetic in misfortune and amusingly eccentric. In 1916 he appeared in Van der Decken, a play by Belasco, based on the legend of
The Warfield Theatre in Warfield's birthplace of San Francisco, California, is named in his honor.
Warfield, who at the time was one of the world's richest entertainers, died in New York City, at 84.[4]
References
- ISBN 9780511845789.
- ISBN 9780786486830.
- ^ OCLC 823177622.
- ^ "Milestones". Time magazine. July 9, 1951. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
External links
- David Warfield at the Internet Broadway Database
- David Warfield at Find a Grave
- David Warfield papers, 1897-1946 and undated, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
- Images of David Warfield, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.)
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