Frank Bacon (actor)
Frank Bacon | |
---|---|
Born | Frank Wilford Bacon January 16, 1864 near Yuba City, California, U.S. |
Died | November 19, 1922 | (aged 58)
Occupation | Actor-Playwright |
Spouse | Jennie Weidman |
Children | Lloyd Bacon |
Frank Bacon (January 16, 1864 – November 19, 1922), was an American character actor and playwright who after years of relative obscurity achieved great success as he entered the twilight of his career. The 1918 play
Early life
Bacon was born on his parents’ farm about five miles west of
Bacon was raised in
Stage
After a failed foray into politics and growing disenchantment with the newspaper business, Bacon chose to “turn respectable” and joined a San Jose
Bacon was a member of the repertoire company at the Alcazar Theatre for many years and only left after the theatre fell victim to the
Lightnin'
Lightnin’ was a comedy that Bacon had worked on for a number of years before its final incarnation debuted at the Gaiety Theatre on August 26, 1918. The play, originally titled A House Divided, is about Lightnin’ Bill Jones, a "lovable old liar" not known for his swiftness of foot. In 2007, Ethan Mordden described the character: "the uneducated rustic, innocent of fancy fashion, who somehow gets the better of popinjays and rogues... as slow as paste [with a] low-key yet fierce sense of independence... Lightnin' has wife troubles, money troubles, and to every question a set of deadpan retorts that exasperate all those in the vicinity."[11]
The play was first produced as one-act plays in tours following the San Francisco earthquake. The play was revised a number of times, the last with the help of writer
At the close of the record run of Lightnin’, U. S.
Cinema
John Ford adapted Lightnin' as a silent film in 1925 with veteran actor and director Jay Hunt taking the part of Lightnin' Bill Jones. Five years later in an early talkie, Will Rogers played Jones opposite Louise Dresser and Joel McCrea.
Between 1915 and 1916 Bacon appeared in four films, The Silent Voice, from the play by Jules Eckert Goodman; Rosemary, from a play by Lois N. Parker and Murray Carson; Her Debt of Honor, from a scenario by William Nigh; and A Corner in Cotton, from a story by Anita Loos.
Personal life
On June 27, 1885, Bacon married actress Jennie Weidman, whom he had known since grammar school. Their daughter, Bessie Bacon Allen (1886–1952), became an actress and writer, and their son, Lloyd Bacon, a Hollywood director.[5]
Death
Bacon died at the Hotel Del Prado,
Bacon’s manager later said of the actor:
A kindly man, of simple tastes, who gave much to the public that he served and asked little in return. Bacon was known to his friends in the profession as much for the big, human man he was as for his sterling qualities as an actor. He really died the Saturday night he gave his last performance – and his greatest. George Kingsbury, 1922[5]
Bacon was laid to rest at
References
- ^ or Lydall Bacon
- ^ Frank Bacon is Dead at Chicago of Heart Attack. Nevada State Journal, November 20, 1922, p. 1
- ^ Yuba County Biographies Archived 2011-10-16 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved August 30, 2013
- ^ Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 6, Number 790, 5 October 1853, front page Retrieved August 30, 2013
- ^ a b c d e f g h Frank Bacon, Actor, Tired Out, Is Dead The New York Times, November 20, 1922 p. 1
- ^ Amusements. Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 88, Number 54, 23 October 1894, p. 3 Retrieved August 30, 2013
- ^ Music and Drama. The Sacramento Record Union, September 19, 1897, p. 7 Retrieved September 2, 2013
- ^ Lowrey, Carolyn - The First One Hundred Noted Men and Women of the Screen, 1920, p. 6 Retrieved September 5, 2013
- ^ Oakland Theaters Still Doing Big Business. Oakland Tribune, October 6, 1907, p. 13
- ^ Frank Bacon - Internet Broadway Database Retrieved September 1, 2013
- ^ Mordden, Ethan, All That Glitters, St, Martin's Press, 2007, pg. 6
- ^ Bacon's Body to Rest in California Home. The New York Times, November 21, 1922, p. 16
External links
- Works by Frank Bacon at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Frank Bacon at Internet Archive
- Works by Frank Bacon at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Frank Bacon at IMDb
- Frank Bacon at the Internet Broadway Database
- Frank Bacon at Playbill Vault