Benjamin Moses Teal (January 19, 1857 – April 20, 1917) was an American actor, theater director, and playwright. He directed over 30 plays on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

between 1897 and 1916, and was widely known for his strict, often brusque stage direction. Born in Eugene, Oregon, Teal spent his formative years in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, where he began performing as a

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

in theatrical productions. As an adult, Teal began his career as a stage director in San Francisco before relocating to New York City in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Among his directorial credits include the original Broadway production of '' Ben-Hur'' (1899), in which he staged the play's elaborate chariot race sequence onstage.

Life and career

Teal was born January 19, 1857, in Eugene, Oregon. He spent his early life in

, and made his first stage appearance at four or five years old. As an adult, Teal began his career as a stage director in California, before relocating to New York City in the latter part of the century. He married Mary Blackburn, a native of

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, in New York City on June 27, 1887. He later remarried to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

, native Elinor Toomey Gilman in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 9, 1906. Teal gained notoriety for his directing of the original Broadway production of '' Ben-Hur'' (1899–1900), in which he successfully arranged an elaborate chariot race sequence on stage. He staged over thirty plays on Broadway between 1897 and 1916. Teal was known for his brusque stage direction and interaction with cast members, though he was noted for being "without peer in his ability to move large numbers of extras around onstage." Writer Edward Jewett Luce noted in 1910: "Ben Teal—the very mention of whose name suggest stage management with a vengeance—is known all over the world as the strictest, yet the most conscientious of stage directors."

Death

Teal died in a New York City sanitarium of an unspecified disease on April 20, 1917. He is interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

."New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949" (February 10, 2018)
Benjamin Teal, 20 Apr 1917
citing Death, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,322,407.

Stage credits

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Teal, Ben 1857 births 1917 deaths American male child actors American male stage actors American musical theatre directors American theatre directors Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Male actors from Eugene, Oregon Writers from Eugene, Oregon Writers from San Francisco