Benjamin Chapin (August 9, 1872 – June 2, 1918) was an American

stage actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

best known as an

impersonator An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone: *Entertainment: An entertainer impersonates a celebrity, generally for entertainment, and makes fun of ...

of Abraham Lincoln. From childhood Chapin had an obsession with the assassinated president, and had a lengthy career playing him on the Lyceum circuit and in vaudeville. In 1906 he wrote a play '' Lincoln'' which was staged at the Liberty Theatre on Broadway following directly on from a production of the play '' The Clansman'' by

Thomas Dixon Jr. Thomas Frederick Dixon Jr. (January 11, 1864 – April 3, 1946) was an American white supremacist, Baptist minister, politician, lawyer, lecturer, novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. Referred to as a "professional racist", Dixon wrote two best ...

In 1917, Chapin wrote and starred in ''

The Lincoln Cycle ''The Lincoln Cycle'' is a 1917 American silent series of ten short films portraying the life of American president Abraham Lincoln. They were directed by John M. Stahl and starred Benjamin Chapin, a celebrated Lincoln impersonator, in the title r ...

'' series of films. Despite the success of the project he was increasingly in ill health, and died in June 1918 from tuberculosis.Babington & Barr, p. 34.

References

Bibliography

* Bruce Babington & Charles Barr. ''The Call of the Heart: John M. Stahl and Hollywood Melodrama''. Indiana University Press, 2018.

External links

* 1872 births 1918 deaths American male stage actors American male film actors Actors from Ohio 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state) 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights {{US-actor-stub