Charles Morton Stewart McLellan (1865–1916) was a London-based American playwright and composer who often wrote under the pseudonym Hugh Morton. McLellan is probably best remembered for the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

'' The Belle of New York'' and drama ''

Leah Kleschna ''Leah Kleschna'' is a drama in five acts by C.M.S. McLellan produced for the first time on Broadway by Minnie Maddern Fiske, Harrison Grey Fiske and the Manhattan Company with set design provided by Frank E. Gates and E. A. Morange. The play o ...

''.

Early life

McLellan was born on September 4, 1865, in

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its ...

to William H. and Florida (née McLanathan) McLellan. His father was a successful wholesaler who later formed the shipbuilding firm, E and S. Company. Florida McLellan, the daughter of a ship's captain, was described in her 1898 obituary as having "unusual business talent and tact." At an early age, McLellan's family moved to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, where he attended Hopkinson School (founded by the father of artist

Charles Hopkinson Charles Sydney Hopkinson (July 27, 1869 – October 16, 1962) was an American portrait painter and landscape watercolorist. He maintained a studio in the Fenway Studios building in Boston from 1906 to 1962. He painted over 800 portraits in ...

) and Chauncy Hall Preparatory School.

Career

McLellan began as a journalist, eventually rising to become editor of the publication '' Town Topics''. After finding success in the late 1890s, he left journalism to write full-time for the stage. Over the remainder of his life, McLellan produced a steady stream of mostly light and often popular musical comedies, frequently in collaboration with the composer

Gustave Kerker Gustave Adolph Kerker (February 28, 1857 – June 29, 1923) was a German-born composer and conductor who spent most of his life in the US. He became a musical director for Broadway theatre productions and wrote the music for a series of operettas ...

and later

Ivan Caryll Félix Marie Henri Tilkin (12 May 1861 – 29 November 1921), better known by his pen name Ivan Caryll, was a Belgian-born composer of operettas and Edwardian musical comedies in the English language, who made his career in London and later N ...

. McLellan’s first major success, '' The Belle of New York'', opened at the Casino Theatre on September 28, 1897, to mixed reviews and closed after a two-month run. The following year the show was brought to London, where it opened at the

Shaftesbury Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. Opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, it was the last theatre to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue. History The theatre was d ...

on April 12, 1898, and went on to have an extremely successful run of 697 consecutive performances, closing on December 30, 1899. ''The Belle of New York'' later proved successful on tours of Australia, New Zealand and the British provinces and returned to Broadway for revival engagements in 1900 and 1921. The musical was made into two Hollywood films, the first in 1919 with

Marion Davies Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras; January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) was an American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Educated in a religious convent, Davies fled the school to pursue a career as a chorus girl ...

Etienne Girardot Etienne Girardot (22 February 1856 – 10 November 1939) was a diminutive stage and film actor of Anglo-French parentage born in London, England. Biography The son of French painter Ernest Gustave Girardot, he studied at an art school, but le ...

and

L. Rogers Lytton Legare Rogers Lytton (born Oscar Legare Rogers; April 9, 1867 – August 14, 1924) was an American film actor of the silent film, silent era and an architect. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1912 and 1924. Prior to entering films he h ...

, and the second in 1952 with

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

, Vera-Ellen,

Marjorie Main Mary Tomlinson (February 24, 1890 – April 10, 1975), professionally known as Marjorie Main, was an American character actress and singer of the Classical Hollywood period, best known as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s and ...

and

Keenan Wynn Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead role, he had prominent billing in mos ...

. ''Leah Kleschna'', a

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...

about the daughter of a Paris jewel thief, was first produced at the

Manhattan Theatre The Manhattan Theatre was located at 102 West 33rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, directly across from Greeley Square at Sixth Avenue and 33rd Street. The 1,100-seat theatre opened in 1875 as the Eagle Theatre, and was renamed the ...

in December 1904, and the following year at London’s New Theatre.

Minnie Maddern Fiske Minnie Maddern Fiske (born Marie Augusta Davey; December 19, 1865 – February 15, 1932), but often billed simply as Mrs. Fiske, was one of the leading American actresses of the late 19th and early 20th century. She also spearheaded the fig ...

played the title role in New York, and

Lena Ashwell Lena Margaret Ashwell, Lady Simson ( Pocock; 28 September 1872 – 13 March 1957) was a British actress and theatre manager and producer, known as the first to organise large-scale entertainment for troops at the front, which she did during Wo ...

played it in London. Leah Kleschna was portrayed by

Carlotta Nillson Carlotta Nillson (February 25, 1876 – December 30, 1951) was a Swedish-born American actress who appeared in at least ten Broadway productions over the first decade of the twentieth century. She was probably best remembered for her portray ...

in the 1913

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

version of the play produced by the

Famous Players Film Company The Famous Players Film Company was a film company founded in 1912 by Adolph Zukor in partnership with the Frohman brothers, powerful New York City theatre impresario. History Discussions to form the company were held at The Lambs, a famous th ...

.''The Bystander Magazine'', July 7, 1905, p. 487 (Google Books)

Death

McLellan died on September 21, 1916, at his long-time residence in

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up Ar ...

, a small town on the outskirts of Greater London."C.M.S. M'Lellan, Playwright, Dies", ''The New York Times''; September 23, 1916; p. 10 He was survived by his wife, Marie Adelaide McLellan, a native of Brooklyn, New York. The couple had three children, Gabrielle, Hugh and Elizabeth. A few years after his death his son married the French actress

Yvonne Arnaud Germaine Yvonne Arnaud (20 December 1890 – 20 September 1958) was a French-born pianist, singer and actress, who was well known for her career in Britain, as well as her native land. After beginning a career as a concert pianist as a child, Ar ...

and in 1927 Marie McLellan published a revised version of ''The Belle of New York''. His younger brother, George Brinton McLellan (1867–1932), was a successful London-based theatrical manager and producer probably best known for the popular play ''Is Zat So?'' and for his marriages to musical comedy actresses

Pauline Hall Pauline Hall (born Pauline Fredrika Schmidgall;Browne, Walter and Frederick Arnold Austin. Who's who on the stage: the dramatic reference book and biographical dictionary of the theatre, Volume 1' (1906), p. 120. February 26, 1860 – December ...

and

Madge Lessing Madge Lessing (27 November 1873 – 14 August 1966) was a British stage actress and singer, panto principal boy and postcard beauty of Edwardian musical comedy who had a successful career in the West End in London, Europe and on Broadway f ...

Works

''Source: ''Who's Who in the Theatre'':''Who's Who in the Theatre'', Volume 3; pp. 408-409 (Google Books) *1897- ''An American Beauty'' *1898- ''Whirl of the Town'' *1898- '' The Belle of New York'' *1898- ''

The Telephone Girl ''The Telephone Girl'' is a farce musical comedy by C. M. S. McLellan (as Hugh Morton), with music by composer Gustave Kerker. The play made its New York debut at the Casino Theatre under the direction of George W. Lederer on December 27, 1897. ...

'' *1898- ''

In Gay New York ''In Gay New York'' is a musical revue with a script by C. M. S. McLellan, under his pseudonym Hugh Morton, and music by Gustave Kerker. The story revolves around two newlyweds from Maine who come to New York City, do some sightseeing, and see bit ...

'' *1899- ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' *1901- '' The Girl Up There'' *1903- ''Glittering Gloria'' *1903- ''The Wire Walker'' *1905- ''

'' *1905- ''On the Love Path'' *1906- ''The Jury of Fate'' *1907- ''Nelly Nell'' *1907- ''The Shirkers'' *1908- ''The Pickpockets'' *1910- ''The Strong People'' (lyrics) *1911- ''

Marriage a la Carte ''Marriage a la Carte'' is a three-act Broadway musical comedy composed and written by C. M. S. McLellan and scored by Ivan Caryll. The play was staged by Austen Hurgon with musical direction provided by J. Sebastian Hiller and Carl H. Engel. ''M ...

'' *1911- '' The Pink Lady'' *1911- ''The Affair in the Barracks'' *1912- '' Oh! Oh! Delphine'' *1913- ''The Little Café'' *1914- ''The Fountain'' *1915- ''Around the Map'' *1921 - ''

The Whirl of New York ''The Whirl of New York'' is a Broadway musical that premiered at Winter Garden Theatre on June 13, 1921. It was an expanded and substantially re-worked version of '' The Belle of New York'' (1897, music by Gustave Kerker with book and lyrics by ...

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mclellan, C M S 1865 births 1916 deaths American dramatists and playwrights American expatriates in the United Kingdom People from Bath, Maine Writers from Maine Writers from Boston Chapel Hill – Chauncy Hall School alumni