Eric Burroughs (November 6, 1911 – November 12, 1992) was an American stage and radio

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 (), li ...

whose career spanned the 1930s to the early 1960s. He appeared in

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

's all-

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

Federal Theatre Project production of '' Macbeth''. Burroughs was later lauded by radio giant

Norman Corwin Norman Lewis Corwin (May 3, 1910 – October 18, 2011) was an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing. His earliest and biggest successes were in the writing and directing of radio drama during the ...

as being "the finest Negro actor in radio."

Biography

Early years

Eric Burroughs was born 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 on November 6, 1911. He was the son of postal worker and

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

reader Charles Burroughs and

Williana Burroughs Williana "Liana" Jones Burroughs (January 2, 1882 – December 24, 1945) was an American teacher, communist political activist, and politician. She is best remembered as one of the first women to run for elective office in New York. Biography ...

, a New York City public school teacher and Communist party activist. In the late 1920s, after graduating from high school at the age of 16, Burroughs secured a minor role in the production ''Harlem'', at the Apollo Theatre, starring Isabelle Washington, which ran for six months. His parents, however, wanted him to have a profession, and sent him to Germany to study political science. Instead, he quit after two weeks and enrolled in the Kammerspiele School of the Theatre, Hamburg, run by theatrical producer and director

Erwin Piscator Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator (17 December 1893 – 30 March 1966) was a German theatre director and producer. Along with Bertolt Brecht, he was the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a form that emphasizes the socio-political content o ...

, regarded as the foremost exponent of "Epic Theater," a form that emphasized the socio-political content of drama. Burroughs appeared in a Piscator production of ''

The Good Soldier Schweik ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

,'' as well as various Shakespeare plays including ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

.'' In 1930 he attended the International Theatre Conference in Hamburg, where he met Tairoff, the director of the Kamerny Theatre, Moscow, and since his mother and brothers were already in the USSR, he accepted Tairoff's invitation to visit the USSR, where he stayed for six months. Returning to Germany, he launched a career in theatre and film. He remained until two weeks after Hitler came to power in 1933, then returned to New York. Burroughs's German wife, Lotte Manshardt, followed him to New York and they attempted to start an independent theater company called Theater Mass. When this did not succeed, Manshardt returned to Germany in 1935.

"Voodoo Macbeth"

During the Great Depression the

Works Project Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, in ...

was given the task of reviving black

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

in America.

Beth Ashley Beth Ashley (May 21, 1926 – May 1, 2020) was an American author and columnist. She wrote for the ''Marin Independent Journal'' for over 60 years. In remarks before the United States House of Representatives, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey stated "Be ...

“Writer, Illustrator Tells Story of his Actor-Father in Graphic Novel,”
''Marin Independent-Journal,'' February 28, 2009. As a part of this effort Burroughs was named as a lead actor in the 20-year-old Orson Welles's 1936 Federal Theatre Project production of '' Macbeth'', featuring an all-black cast. In this production Burroughs played the role of

Hecate Hecate or Hekate, , ; grc-dor, Ἑκάτᾱ, Hekátā, ; la, Hecatē or . is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depict ...

, which Welles changed from the witch queen of the original into a male

Voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

priest, complete with cloak and a 12-foot long bull whip. This staging of ''

Voodoo Macbeth The Voodoo ''Macbeth'' is a common nickname for the Federal Theatre Project's 1936 New York production of William Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''. Orson Welles adapted and directed the production, moved the play's setting from Scotland to a fictional ...

'' won both popular and critical acclaim, with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' noting that Burroughs's concluding line, "The charm’s wound up!" at the fall of the closing curtain prompted a 15-minute frenzy of cheering throughout the 1200 seat Lafayette Theatre.Wendy Smith
“The Play that Electrified Harlem,”
''Civilization'', January–February 1996. Burroughs's final line concludes a four-minute excerpt of ''Macbeth'' in the WPA documentary short subject, '' We Work Again'' (1937).

Later years

cast Burroughs in the role of the Roman emperor

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unti ...

, sent by

the Devil Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood ...

to assassinate Santa Claus, in Corwin's 1938 radio play '' The Plot to Overthrow Christmas''. The play was produced again in 1940 and 1944."The Plot to Overthrow Christmas - Norman Corwin", ''Tangent'' online
/ref> During the 1940s and 1950s, Burroughs worked extensively in

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

and in a more limited capacity on stage, appearing in a production of ''The Petrified Forest'' and in the role of Mr. D in Eartha Kitt's production of ''Mrs. Patterson.'' Burroughs also had a small speaking role in the 1959 film, ''Odds Against Tomorrow.'' Burroughs married Melissa Broome in 1950 and had two children.

Death and legacy

Burroughs died November 12, 1992, at the

Bronx Veterans Administration Hospital The James J. Peters VA Medical Center, (also known as the Bronx Veterans Hospital), is a US Department of Veterans Affairs hospital complex located at 130 West Kingsbridge Road in West Fordham, Bronx, New York City. The hospital is the headquar ...

. He was 81 years old at the time of his death.

References

External links

Excerpt of ''Macbeth''
(1936), ending with Burroughs concluding line {{DEFAULTSORT:Burroughs, Eric 1911 births 1992 deaths Male actors from New York City New York University alumni American male stage actors American male voice actors African-American male actors People from the Bronx 20th-century American male actors 20th-century African-American people Federal Theatre Project people