Frank Parker Gillmore (May 14, 1867 – March 29, 1943) was an American playwright and a stage and early film actor. He was a founder and former President of

Actor's Equity The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a book ...

. He was born in New York City to John Parker Gillmore and his actress wife, Emily ( née Thorne: died March 5, 1907), sister of the actress

Sarah Thorne Sarah Thorne (10 May 1836 – 27 February 1899) was a British actress and actress-manager of the 19th century who managed the Theatre Royal at Margate for many years. She ran a school for acting there which is widely regarded as Britain's fir ...

and actors

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and George Thorne. At the time of his birth his parents were touring the United States, returning to Great Britain three weeks after their son's birth. Frank Gillmore was educated at the Chiswick Collegiate School in London and made his stage debut in London in 1879, then toured the British provinces for three years before returning to the London stage where he remained for a further five years. During this period he shared lodgings with

George Arliss George Arliss (born Augustus George Andrews; 10 April 1868 – 5 February 1946) was an English actor, author, playwright, and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award – which he ...

. Gillmore then alternated between appearances in Britain and America for a further five years.William R. Denslow and Harry S. Truman ''10,000 Famous Freemasons from A to J Part One''
(1957) pg 114 ''

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

'' Aged 17 he appeared with

Lillie Langtry Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born on the isla ...

. He married the American actress Laura Margaret MacGillivray whom he met when they both appeared in an American tour of ''

Lady Windermere's Fan ''Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman'' is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the St James's Theatre in London. The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is ...

''. With her he had two daughters, the actors

Ruth Gillmore Ruth Emily Gillmore (26 October 1899 - 12 February 1976) was an English-born American stage actress. Early years Gillmore was the daughter of Frank Gillmore, former president of Actors' Equity, and actress Laura MacGillivray and the sister of ...

and

Margalo Gillmore Margaret Lorraine "Margalo" Gillmore (31 May 1897 – 30 June 1986) was an English-born American actress who had a long career as a stage actress on Broadway. She also appeared in films and TV series, mostly in the 1950s and early 1960s. Family ...

. Frank Gillmore appeared as a leading man with the companies of Minnie Fiske,

Henrietta Crosman Henrietta Foster Crosman (September 2, 1861 – October 31, 1944) was an American stage and film actress. Early years Crosman was born in Wheeling, Virginia, to George Crosman Jr. a Civil War Major, and Mary B. Wick, a niece of composer Step ...

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, Bertha Kalich and

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, among others. Gillmore's stage appearances included a single matinee performance of ''

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 ...

'' on October 17, 1895 at the Gaiety Theatre in London, when he played Bassanio, ''The Ghost of Jerry Bundler'' at the Haymarket Theatre in London in September 1902, and ''A Japanese Nightingale'' which opened at Daly's Theater in New York in November 1903. Gillmore returned to America semi-permanently sometime in the late 1890s, and took his family with him. He and his family were long time summer residents of the Actor's Colony at

Siasconset Siasconset is a census designated place (CDP) at the eastern end of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, United States with an elevation of 52 feet (16 m), and a population of 205 at the 2010 census. Although unincorporated, the village has ...

, and he was a former president of the Siasconset Casino. Gillmore became a founder of the

Actors' Equity Association The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...

in 1913 after the Actors Society of America disbanded in 1912. He made two

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, 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) ...

s, ''

The Fairy and the Waif ''The Fairy and the Waif'' is a 1915 silent drama film directed by Marie Hubert Frohman and George Irving. This was the first feature-length film of actress Mary Miles Minter, who was twelve years old by the time of the release, although she ha ...

'' (1915) and '' The Lifted Veil'' (1917). From 1918 to 1929 he was the union's Executive Secretary and eventual President, a position he held from 1929 to 1937. He was also the international President of the

Associated Actors and Artistes of America The Associated Actors and Artistes of America (4As), established in 1919, is the federation of trade unions for performing artists in the United States. Gary M. Fink, ed. ''Labor unions'' (Greenwood, 1977) pp. 3-4. The union was established b ...

from 1938 to 1943 and a Freemason. As President of

Gillmore received The American Arbitration Association's annual gold Commercial Peace Medal in May 1931 "for distinguished service in the establishment of commercial peace through arbitration" Frank Gillmore died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on March 29, 1943, aged 75.

References

External links

*
Photograph of Gillmore
National Portrait Gallery, London website
"Founded May 26, 1913, Actors' Equity Celebrates 90th Anniversary With Special Timeline Edition of ''Equity News''"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillmore, Frank 1867 births 1943 deaths American trade unionists of English descent American male stage actors American male film actors Trade unionists from New York (state) Male actors from New York City Deaths from cancer in New York (state) 20th-century American male actors Presidents of the Actors' Equity Association