Jasper Deeter (July 31, 1893 - May 1972) was an American-born stage and film actor, stage director, and founder of

Hedgerow Theatre Hedgerow Theatre is a theatre company based in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, founded in 1923. It was "for many years the only true U. S. professional repertory theater." The building is a contributing structure in the Rose Valley H ...

Rose Valley, Pennsylvania Rose Valley is a small, historic borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its area is , and the population was 913 at the 2010 census. The area was settled by Quaker farmers in 1682, and later water mills along Ridley Creek drove ...

, one of the first regional

repertory theatre A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...

s in the United States.

Career

Deeter gained prominence in the theatre world in the 1919 production of

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

's ''Exorcism: A Play in One Act''. A close relationship with O'Neill ensued, and Deeter joined the

Provincetown Players The Provincetown Players was a collective of artists, writers, intellectuals, and amateur theater enthusiasts. Under the leadership of the husband and wife team of George Cram Cook, George Cram “Jig” Cook and Susan Glaspell from Iowa, the Play ...

, which was an experimental theatre group that produced many of O'Neill's one-act and full-length plays in New York City. Deeter appeared in several of O'Neill's plays, including ''

The Hairy Ape ''The Hairy Ape'' is a 1922 expressionist play by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. It is about a beastly, unthinking laborer known as Yank, the protagonist of the play, as he searches for a sense of belonging in a world controlled by the rich ...

'' and ''

The Emperor Jones ''The Emperor Jones'' is a 1920 tragic play by American dramatist Eugene O'Neill that tells the tale of Brutus Jones, a resourceful, self-assured African American and a former Pullman porter, who kills another black man in a dice game, is jailed, ...

''. Deeter is credited with convincing the playwright to cast a black actor,

Charles Sidney Gilpin Charles Sidney Gilpin (November 20, 1878 – May 6, 1930) was one of the most highly regarded stage actors of the 1920s. He played in critical debuts in New York City: the 1919 premier of John Drinkwater's ''Abraham Lincoln'' and the lead role ...

, in the lead role of Brutus Jones in ''The Emperor Jones''. The play marked the first time that a major black role in a New York production was not performed by an actor in

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

. Deeter left New York as frictions between members of the company arose as a result of what many saw as a commercialization of the plays produced by the Provincetown Players. Many of the original members, including Deeter, believed commercial success to be at odds with the Provincetown Players' mission to create experimental works that weren't judged by box office numbers. He travelled to Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, where he became involved with the Rose Valley Arts and Crafts Community. It was here that Deeter found artisans and craftsmen such as

Wharton Esherick Wharton Esherick (July 15, 1887 – May 6, 1970) was an American sculptor who worked primarily in wood, especially applying the principles of sculpture to common utilitarian objects. Consequently, he is best known for his sculptural furniture a ...

, Elenore Plaisted Abbott, and others who built theatre set pieces, provided scenic artwork, and designed costumes. He also attracted the talents of actors such as

Ann Harding Ann Harding (born Dorothy Walton Gatley; August 7, 1902 – September 1, 1981) was an American theatre, motion picture, radio, and television actress. A regular player on Broadway and in regional theater in the 1920s, in the 1930s Harding was ...

, Eva LaGallienne, and Phil Price Jr. Throughout its heyday from the late 1920s to the 1950s,

presented plays by the leading playwrights of the time, including O'Neill,

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

, and

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

. In 1958, Deeter appeared in the role of the Civic Defense Volunteer in the cult classic ''

The Blob ''The Blob'' is a 1958 American science fiction horror film directed by Irvin Yeaworth, and written by Kay Linaker and Theodore Simonson. It stars Steve McQueen (in his first feature film leading role) and Aneta Corsaut and co-stars Earl Rowe a ...

,'' and in 1959, he had a leading part in the sci-fi thriller ''

4D Man ''4D Man'' (also known as ''The Evil Force'' in the UK; reissued as ''Master of Terror'' in the US) is a 1959 independent American science fiction film in color by De Luxe, produced by Jack H. Harris (from his original screenplay), directed by ...

''. In his later years, he remained active with the theatre and died in Media, PA in 1972 at the age of 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deeter, Jasper American male film actors American stage actors 1893 births 1972 deaths