Marshall Stedman (August 16, 1874 – December 16, 1943) was an American stage and silent screen actor/director, playwright, author and drama teacher.
Early life
Edward Marshall Stedman Jr. was born in
Bethel, Maine, the son of Edward Sr. and Eliza Putnam (née Rice) Stedman.
[Who's Who in the Film World - edited by Fred C. Justice &Tom R. Smith - Film World Publishing – 1914 - pg. 42] His father was a decorated naval officer who at the time of his death in 1939 had been the oldest surviving graduate of the
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
and one of only three retired naval officers who saw service during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. Stedman received his early education in Chicago at South Division High School and the Harvard Preparatory School before attending
Colorado College in Colorado Springs.
[California and Californians: Volume 3,Rockwell Dennis Hunt, Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez, Rockwell - 1926 - pg. 279 - Google Books]
Career
Stedman began his theater career at around the age of eighteen with
William Morris’ stock company playing Bob Appleton in
Ludwig Fulda’s three-act drama ''
The Lost Paradise'', and Ned Annesley in ''
Sowing the Wind'', a four-act play by
Sydney Grundy
Sydney Grundy (23 March 1848 – 4 July 1914) was an English dramatist. Most of his works were adaptations of European plays, and many became successful enough to tour throughout the English-speaking world. He is, however, perhaps best remembe ...
. He later joined
E. H. Sothern for two seasons and went on to star in a number of one-act plays and tour in Shakespearean repertoire productions.
For some years around 1900 Stedman lived in
Gilpin County, Colorado with his father, sister Agnes, grandmother Miriam, uncle Josiah Stedman and later his wife Myrtle. News reports of the day indicated his family was involved in a mining venture near America City called the Charlemagne Lode.
In 1906, Stedman was named head of the drama school at the
Chicago Musical College
Chicago Musical College is a division of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.
History
Founding
Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld Sr (1841–1923), founded the college in 1867 as the Chicago Academy of Music. The institution h ...
, a position he would hold for some four years. Later he spent a season in vaudeville before venturing into film work as a director with
Essanay Studios
The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an early American motion picture studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago, and later developed an additional film lot in Niles Canyon, California. Its various stars included Francis X. Bushman, ...
and later the
Selig Polyscope Company
The Selig Polyscope Company was an American motion picture company that was founded in 1896 by William Selig in Chicago. The company produced hundreds of early, widely distributed commercial moving pictures, including the first films starring Tom ...
, as an actor, director, writer and producer. Several years later Stedman returned to teaching as a drama instructor with the Eagan School of Drama and Music in Los Angeles.
In the years that followed, Marshall Stedman would continue to teach, act and write. He played a number of villain roles in films made by
Hobart Bosworth and returned to the stage in community theater productions performed by his students, often in plays he wrote. In the late 1920s Stedman founded the Marshall Stedman School of Drama and Elocution in
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...
.
Marriage
On January 13, 1900, Marshall Stedman married in Chicago
Myrtle C. Lincoln, a young actress not yet seventeen.
Lincoln Stedman
Lincoln Stedman (May 18, 1907 – March 22, 1948) was an American silent film actor.
Biography
Stedman was born in Denver, Colorado, the only child to Marshall Stedman and silent film beauty Myrtle Stedman. Stedman had a career in films dat ...
, their only child, was born in 1907 and would go on to have his own career in Hollywood. Stedman and his wife separated around 1919 and a divorce soon followed. He later married Rieka Kulaars, a native of The Netherlands.
Death
Marshall Stedman died at the age of 69 on December 16, 1943, in Laguna Beach. He was survived by his son Lincoln who would die himself before the close of the decade.
Selected works
[List compiled from ]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 c ...
and Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
*What a Kiss Can Do: And Other Recitations for Children, 1925
*Readings and Encores for Children and Grown-Ups, 1926
*Readings and Sketches for Boys, 1927
*Monologues, Distinctive and Different, 1927
*Samanthy's Suitors: A Character Sketch for a Lady, 1928
* Clever Monologues, 1928
*Sure-Fire Monologues, 1928
*Loving Lunatics: A Farce Comedy in One Act, 1929
* The Missionary to Zulu Land: A Farce Comedy on One Act, 1929
*Tonic: A farce in One Act, 1929
* Out of the Storm: A play in One Act for Two Women, 1929
* Unique Monologues and Recitations for Children, 1929
*Mr. Santa Claus: A Play in One Act, 1930
*Marshall Stedman's New Book of Readings and Monologues, 1931
* Speakin' Day: A Comedy of School Days in One Act, 1931
*A Shot in The Dark: A Comedy Mystery-Drama in One Act, 1931
*The Bloom of Youth: A Farce Comedy in One Act for Three Women, 1931
*The Hoodooed Hindu: A Farce Comedy in One Act, 1931
* Readings and Recitations for Special Days, 1931
*Fifty-Fifty: A Comedy Drama in One Act, 1931
* Clever Sketches for Short Casts, 1932
*Twelve Little Plays for Two Little Players, 1932
*The Old Bachelor's Christmas: A Dramatic Reading (Banner plays), 1932
*Stedman's Readings and Monologues for Children: A Collection of Forty-Eight Readings, Monologues, Recitations, Encores, Play-O-Logues and Novelty Acts, 1932
* Thirty-Two Readings, Monologues and Play-O-Logues for Grown-Ups, 1934
*Amusing Monologues, 1940
* Eight Two Character Stunt Plays, 1946
External links
Myrtle and Marshall Stedman pose on skis near the mining town of American City (Gilpin County), April 1, 1900 Denver Public Library Digital Collection*
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stedman, Marshall
1874 births
1943 deaths
American male silent film actors
Silent film directors
19th-century American male actors
American male stage actors
20th-century American male actors