William FavershamBlum, Daniel (c. 1954). ''Great Stars of the American Stage''. "Profile No. 46". 2nd ed. (12 February 1868 – 7 April 1940) was an English stage and film actor, manager, and producer.

Biography

He was born in London. As a teen in the mid 1880s he saw actor

Maurice Barrymore Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe (21 September 1849 – 25 March 1905), known professionally by his stage name Maurice Barrymore, was an Indian-born British stage actor. He is the patriarch of the Barrymore acting family, father of John, Li ...

on tour and followed the actor through the streets of London during the Barrymore family's stay there from 1884-86.Great Times, Good Times: The Odyssey of Maurice Barrymore, by James Kotsilibas Davies c.1977 Young Faversham was so impressed by Barrymore and other actors he sought to become one himself. One of the highest paid actors at the turn of the century earning upward of $5,000,000 annually he became one of the last of the legendary actor-managers, William Faversham became a major name on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in the original production of ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

'' in 1895. Faversham was much admired in such potboilers as ''Brother Officers'' (1900), which he revived twice that same year and the next, and he produced, directed, and starred in the original production of '' The Squaw Man'' (1906). Productions of both ''Julius Caesar'' (1914) and ''Othello'' (1917) followed. Faversham's Broadway swan song came in a 1931 repertory presentation of ''Julius Caesar'', ''Hamlet'', and ''The Merchant of Venice''. He became a motion picture star in 1915 courtesy of the burgeoning

Metro Pictures Metro Pictures Corporation was a Film, motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at leas ...

. At one point, Faversham's popularity at Metro was second only to that of Francis X. Bushman, the leading matinee idol of the era. Quite elderly by then, Faversham later appeared in bit roles in talkies, including portraying the Duke of Wellington in the Technicolor production of ''

Becky Sharp Rebecca "Becky" Sharp, later describing herself as Rebecca, Lady Crawley, is the main protagonist of William Makepeace Thackeray's 1847–48 novel '' Vanity Fair''. She is presented as a cynical social climber who uses her charms to fascinate a ...

'' and, of all things, playing the heroine's father in the low-budget singing cowboy oater ''

The Singing Buckaroo ''The Singing Buckaroo'' is a 1937 American Western film written and directed by Tom Gibson. The film stars Fred Scott, Victoria Vinton, William Faversham, Cliff Nazarro, Howard Hill and Charles Kaley. The film was released on January 15, ...

'' (1937). He was married to stage actresses Edith Campbell and

Julie Opp Julie Opp (January 28, 1871 – April 9, 1921) was an American stage actress who was for a number of years popular on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. She was the wife of the Anglo-American actor William Faversham, whom she married shortly aft ...

and was the father of William Faversham and actor Philip Faversham. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1940, the year of his death in

Bay Shore Bay Shore is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay. The population of the CDP was 29,244 at the time of the 2020 ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, New York. He and his wife Julie Opp Faversham are both interred at Huntington Rural Cemetery in Huntington, Long Island, New York.

Filmography

References

External links

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Julie Opp(William's beloved wife died 1921); PeriodPaper.com, circa 1910
(Wayback Machine)
Julie Opp, William Faversham and their sons Phillip and William Jr., 1917 National Red Cross Pageant
1868 births 1940 deaths English male film actors English male silent film actors English male stage actors American male stage actors Male actors from London 20th-century English male actors English emigrants to the United States {{US-theat-actor-1860s-stub