James O'Neill (actor, Born 1847)
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James O'Neill (November 15, 1847 – August 10, 1920) was an Irish-American theatre
actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
. He was the father of American
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...
Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...
and the inspiration for one of the primary characters in his son's play '' Long Day's Journey into Night''.


Early life

James O'Neill was born on November 15, 1847, in
County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. His parents were distant cousins, Edward"Eugene O'Neill", ''American Experience'', PBS
/ref> and Mary O'Neill. His father was a farmer. The family emigrated to America in 1851 and settled in
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
. In 1857 they moved to
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, Ohio, where James was apprenticed to a machinist."James O'Neill", ''History of the San Francisco Theatre'' Vol. XX, WPA, Northern California, 1942
/ref>


Career

At the age of 21, he made his stage debut in a Cincinnati, Ohio, production of Boucicault's ''The Colleen Bawn'' (1867). Also in 1867, Edwin Forrest embarked on a "farewell tour". O'Neill had a minor part in Forrest's Cincinnati production of ''Virginius'', and then joined a travelling
repertory A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom ...
company. He played a young sailor in Joseph Jefferson's ''Rip Van Winkle'' and for the first time found his brogue a handicap. He also played Macduff to
Edwin Booth Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 – June 7, 1893) was an American stage actor and theatrical manager who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Th ...
's
Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...
. In 1874, he played the titular role in ''
Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...
'' in Chicago, trading off with the famous actor
Edwin Booth Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 – June 7, 1893) was an American stage actor and theatrical manager who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Th ...
. Casting O'Neill, who was called Black Irish because of his black hair, has been marked as one possible origin of disputes about whether the character
Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...
was meant to merely to have black hair and dark features, rather than to be of sub-Saharan African origin. The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' of August 3, 1879, described James O'Neill as "...a quiet gentleman of medium height, well-proportioned figure, square shoulders and stands very erect. He has black hair, black eyes, rather dark complexion, a black mustache, and a fine set of teeth which he knows how to display to advantage." "Gelb, Barbara. "O'Neill's Father Shaped His Son's Vision", ''The New York Times'', Theater Reviews, April 27, 1986
/ref> While in San Francisco, O'Neill became friends with fellow actor, John Elitch. When Elitch opened the Elitch Zoological Gardens in Denver, Colorado, on May 1, 1890, O'Neill attended the opening and promised "I'll come back and play on that stage whenever you say." On May 30, 1897, O'Neill kept his promise and appeared in the opening play, ''Helene'', by Martha Morton. He was considered a promising actor, quickly working his way up the ranks to become a matinee idol.Gelb, Arthur and Gelb, Barbara. ''O'Neill: Life With Monte Cristo'' New York Times Books
/ref>


Scandal

In 1874 O'Neill joined Richard M. Hooley's company, and the following year toured San Francisco, Virginia City and Sacramento. He then headed back east to join the Union Square Company. On June 14, 1877, while in New York, James O'Neill married Mary Ellen Quinlan, daughter of Thomas and Bridget Quinlan, at St. Ann's Church on 12th Street. James and Ella had three sons: James (b. 1878), Edmund (b. 1883) and
Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...
(b. 1888). While James was on tour, Ella often accompanied him, and the boys were placed in boarding school. In the fall of 1877, three months after James' marriage, a woman by the name of Nettie Walsh sued O'Neill, claiming that O'Neill already married her, when she was 15, and he was the father of her three-year-old son. The couple was in San Francisco on September 10, 1878, when their first son, James O'Neill Jr. was born in the home of one of O'Neill's friends. While in San Francisco, O'Neill took on the role of Christ in David Belasco's production ''The Passion'' for which Belasco rounded up 100 nursing mothers to appear in the tableau "the Massacre of the Innocents". The Board of Supervisors passed a local ordinance prohibiting "profane" dramas, and O'Neill and the rest of the company were arrested. O'Neill pleaded guilty and paid a $50 fine for himself and $5 for each of his co-defendants. About October 30, 1880, O'Neill and his family took a train back to New York where he re-joined the Union Square Company.


''The Count of Monte Cristo''

As early as 1875, while a stock star at Hooley's Theatre in Chicago, O'Neill played the title role in a stage adaptation of Dumas' ''
The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, and published in book form in 1846. It is one of his most popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers'' (184 ...
''. In early 1883 O'Neill took over the lead role in ''Monte Cristo'' at Booth's Theater in New York, after Charles R. Towne died suddenly in the wings after his first performance. O'Neill's interpretation of the part caused a sensation with the theater-going public. A company was immediately set up to take the play on tour. O'Neill bought the rights to the play. The San Francisco ''News Latter'' was less appreciative of O'Neill, saying on December 31, 1887 "In his hands the romantic story has degenerated into an extravagant melodrama. ...He is reaping the pecuniary profit of his business sagacity, but it is at the cost of art." O'Neill soon had enough of the Count. His lines came out by rote and his performances became lackadaisical. He tried other plays but ''
The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...
'' and ''Julius Caesar'' met with indifferent response, and O'Neill was forced to return to ''Monte Cristo'' in order to recoup the losses sustained in "artistic successes". ''Monte Cristo'' remained a popular favorite and would continue to make its appearance on tour as regular as clockwork. O'Neill could not afford to sacrifice wealth in the face of a growing family. His son Eugene was born in New York on October 16, 1888. He went on to play this role over 6000 times. Some, including Eugene, saw O'Neill's willingness to play the role so many times as selling out; squandering the potential of his art in order to make money. By 1887, The ''San Francisco Morning Call'' estimated O'Neill's fortune at a quarter of a million dollars. In March 1894, O'Neill took on the role of Shane O'Neill in the play ''The Prince of Ulster''. According to his son, Eugene,
My father was really a remarkable actor, but the enormous success of "Monte Cristo" kept him from doing other things. He could go out year after year and clear fifty thousand in a season. He thought that he simply couldn't afford to do anything else. But in his later years he was full of bitter regrets. He felt "Monte Cristo" had ruined his career as an artist.
The company toured as far west at
St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
; Eugene O'Neill who had given up his studies at Princeton, was the assistant treasurer. He left the company to begin his wanderings at sea. O'Neill converted "Monte Cristo" into tabloid form for the vaudeville circuit to accommodate changing taste in theater entertainment. O'Neill's celebrity and identification with ''Monte Cristo'' led
Adolph Zukor Adolph Zukor (; ; January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976) was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'' (June 16, 1976), p. 76. He produced one of Ameri ...
to engage O'Neill in 1912 to appear in a feature film version of the play as the first production of his Famous Players Film Company. By that time O'Neill had been continuously playing the part for nearly 40 years and was 65 years old. Directed and photographed by Edwin S. Porter and co-starring Nance O'Neil as Mercedes, the film was initially held back in release but finally appeared in late 1913.


Death

In the middle of 1920 James was struck by an automobile in New York City and taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital in
New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...
. He died, aged 72, on August 11, 1920, from intestinal cancer, at the family summer home, the Monte Cristo Cottage in
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
. His funeral at St. Joseph's Church was attended by, among others, O'Neill's sister, Mrs. M. Platt of St. Louis and Edward D. White, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. O'Neill was buried in St. Mary's cemetery.


Legacy

James O'Neill later became the model for James Tyrone, the frugal, mercurial, unseeing father character in Eugene O'Neill's posthumously published autobiographical play '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', which tells the story of the Tyrone family, which closely resembles the O'Neill family.


References


Further reading


Shaughnessy, Edward L. "Ella, James, and Jamie O'Neill: 'My Name Is Might-Have-Been'", ''The Eugene O’Neill Review'', Suffolk University, 1991


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, James 1847 births 1920 deaths 19th-century Irish male actors 20th-century American male actors 20th-century Irish male actors Irish male silent film actors Irish male stage actors American male stage actors American male film actors Irish emigrants to the United States People from Kilkenny (city) Actors from County Kilkenny