Joseph Proctor

Joseph Proctor (May 7, 1816 – October 2, 1897) was a popular 19th-century American actor. He was best known for playing the lead role in the melodrama Nick of the Woods.[1][2]

For other people named Joseph Proctor, see Joseph Proctor (disambiguation).

Joseph Proctor
Born(1816-05-07)May 7, 1816
Marlborough, Massachusetts
DiedOctober 2, 1897(1897-10-02) (aged 81)
Boston, Massachusetts
OccupationActor
Spouse(s)
  • Hester Warren
  • Elizabeth Wakeman
Signature

Career

Proctor was born in Marlborough, Massachusetts, in 1816 to Nicholson and Lucy (Bond) Proctor. He first appeared on stage in Boston in November 1833 playing Damon in John Banim's Damon and Pythias. By 1837 he was playing lead roles in Philadelphia. Commencing on May 6, 1839 at the Bowery Theatre in New York, he took the lead role of Nathan Slaughter (and Jibbenainosay) in Nick of the Woods (Proctor actually played six roles in the play, which was usually an advertised feature of his performances.) Though he played many other roles in his career, this was the "play with which his name was so continuously associated as to create the impression that he never acted any other characters of consequence." He performed the role over 2,500 times.[3][4][5]

Proctor performed throughout the United States and did some theater management. He went to Europe to perform from 1859–61. He retired from the stage in the 1880s, except for occasional benefit appearances.[6][7][8]

Personal

Proctor first married Hester Warren (1810–41) in 1837, one of the daughters of actor William Warren (1767-1832).[9] Their daughter Anna E. Proctor also went on stage.[1] In 1851 he married Elizabeth Wakeman. Their daughter Anna E. Proctor also went on stage later. Proctor died in Boston on October 2, 1897.[1][10]

References
  1. (3 October 1897). Joseph Proctor (obituary), The New York Times
  2. . Bordman, Gerald & Thomas S. Hischak. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre, p. 512 (3d ed. 2004)
  3. Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography, Vol. IV, p. 521 (1914)
  4. Shelley, Mortimer M. Blobson's dire mishaps in a barn storming company, appended chapter on "History of the American Stage", p. 8 (1890) (adding to impression that Proctor only performed in one play: "the success was so great at (The Bowery) he continued afterwards to play this and no other for 45 years or more.")
  5. Tompkins, Eugene The History of the Boston Theatre, 1854-1901, p. 125 (1908)
  6. Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies; entry by Edwin Francis Edgett (1928-36)
  7. Guild, Curtis A chat about celebrities: or, The story of a book, pp. 269-71 (1897)
  8. Leman, Walter Moore. Memories of an old actor, pp. 353-58 (1886) ("If he plays the 'Jibbenainosay' more frequently than Shakespeare, it is not that he loves the immortal bard less, but that the multitude love the 'Jibbenainosay' the more.")
  9. A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800: W. West to Zwingman..., p. 76 (1993)
  10. The National Cyclopædia of American Biography, Vol. XV, p. 47 (1916)
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