Lillian Albertson

Lillian Albertson
Albertson, c. 1922
Born(1881-08-06)August 6, 1881
Noblesville, Indiana, U.S.
DiedAugust 24, 1962(1962-08-24) (aged 81)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationsActress, theatre producer
Spouses
  • Abraham Levy

(m. 1908; div. after April 1921)

​
​
(m. 1923; div. 1933)​

Lillian Albertson (August 6, 1881 – August 24, 1962) was an American stage and screen actress, and a noted theatrical producer. Born in Noblesville, Indiana and raised in Fresno, California, she trained as an actress in San Francisco where she made her stage debut in 1902. She was a highly regarded stage actress in both New York and California over the next 20 years. She starred in many Broadway productions from 1904 through 1922. She later was active as theatrical producer and an acting coach. She made a few film appearances in small parts in the 1940s.

Early life

Lillian Albertson was born in Noblesville, Indiana on August 6, 1881.[1] She moved to California as a child.[2] She grew up in Fresno,[3] and was educated in public schools in that city[4] and in Hanford, California.[5] An 1897 publication stated she was a member of Fresno High School's class of 1900 and was currently a student there.[6] She was 19 years old when she decided that she wanted to be an actress,[7] and trained in that profession in San Francisco.[3]

Acting

Albertson's acting debut came in 1902[8] at the Grand Opera House in San Francisco, performing in productions of that theater's stock company.[3] One of her early roles in San Francisco was the part of Agnes Ralston in Charles Lawrence Young's Jim the Penman based on the life of master criminal and forger James Townshend Saward.[9] In 1903 she was a leading actress in Harry Corson Clarke's theater troupe with whom she first appeared at the Theatre Republic in San Francisco in January of that year.[10] She toured with this troupe as Cissy in the play What Happened to Jones to Seattle among other stops in the Pacific Northwest.[11][10]

In 1904 Albertson toured to the eastern United States in a theatre troup headed by Ralph Stuart.[12] She made her Broadway debut with this organization at the American Theatre on January 18, 1904, as Olga Petrovitch in By Right of Sword which was based on the novel of that name by Arthur W. Marchmont.[13][14] She returned home to California in 1905 where she starred in a production of William Gill's Old Jed Prouty.[15] By October 1905 she was back in New York starring as Thora in a production of Hall Caine's The Prodigal Son.[16]

On August 22, 1908, Albertson married her first husband, Abraham Levy,[17] with whom she had a son.[18] Levy was a theatrical producer who was a partner of A. H. Woods and a partial owner of the Eltinge Theatre on Broadway.[19] Albertson continued to work on the stage after her marriage, but with less frequency.[20] Some of her other Broadway credits include The Silver Girl (1907) Paid in Full (1908), The Talker (1912), Moloch (1915), The Devil's Garden (1915), The Six-Fifty (1921), and Malvaloca (1922).[21] She was still married to her first husband as late as April 1921,[20] but the marriage ended in divorce.[22]

Producing and coaching

After acting for two decades, Albertson married her second husband, theatrical producer Louis Macloon, on April 17, 1923, in Manhattan.[23] They left New York and back to California with plans for Lillian to be a producer.[7] During their marriage Louis and Lillian worked together producing projects.[24] The couple were credited with discovering future film star Clark Gable.[25]

Lillian bought rights to plays that were then popular in the eastern United States and produced them in the West. Her successes included Hit the Deck; Lady Be Good; No, No, Nanette; and The Desert Song. Economic effects of the Great Depression ended the string of successful productions.[7] Ultimately Lillian's marriage to Macloon was not happy, and, having no children, they divorced in 1933 after ten years of marriage.[26]

In the 1940s, Albertson worked for both Paramount and RKO Pictures as a drama coach, and she wrote a book, Motion Picture Acting. She also evaluated prospective actors to determine which ones deserved to have screen tests.[7] She was appointed head of the talent coaching department at RKO Radio in 1943.[27]

Death

On August 24, 1962, Albertson died at her home in Los Angeles, California.[8] She was 81.[1]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes References
1951Storm WarningMrs. RaineyUncredited[28]
1951The Blue VeilMrs. LipscottUncredited[29]
1952The Greatest Show on EarthButtons' Mother[30]
1956The Ten CommandmentsSlaveUncredited, (final film role)[31]

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Doyle 1999, p. 6.
  2. ↑ Shippey, Lee (May 25, 1930). "The Lee Side of L.A." The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. p. 22. Retrieved July 31, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. 1 2 3 "Success of a Fresno Girl". The Fresno Morning Republican. February 1, 1902. p. 9.
  4. ↑ "West Park News". The Fresno Morning Republican. January 23, 1896. p. 4.
  5. ↑ "Local Brevities". Tulare Advance-Register. February 8, 1902. p. 3.
  6. ↑ "High School Social: The Class of 1900 Entertains Classmates and the Alumni". The Fresno Morning Republican. March 7, 1897. p. 1.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Ragan, David (November 28, 1948). "Hollywood's 'Miss A.'". The Indianapolis Star. Indiana, Indianapolis. p. 118. Retrieved July 31, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon Open access icon
  8. 1 2 "Famed Stage Figure Lillian Albertson Dies". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. August 26, 1962. p. 27. Retrieved July 31, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  9. ↑ "New Bills at the Theatre". San Francisco Chronicle. February 4, 1902. p. 10.
  10. 1 2 "Miss Lillian Albertson". The San Francisco Examiner. January 18, 1903. p. 40.
  11. ↑ "What Happened to Jones". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. February 9, 1903. p. 6.
  12. ↑ "A Western Beauty Who Has Scored in the Metropolis". Broadway Weekly. II (LII): 15. February 11, 1904. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  13. ↑ "The Week at the Theatres". The New York Times. January 17, 1904. p. 21.
  14. ↑ "New Star's Opportune Play". The New York Times. January 19, 1904. p. 5.
  15. ↑ "Rural Comedy at Ye Liberty". Oakland Tribune. May 16, 1905. p. 16.
  16. ↑ "The Coming of The Prodigal Son". Brooklyn Times Union. October 8, 1905. p. 19.
  17. ↑ "California Actress Weds". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. August 23, 1908. p. 8. Retrieved July 31, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  18. ↑ "Stage Love too Frank -- Cut out Hugs and Kisses Advises Lillian Albertson". The Miami News. Florida, Miami. February 15, 1912. p. 3. Retrieved July 31, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  19. ↑ "Asks Profit Sharing". New York Herald. September 3, 1919. p. 9.
  20. 1 2 "Miss Albertson to Act". The Evening World. April 9, 1921. p. 12.
  21. ↑ "Lillian Albertson". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Says Release Stolen". New York Daily News. October 30, 1927. p. 15.
  23. ↑ Lillian Albertson in the New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018, License 9980
  24. ↑ Lees 2006, p. 64.
  25. ↑ "The Great Lover Clark Gable", by Jim Tully, The Family Circle, July 4, 1941
  26. ↑ "Lillian Albertson Is Given Divorce". The San Bernardino County Sun. June 14, 1933. p. 19.
  27. ↑ Aasronson 1953, p. 3.
  28. ↑ Fetrow 1999, p. 410.
  29. ↑ Redfern 2021, p. 122.
  30. ↑ Fetrow 1999, p. 165.
  31. ↑ Ringgold & Bodeen 1969, p. 352.

Bibliography

  • Aasronson, Charles S., ed. (1953). "Albertson, Lillian". 1953-54 Motion Picture and Television Almanac. Quigley Publications.
  • Doyle, Billy H. (1999). "Albertson, Lillian". The Ultimate Directory of Silent and Sound Era Performers: A Necrology of Actors and Actresses. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9780810835474.
  • Fetrow, Alan G. (1999). Feature Films, 1950-1959: A United States Filmography. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786404278.
  • Lees, Gene (2006). Portrait Of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9780634099298.
  • Redfern, David A. (2021). Charles Laughton: A Filmography, 1928-1962. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9781476642635.
  • Ringgold, Gene; Bodeen, DeWitt (1969). The Films of Cecil B. DeMille. Cadillac Publishing Company. ISBN 9780806502168.
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