1940 Signed VIOLA ALLEN Otis SKINNER Spoken SHAKESPEARE MERCHANT OF VENICE IRCC

$

75

I am currently selling a series of great classic 78 rpm Jazz recordings on from early ragtime and blues to late swing and be-bop:

Authographed copy  by Actors VIOLA ALLEN & OTIS SKINNER 

IRCC 5010 12? Merchant of Venice (William Shakespeare) - Trial scene - Part 1
Allen, Viola - talking; Skinner, Otis - talking; Cast: Herbert Ranson, Arthur Pierson, Warner Anderson and John French
IRCC recording; 11-May-40;
IRCC; First edition; Autographed by Allen
IRCC 5010 12? Merchant of Venice (William Shakespeare) - Trial scene - Part 2
Allen, Viola - talking; Skinner, Otis - talking; Cast: Herbert Ranson, Arthur Pierson, Warner Anderson and John French
IRCC recording; 11-May-40;
IRCC; First edition; Autographed by Skinner

First edition authographed by Allen and Skinner IRCC Picture Label , direct electric recording
12" 78 rpm record

Otis Skinner (June 28, 1858 – January 4, 1942) was a popular American stage actor active during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Early life[edit]
Otis A. Skinner was born on June 28, 1858 in Cambridge, Massachusetts[1] the middle of three boys raised by Charles and Cornelia Skinner. He was later brought up in Hartford, Connecticut where Charles Skinner served as a Universalist minister.[2] His older brother, Charles Montgomery Skinner, became a noted journalist and critic in New York, while his younger brother William was an artist. Skinner was educated in Hartford with an eye towards a career in commerce but a visit to the theater left him stage-struck.[citation needed] He secured his father's blessing for a theatrical career, and his father not only approved but also obtained from P. T. Barnum an introduction to William Pleater Davidge. Davidge employed him at eight dollars a week, and Skinner's career was launched. In the latter half of the 1870s, he played various bit roles in stock companies, and alongside stars such as John Edward McCullough. He built up his repertoire for several years in New York and Boston, including three years with Lawrence Barrett.[citation needed]

Career[edit]
By the mid-1880s, he was touring first with Augustin Daly, then, in 1889, with the troupe of Edwin Booth and Helena Modjeska. After that season, he played Romeo in London opposite Margaret Mather. His association with Mather lasted two years; after, with Booth dead, he returned to Modjeska, starring opposite her in her most famous roles. He also originated the role of Schwartz in Hermann Sudermann's Magda, and played Armand in Dumas's Camille.

Skinner as Shylock

Otis Skinner as Col. Philippe Bridau
By the mid-1890s, he was a star in his own right. In 1894, he produced and starred in Clyde Fitch's His Grace de Grammont; the same year, he performed in his brother's translation of Victor Hugo's Le roi s'amuse. In 1895 in Chicago, he succeeded as Hamlet. From 1895, he was associated with the troupe of Joseph Jefferson.

He excelled in Shakespearean roles like Shylock, Hamlet, Richard III and Romeo, and his Colonel Phillipe Brideau in The Honor of the Family was considered one of the greatest comedic performances of the first quarter of the twentieth century. Skinner's signature role was as Hajj the beggar in Kismet (1911) on Broadway, and he continued playing it on stage for twenty years, recreating his performance both in the 1920 and 1930 film versions of the play.[3]

His later roles included Albert Mott in Humpty Dumpty (1918), the title role in Sancho Panza in Melchior Lengyel's adaptation of Don Quixote (featuring Lucille Kahn in a supporting role), Sir John Falstaff in both Henry IV, part 1 (1926) and The Merry Wives of Windsor (1928), and Shylock opposite the Portia of Maude Adams (1931–32) in The Merchant of Venice.[citation needed]

Skinner was a successful writer whose books included Footlights and Spotlights and Mad Folk of the Theatre. His daughter, Cornelia, an actress and writer, was born in 1899. Otis Skinner was portrayed onscreen by Charlie Ruggles in the film version of his daughter's autobiography, Our Hearts Were Young and Gay.[citation needed]

Viola Emily Allen (October 27, 1867 – May 9, 1948) was an American stage actress who played leading roles in Shakespeare and other plays, including many original plays. She starred in over two dozen Broadway productions from 1885 to 1916. Beginning in 1915, she appeared in three silent films.

Biography[edit]
Allen was born in Huntsville, Alabama in 1867 (some sources say 1869 see discussion), the daughter of actors C. Leslie Allen (1830–1917) and Sarah Lyon.[2][3] She moved to Boston at three years of age and later moved with her family to Toronto. She was educated at the Bishop Strachan School, her brothers being educated at Trinity College School, Port Hope, Ontario.[4] She then attended a boarding school in New York City.[2]

Viola Allen
Allen had her first stage appearance at the age of 15 at Madison Square Theatre in New York in 1882. Annie Russell, who was playing the title role in Esmeralda, took ill at one point during the long run. Allen's father was a member of the cast, and the theater's stage manager asked if Mr. Allen would allow his daughter to play the part.[5] Allen's debut attracted the attention of actor John McCullough, who made her his leading lady in 1884.[6]

Between the years of 1884 and 1886, she performed in a variety of modern and Shakespearean plays. She performed with the best-known 19th century actors. She is best remembered for her roles in Shenandoah (by Bronson Howard) and Little Lord Fauntleroy (by Frances Eliza Burnett).[citation needed] From 1885 to 1916, Allen starred in over two dozen Broadway productions, creating characters in many original plays. She played classical Shakesperean and comedy roles with Salvini, Lawrence Jarrett, Joseph Jefferson and V. J. Florence. In 1898, she created the character of Gloria Quayle in "The Christian." She acted in The Masqueraders, Under the Red Robe, The Christian,[7] In the Palace of the King (1900), Twelfth Night, A Winter's Tale, As You Like It, The Lady of Coventry (1911), and others. She played such roles as Virginia, Cordelia, Desdemona, Lydia Languish, Dolores, Julia and Roma.[4]

The gravesite of Viola Allen

Viola Allen in The Daughter of Heaven, a play by Pierre Loti and Judith Gautier
Allen starred in the 1915 silent film The White Sister along with Richard Travers. The film was produced by the Essanay Studios and was based on the 1909 play The White Sister that was a hit for Allen. She was married to Peter Duryea from 1905 until his death in 1944. Her last professional appearance was in 1918, at a benefit supporting war relief. She remained an active supporter of charitable and theatrical organizations.[citation needed]

She died in New York City, and is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Sleepy Hollow, New York.