James Stark (actor)

James Stark (1819[1] – October 12, 1875)[2] was a Canadian-born US actor best known for appearances in tragedy.[1]

c. 1850

Stark was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia,[1] but his career was largely spent in California during pioneer days.[3][4] Stark came west with the Gold Rush to first perform in Sacramento. With wife Sarah Kirby Stark, he brought the first successful dramatic season to San Francisco. [5]: 15  He was particularly known for his portrayal of Cardinal Richelieu in the play of the same name,[3] and for his portrayal of Hamlet and other Shakespearean characters.[4]

Around 1848, he was a member of the stock company at the Richmond Theatre in Virginia.[6]

In New York City, he played the Park Theatre in 1846 with John Collins in The Irish Ambassador, as Prince Rudolf; with Charles Kean and his wife, the former Ellen Tree, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona and King John; and with James Robertson Anderson in the new play King of the Commons.[7]: 465–66  In 1848 and 1851 he played the Old Broadway Theatre, with Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Wallack Jr.[8]: 372–73 and 383  In 1852 Frank Chanfrau was the manager of The New York Theatre, Astor Place (formerly the Astor Place Opera House) for one week, from September 27 to October 2, when Stark played King Lear, Hamlet, Richelieu, The Stranger, and Claude Melnotte (in The Lady of Lyons).[9] In 1858 Mr. and Mrs. Stark performed for one week at Wallack's Theatre (485 Broadway), April 5 – 10, in The Gamester, The Lady of Lyons, Richelieu, Othello, Hamlet, and The Stranger.[7]: 674  From August 20 to September 8, 1866, when the same theater (485 Broadway), managed by George Wood, was called the Broadway Theatre, he acted in Richelieu, The Robbers, Napoleon (a new play), The Stranger, Katherine and Petrucio, The Lady of Lyons, Ingomar, and Pizarro,[10] but the engagement was not profitable.[8]: 516 

Stark was also popular in Australia.[7]: 465 

He died in New York City,[2] in poverty and illness,[11] aged 57 years.[2]

References
  1. Evans, Chad (1983). Frontier Theatre. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: Sono Nis Press. pp. 40–41. ISBN 9780919203242.
  2. "Marriages and Deaths. Died". New York Herald. October 18, 1875. p. 5, column 5. Stark.—On Tuesday, October 12, at his residence, 131 West Twenty-ninth street, James Stark, aged 57 years.
  3. "News of the Morning". Los Angeles Daily Herald. November 28, 1875. p. 2, column 1. James Stark, one of the pioneer actors of California, and whom the early residents of the State remember as the best 'Richelieu' of his day, died in New York on the twelfth of last month.
  4. Beasley, David (2002). McKee Rankin and the Heyday of the American Theater. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 47–48. ISBN 9780889203907.
  5. Eichin, Carolyn Grattan (2020). From San Francisco Eastward : Victorian theater in the American West. Reno. ISBN 978-1-948908-38-2. OCLC 1125080176.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. "The Southern Stage". New-York Daily Tribune. September 14, 1875. p. 4, column 4. About the year 1848, for example, William Rufus Blake, H. A. Perry, Charles Burke, James Stark, William Chippendale (the elder), and George Jordan were members of the stock company—engaged, and prosperous, for the full season—of the Richmond Theatre: and this was a company which could not easily be matched now, in any city of the Republic.
  7. Ireland, Joseph N. (1867). Records of the New York Stage, from 1750 to 1860. Vol. II. New York: T. H. Morrell.
  8. Brown, T. Allston (1903). "The Old Broadway Theatre". A History of the New York Stage. Vol. 1. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company.
  9. "New York Theatre, Astor Place". New York Herald. September 27, 1852. p. 1, column 1, advertisement. "New York Theatre, Astor Place". New York Herald. September 28, 1852. p. 7, column 6, advertisement. "New York Theatre, Astor Place". New York Herald. September 29, 1852. p. 7, column 6, advertisement. "New York Theatre, Astor Place". New York Herald. September 30, 1852. p. 7, column 6, advertisement. "New York Theatre, Astor Place". New York Herald. October 1, 1852. p. 7, column 6, advertisement. "New York Theatre, Astor Place". New York Herald. October 2, 1852. p. 3, column 6, advertisement.
  10. "Broadway Theatre". New York Herald. August 20, 1866. p. 7, column 5, advertisement. "Broadway Theatre". New York Herald. August 23, 1866. p. 7, column 5, advertisement. "Broadway Theatre". New York Herald. August 24, 1866. p. 7, column 5, advertisement. "Broadway Theatre". New York Herald. August 27, 1866. p. 7, column 5, advertisement. "Broadway Theatre". New York Herald. August 29, 1866. p. 7, column 5, advertisement. "Broadway Theatre". New York Herald. September 5, 1866. p. 12, column 5, advertisement. "Broadway Theatre". New York Herald. September 8, 1866. p. 7, column 5, advertisement.
  11. "By Telegraph". Arizona Weekly Miner. October 15, 1875. p. 1, column 6, fourth item from bottom. All old residents of California remember James Stark, the tragedian. He was one of the pioneers of the drama in California, and also in Nevada, where he at one time became a resident. From Lawrence Barrett, says the Virginia Chronicle, we learn that poor Stark is living in New York, supported by the actors, his ability to support having gone forever. His organs of speech are paralyzed, and it is only by the most painful effort that he can articulate word.
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