John Murray Anderson
Encyclopedia
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, and lighting designer
Lighting designer
The role of the lighting designer within theatre is to work with the director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and sound designer to create an overall 'look' for the show in response to the text, while keeping in mind issues of visibility, safety and cost...
. He worked almost every genre of show business, including vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, and film.
Born in St. John's
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...
, Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
, the son of Hon. John Anderson
John Anderson (Newfoundland politician)
John Anderson was a businessman, politician, and member of St. John's city council and member of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland, Canada. He was instrumental in the passing of the Daylight Saving Act of 1917....
and brother of Hugh Abercrombie Anderson
Hugh Abercrombie Anderson
Captain Hugh Abercrombie Anderson MBE was a Canadian writer.Born in St. John's, Newfoundland, Anderson was the son of politician John Anderson. Following and education at Bishop Feild College and Edinburgh Academy, the first few years of his career was at the family business in St...
, he received his early education at Bishop Feild College
Bishop Feild College
Bishop Feild College , founded in 1844, is a school in St. John's, Newfoundland...
in St. John’s. He was then sent to Europe, where he was educated at Edinburgh Academy
Edinburgh Academy
The Edinburgh Academy is an independent school which was opened in 1824. The original building, in Henderson Row on the northern fringe of the New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland, is now part of the Senior School...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and Lausanne University in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. He studied singing with Sir Charles Stanley
Charles Stanley
Charles Stanley , is a US preacher, Pastor of First Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia.Charles Stanley may also refer to:*Charles H...
and art with Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was an English actor and theatre manager.Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre, winning praise for adventurous programming and lavish productions, and starring in many of its productions. In 1899, he helped fund the...
. Before beginning his theatrical career, he was an antiques dealer in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he sold collections he had accumulated in Newfoundland. This lasted a year, as he said, because he had "everything but customers" in his store.
In New York, Anderson quickly became involved in theatre, first as a dance instructor, before becoming a writer and producer. He made his Broadway debut
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
wearing three hats, as writer, director, and producer of The Greenwich Village Follies in 1919. He subsequently produced new editions of the revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
in each of the five succeeding years. He also was responsible for productions of the Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
in 1934, 1936, and 1943, the Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
-Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
-E. Y. Harburg revue Life Begins at 8:40
Life Begins at 8:40
Life Begins at 8:40 is a musical revue with music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and E.Y. Harburg, and sketches by Gershwin, Harburg, David Freedman, H.I...
(1934), Billy Rose
Billy Rose
William "Billy" Rose was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. He is credited with many famous songs, notably "Me and My Shadow" , "It Happened in Monterey" and "It's Only a Paper Moon"...
's Jumbo
Jumbo (musical)
Jumbo is a musical produced by Billy Rose, with music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart and book by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.-Production:...
(1935), One for the Money (1939), Two for the Show
Two for the Show (musical)
Two for the Show is a musical revue with sketches and lyrics by Nancy Hamilton and music by Morgan Lewis. The production was conceived by John Murray Anderson.-Production:...
(1940), and Three to Make Ready (1946), and New Faces of 1952
New Faces of 1952
New Faces of 1952 is a musical revue with songs and comedy skits. It ran on Broadway for nearly a year in 1952 and was then made into a motion picture in 1954...
. In the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
he directed The League of Notions, Bow Bells, and Fanfare.
In the 1920s and early 1930's, with Robert Milton, he ran an acting school in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, teaching Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
and Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
, among others. He and Davis remained good friends, and when her 1952 Broadway-bound revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
Two's Company ran into problems on the road, he was hired to restage it.
Anderson worked as a director at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
in 1933, as director of the Casa Manana revue at the Fort Worth Frontier Centennial in 1936, at the Great Lakes Exposition in Cleveland in 1937, at Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe from 1938-1950, and for Ringling Brothers Circus
Ringling Brothers Circus
The Ringling Brothers Circus was a circus founded in the United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling Brothers: Albert , August , Otto , Alfred T. , Charles , John , and Henry...
from 1942-1951.
Anderson directed the film King of Jazz
King of Jazz
King of Jazz is a 1930 motion picture starring Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. The film's title was taken from Whiteman's controversial, self-conferred appellation...
(1930), wrote the screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
for Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies (film)
Ziegfeld Follies is a 1945 Hollywood musical comedy film directed by Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, Vincente Minnelli, Merrill Pye, George Sidney and Charles Waters...
(1946), directed the water ballets in Bathing Beauty
Bathing Beauty
Bathing Beauty is a 1944 musical starring Red Skelton, Basil Rathbone and Esther Williams and directed by George Sidney.Although this was not William's screen debut, it was her first Technicolor musical. The film was initially to be titled "Mr. Co-Ed" with Red Skelton having top billing...
(1944), and directed the circus sequences in The Greatest Show on Earth
The Greatest Show on Earth
The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 drama film set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The film was produced, directed, and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture...
(1952).
John Murray Anderson married Genevieve Lyon of Chicago in 1914, but she died of tuberculosis in 1916. They had no children. In the year before his death, with his brother, Hugh, as writer, he dictated his autobiography, Out Without My Rubbers. He was a periodic visitor to Newfoundland throughout his life and was hailed there as a local hero. He died of a heart attack in New York City on January 30, 1954.
External links
- John Murray Anderson at IMDB
- John Murray Anderson at Find-A-Grave