John T. Raymond
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage actor, born in Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, N. Y.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, on August 5, 1836; he died in Evansville, Indiana
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
on April 10, 1887. His first appearance was made on June 27, 1853, at a theatre in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, under the management of Messrs., Carr and Henry Warren, as Lopez, in "The Honeymoon." Afterward, he went to Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, Baltimore, Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, Savannah
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
, Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
. and New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. In 1858 he made his early success with Sothern
Edward Askew Sothern
Edward Askew Sothern was an English actor known for his comic roles in Britain and America, particularly Lord Dundreary in Our American Cousin.- Early years :...
in Tom Taylor's
Tom Taylor
Tom Taylor was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of Punch magazine...
Our American Cousin
Our American Cousin
Our American Cousin is an 1858 play in three acts by English playwright Tom Taylor. The play is a farce whose plot is based on the introduction of an awkward, boorish but honest American, Asa Trenchard, to his aristocratic English relatives when he goes to England to claim the family estate...
, in which he afterward appeared in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Raymond first became known in New York
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...
in 1861, when he appeared at Laura Keene's Theatre
Laura Keene
Laura Keene was a British-born American stage actress and manager. In her twenty-year career, she became known as the first powerful female manager in New York.-Early life:...
, succeeding Joseph Jefferson
Joseph Jefferson
Joseph Jefferson, commonly known as Joe Jefferson , was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous of all American comedians....
in low comedy parts, and at that time he acted Asa Trenchard in "Our American Cousin
Our American Cousin
Our American Cousin is an 1858 play in three acts by English playwright Tom Taylor. The play is a farce whose plot is based on the introduction of an awkward, boorish but honest American, Asa Trenchard, to his aristocratic English relatives when he goes to England to claim the family estate...
." His greatest popular hit, however, was as Col. Mulberry Sellers in a dramatization of Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's Gilded Age'
The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today
The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today is an 1873 novel by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner that satirizes greed and political corruption in post-Civil War America. Although not one of Twain's better-known works, it has appeared in more than one hundred editions since its original publication. Twain...
(1873), a character that became completely identified with his own breezy optimism. Raymond's professional career extended over a period of thirty-two years, in the course of which he acted in all the parts that usually fall to the lot of a low comedian.
Raymond was twice married, his first wife being Marie E. Gordon, a pleasing actress, known on the stage after 1864. Their marriage was unhappy and they were legally separated. His second wife was a daughter of Rose Eytinge
Rose Eytinge
Rose Eytinge was an American actress and author, born in Philadelphia. From 1862 to 1869 she played in various theatres in New York City and then went abroad with her second husband, Col. George H. Butler, Consul General to Egypt....
. At the time of his second marriage he obtained legal authority for the change of his name from John O'Brien to John T. Raymond. In 1887 his body was brought to New York, and buried in the Actors' Plot, in Evergreen Cemetery
Cemetery of the Evergreens, Brooklyn
The Cemetery of the Evergreens is a non-denominational cemetery in Brooklyn and Queens, New York, colloquially called Evergreen Cemetery. It was incorporated in 1849, not long after the passage of New York's Rural Cemetery Act spurred development of cemeteries outside Manhattan. For a time, it was...
, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. His grave is marked by a stone bearing an inscription and an epitaph
Epitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
written by William Winter
William Winter (author)
William Winter was an American dramatic critic and author.-Biography:Born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Winter graduated from Harvard Law School in 1857...
.
Publications
- MatthewsBrander MatthewsJames Brander Matthews , was a U.S. writer and educator. Matthews was the first U.S. professor of dramatic literature.-Biography:...
and HuttonLaurence HuttonLaurence Hutton was an American essayist and critic, born in New York City and educated privately there. He was an inveterate traveler and for about 20 years spent his summers abroad. From about 1870 he contributed continually to periodicals. From 1886 to 1898 he was the literary editor of...
, Actors and Actresses of Great BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and the United States (New York, 1886) - McKay and Wingate, Famous American Actors of To-Day (New York, 1896)