Robert Porterfield
Encyclopedia
Robert Huffard Porterfield, born on December 21, 1905, on the outskirts of Austinville
, in Wythe County, VA. He died October 28, 1971, in Abingdon, VA, and was best known for being the founder of "Virginia's World-Famous" Barter Theatre
, the state theatre of Virginia.
. His great-great-great-grandfather (John or Frank) arrived in the American colonies from Scotland
in about 1760, probably through the port of Philadelphia. Like many immigrants of Scots, Irish
, Scots-Irish, or German
descent, he traveled from Pennsylvania
down the Wilderness Road
through the lush and fertile Shenandoah Valley
only to find all of the best land already staked out and occupied, forcing him to keep pushing on until he arrived at some unclaimed real estate in Southwest Virginia
, what is now called Glade Spring.
In 1909, Robert's father accepted a position as overseer of some 20000 acres (80.9 km²) of land and moved the family to Saltville, VA. The family's new home was a large farmhouse south of the town of Saltville but with a view of the town about a mile away. Robert and his brothers shared in all the work of the farm. The farm included a two-story barn in which the young Porterfield, at the age of seven, staged his first plays for cousins.
The Porterfields were quite prosperous by the standards of the day. They were the first family to have a dial telephone, thanks to Mr. Porterfield's position as Mayor of Saltville, 1920–24 and 1926–29, and the luxury of central heating
.
At the age of ten, Robert announced to his father his intention of becoming an actor. His father, however, was very much against such an idea.
His mother taught him to read before he started school, but Robert's formal education began in a one-room schoolhouse with a pot-bellied wood stove where about four grades were gathered together. There he learned Shakespeare when his teacher would have Shakespearean quotation bees. He would go home afterwards and pore over his family volumes of Shakespeare, culling new lines for the next bee.
As a youngster he learned to fish for trout
, rock bass
and gig giant bullfrogs from the North Fork of the Holston River
. He also learned how to shoot guns, along with hunting and trapping. His favorite was raccoon
hunting.
The first great sorrow of his life happened when he was twelve years old. He had fallen in love with a girl named Mary. One spring Sunday morning, he was supposed to meet her for Sunday school but she never came. He learned later that day that she had died in her sleep the night before. The brokenhearted Porterfield ran away for a while only to return to his home with his mother waiting up for him with hot milk toast. Mary's family gave him a gold heart that she always kept around her neck. Robert kept that locket close to him for the remainder of his life.
He joined the school debating society just for the chance to talk in front of audiences. He became the sparkplug that instigated class plays at Saltville High School.
He almost married a girl from Marion, VA named Helen, who was a few years older than Robert, but at the last minute turned the car around and drove her back home.
After graduating from Saltville High School, Robert enrolled at Hampden-Sydney College
in Farmville, VA. He would only stay there for two years but while there he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order
. While submitting an application to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
, he boarded a train and went to Petersburg, VA. While there, he worked as a soda jerk
at the Lum's Drugstore in town. Without any word from the Academy, he gave up on school and decided that he must go to New York
. He wrote his dad and told him that he was dropping out of college and heading to New York. He spent the next few months working six days a week, saving as much money he could to go to New York. He was finally accepted to the Academy, but his father wrote saying he must either go back to school or come home. Robert, however, continued to work as a soda jerk until he became ill and was advised by a Petersburg doctor to go home and get a lot of rest. Home he went, all the way back to the new Porterfield farm of "Twin Oaks", located on the outskirts of Glade Spring. There he was checked out by his father's doctor, who said he was strong as an ox. His father finally gave his reluctant consent, and Robert boarded a train that would take him to New York City
.
Robert lived in a small apartment above a speakeasy
on 85th Street and Riverside Drive and spent the next two years at the Academy immersing himself in his lessons, a period he would later describe as "a necessary stage in my development as an actor."
He created the Barter Theatre
in 1933.
most of her life, a trait she shared with her father. She was told all of her life that her father died from pneumonia
until 1941, when told by mistake in a heated argument with her mother, that her father drank himself to death. It eventually claimed her life too. Robert and Helen had no children together.
He was married for the second time on October 6, 1964 to Mary Dudley. They were married until Robert's death on October 28, 1971. She still lives at the Porterfield home of "Twin Oaks".
In 1968, the two adopted a five-year-old boy they named Jay Payne Porterfield; his nickname, given to him by Robert, was "Jay Bird."
"He gave me my start in the business, and every time I see my Oscar, I remember him fondly". - Ernest Borgnine
on Robert Porterfield
(1958) (uncredited) .... Preacher
The Yearling (1946) (uncredited) .... Mate
Sergeant York
(1941) .... Zeb Andrews
They Won't Forget
(1937) (uncredited) .... Jimmy Harrison (Dissenting Juror)
Austinville, Virginia
Austinville is an unincorporated community that spans both Carroll County and Wythe County, Virginia, United States. New River Trail State Park runs through Austinville. Shot Tower Historical State Park is located nearby. The town is the birthplace of Stephen F. Austin, for whose family it is...
, in Wythe County, VA. He died October 28, 1971, in Abingdon, VA, and was best known for being the founder of "Virginia's World-Famous" Barter Theatre
Barter Theatre
Barter Theatre, located in Abingdon, Virginia, opened on June 10, 1933. It is one of the longest running professional theatres in the nation. In 1933, when the country was in the middle of the Great Depression, most patrons were not able to pay the full ticket price...
, the state theatre of Virginia.
Family history
Robert Porterfield was the fifth generation of Porterfields born in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. His great-great-great-grandfather (John or Frank) arrived in the American colonies from 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...
in about 1760, probably through the port of Philadelphia. Like many immigrants of Scots, Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, Scots-Irish, or German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
descent, he traveled from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
down the Wilderness Road
Wilderness Road
The Wilderness Road was the principal route used by settlers for more than fifty years to reach Kentucky from the East. In 1775, Daniel Boone blazed a trail for the Transylvania Company from Fort Chiswell in Virginia through the Cumberland Gap into central Kentucky. It was later lengthened,...
through the lush and fertile Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
only to find all of the best land already staked out and occupied, forcing him to keep pushing on until he arrived at some unclaimed real estate in Southwest Virginia
Southwest Virginia
Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Virginia counties on the Appalachian Plateau, all Virginia counties west of the Eastern Continental Divide, or...
, what is now called Glade Spring.
Childhood
Robert was the third of six children, all boys, born to William Breckenridge Porterfield and Daisy Huffard Porterfield on December 21, 1905.In 1909, Robert's father accepted a position as overseer of some 20000 acres (80.9 km²) of land and moved the family to Saltville, VA. The family's new home was a large farmhouse south of the town of Saltville but with a view of the town about a mile away. Robert and his brothers shared in all the work of the farm. The farm included a two-story barn in which the young Porterfield, at the age of seven, staged his first plays for cousins.
The Porterfields were quite prosperous by the standards of the day. They were the first family to have a dial telephone, thanks to Mr. Porterfield's position as Mayor of Saltville, 1920–24 and 1926–29, and the luxury of central heating
Central heating
A central heating system provides warmth to the whole interior of a building from one point to multiple rooms. When combined with other systems in order to control the building climate, the whole system may be a HVAC system.Central heating differs from local heating in that the heat generation...
.
At the age of ten, Robert announced to his father his intention of becoming an actor. His father, however, was very much against such an idea.
His mother taught him to read before he started school, but Robert's formal education began in a one-room schoolhouse with a pot-bellied wood stove where about four grades were gathered together. There he learned Shakespeare when his teacher would have Shakespearean quotation bees. He would go home afterwards and pore over his family volumes of Shakespeare, culling new lines for the next bee.
As a youngster he learned to fish for trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
, rock bass
Rock bass
The rock bass , also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, or red eye is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. They are similar in appearance to smallmouth bass but are usually quite a bit smaller...
and gig giant bullfrogs from the North Fork of the Holston River
Holston River
The Holston River is a major river system of southwestern Virginia and east Tennessee. The three major forks of the Holston rise in southwestern Virginia and have their confluence near Kingsport, Tennessee. The North Fork flows southwest from Sharon Springs in Bland County, Virginia...
. He also learned how to shoot guns, along with hunting and trapping. His favorite was raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
hunting.
The first great sorrow of his life happened when he was twelve years old. He had fallen in love with a girl named Mary. One spring Sunday morning, he was supposed to meet her for Sunday school but she never came. He learned later that day that she had died in her sleep the night before. The brokenhearted Porterfield ran away for a while only to return to his home with his mother waiting up for him with hot milk toast. Mary's family gave him a gold heart that she always kept around her neck. Robert kept that locket close to him for the remainder of his life.
He joined the school debating society just for the chance to talk in front of audiences. He became the sparkplug that instigated class plays at Saltville High School.
He almost married a girl from Marion, VA named Helen, who was a few years older than Robert, but at the last minute turned the car around and drove her back home.
After graduating from Saltville High School, Robert enrolled at Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden–Sydney College is a liberal arts college for men located in Hampden Sydney, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1775, Hampden–Sydney is the oldest private charter college in the Southern U.S., the last college founded before the American Revolution, and one of only three four-year,...
in Farmville, VA. He would only stay there for two years but while there he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order
Kappa Alpha Order
Kappa Alpha Order is a social fraternity and fraternal order. Kappa Alpha Order has 124 active chapters, 3 provisional chapters, and 2 commissions...
. While submitting an application to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...
, he boarded a train and went to Petersburg, VA. While there, he worked as a soda jerk
Soda jerk
A soda jerk was a person — typically a youth — who operated the soda fountain in a drugstore, often for the purpose of preparing and serving ice cream soda. This was made by putting flavored syrup into a specially designed tall glass, adding carbonated water and, finally, one or two scoops of ice...
at the Lum's Drugstore in town. Without any word from the Academy, he gave up on school and decided that he must go to New York
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...
. He wrote his dad and told him that he was dropping out of college and heading to New York. He spent the next few months working six days a week, saving as much money he could to go to New York. He was finally accepted to the Academy, but his father wrote saying he must either go back to school or come home. Robert, however, continued to work as a soda jerk until he became ill and was advised by a Petersburg doctor to go home and get a lot of rest. Home he went, all the way back to the new Porterfield farm of "Twin Oaks", located on the outskirts of Glade Spring. There he was checked out by his father's doctor, who said he was strong as an ox. His father finally gave his reluctant consent, and Robert boarded a train that would take him to 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...
.
At the academy
In the fall of 1926, Porterfield arrived at New York's Pennsylvania Station and made his way to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. When he arrived, he was ushered into the president's office, where he was asked to give a two-minute audition in front of a committee of faculty members. Upon completing his audition, the faculty members informed Porterfield that "not one of us were able to understand a word you said. If you want to become an actor, you have to lose that southern accent and quickly."Robert lived in a small apartment above a speakeasy
Speakeasy
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. Such establishments came into prominence in the United States during the period known as Prohibition...
on 85th Street and Riverside Drive and spent the next two years at the Academy immersing himself in his lessons, a period he would later describe as "a necessary stage in my development as an actor."
Barter Theatre
Barter Theatre
Barter Theatre, located in Abingdon, Virginia, opened on June 10, 1933. It is one of the longest running professional theatres in the nation. In 1933, when the country was in the middle of the Great Depression, most patrons were not able to pay the full ticket price...
in 1933.
Family life
Porterfield was married to Helen Fritz from May 12, 1934, until her death on New Year's Day 1949. She battled alcoholismAlcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
most of her life, a trait she shared with her father. She was told all of her life that her father died from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
until 1941, when told by mistake in a heated argument with her mother, that her father drank himself to death. It eventually claimed her life too. Robert and Helen had no children together.
He was married for the second time on October 6, 1964 to Mary Dudley. They were married until Robert's death on October 28, 1971. She still lives at the Porterfield home of "Twin Oaks".
In 1968, the two adopted a five-year-old boy they named Jay Payne Porterfield; his nickname, given to him by Robert, was "Jay Bird."
Quotes
"If you like us, talk about us. And if you don't, just keep your mouth shut." - Robert would say this at the end of each speech before each show."He gave me my start in the business, and every time I see my Oscar, I remember him fondly". - Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
on Robert Porterfield
Filmography
Thunder RoadThunder Road
Thunder Road is the title of a 1958 drama–crime film about running moonshine in the mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee in the early 1950s. It was directed by Arthur Ripley and starred Robert Mitchum, who also produced the film, co-wrote the screenplay, and is rumored to have directed much of the...
(1958) (uncredited) .... Preacher
The Yearling (1946) (uncredited) .... Mate
Sergeant York
Sergeant York
Sergeant York is a 1941 biographical film about the life of Alvin York, the most-decorated American soldier of World War I. It was directed by Howard Hawks and was the highest-grossing film of the year....
(1941) .... Zeb Andrews
They Won't Forget
They Won't Forget
They Won't Forget is a 1937 film directed by Mervyn LeRoy . It was based on a novel by Ward Greene called Death in The Deep South, which was in turn a fictionalized account of a real life case: the trial and subsequent lynching of Leo Frank after the murder of Mary Phagan in 1913...
(1937) (uncredited) .... Jimmy Harrison (Dissenting Juror)
Awards
- In 1948, he won a special award the Regional Theatre Tony AwardRegional Theatre Tony AwardThe Regional Theatre Tony Award is a special non-competitive Tony Award given annually to a regional theatre company in the United States. Initially presented in 1948 to Robert Porterfield of the Virginia Barter Theatre for their Contribution To Development Of Regional Theatre, the Regional Theatre...
for his "Contribution to Development of Regional Theatre".
- Also in 1948, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters for his work in the theatre by his alma mater Hampden-Sydney College.
- In 1957, he was named "First Citizen of Abingdon" and presented the "Actors' Fund Award of Merit" too.
- In 1963, he received the "Thomas Jefferson Award" for public relations on behalf of Virginia.
- In 1967, the "Suzanne Davis Memorial Award" for contributions to theatre in the South was awarded to him, as was the "Special Service Award" from the Virginia State Chamber of Commerce.