William Henry Crane American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 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...

, was born on 30 April 1845, in Leicester, Massachusetts

Leicester, Massachusetts

Leicester is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,970 at the 2010 census.-History:Leicester was first settled in 1713 and was officially incorporated in 1714....

, and made his first appearance at Utica, New York

Utica, New York

Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....

, in Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment in 1863. Later he had a great success as Le Blanc the Notary, in the burlesque Evangelie (1873). He made his first hit in the legitimate drama with Stuart Robson

Stuart Robson

Stuart Robson was a famous comedic stage actor around the turn of the 19th to 20th century. He was born Henry Robson Stuart in Annapolis, Maryland, USA. His parents were Charles Stuart and the former Alicia Ann Thompson....

 (1836-1903), in The Comedy of Errors

The Comedy of Errors

The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...

and other Shakespearian plays, and in The Henrietta (1881) by Bronson Howard

Bronson Howard

Bronson Howard was a well-known American dramatist and son of Detroit mayor Charles Howard. He prepared for college at New Haven, Conn., but instead of entering Yale he turned to Journalism in New York. From 1867 to 1872 he worked on several newspapers, among them the Evening Mail and the Tribune...

 (1842-1908). This partnership lasted for twelve years, and subsequently Crane appeared in various eccentric character parts in such plays as The Senator and David Harum

David Harum

David Harum; A Story of American Life is a best-selling novel of 1899 whose principal legacy is the colloquial use of the term horse trading.-Literary significance and criticism:...

. In 1904 he turned to more serious work and played Isidore Izard in Business is business

Business is business

Business is business is a French comedy in three acts, by the novelist and playwright Octave Mirbeau, performed in April 1903 on the stage of Comédie-Française, in Paris, and worldwide acclaimed, especially in Russia, Germany and United States....

, an adaptation from Octave Mirbeau

Octave Mirbeau

Octave Mirbeau was a French journalist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, novelist, and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, while still appealing to the literary and artistic avant-garde...

's Les Affaires sont les Affaires.

In his 70s, Crane appeared in a number of films, notably in a reprise of his role in David Harum (1915). He also appeared in MGM's Three Wise Fools, a film recently revived on Turner Classic Movies and is available on home video/dvd. He died 7 March 1928 at the Hotel Hollywood.

External links

• Broadway Credits at the Internet Broadway Database
  Internet Broadway Database
  The Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade association for the North American commercial theatre community....
  
   here.

• Film Credits at the Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
  
  here.

• "W. H. Crane" by Joseph Howard, Jr. in Famous American Actors of To-day, edited by Frederic Edward McKay and Charles E. L. Wingate, New York, Thomas Y. Crowell & Company, 1896. Online here.

• "William H. Crane", Chapter XI in Famous Actors of the Day in America by Lewis C. Strang, Boston, L. C. Page and Company, 1900. Online here.

• "Crane-Robson" in Some Players: Personal Sketches by Amy Leslie, Herbert S. Stone & Company, Chicago & New York, 1901. Online here.

• "William H. Crane, A Study", By Edwin F. Edgett in Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, January 1903 (Volume LV No. 3). Online here. (Illustration here).

• Obituary in the New York Times, March 8, 1928, page 25, online here.