Lot 172: Francis Wilson SIGNATURE/DATE on a 2 1/2 Inch high by 4 1/4 Inch wide Piece heavy Card Stock ANTIQUE 1902 Signature & Date Early American Stage Actor, Playwright, & Labor Union Organizer

ANTIQUE 1902 Signature & Date Early American Stage Actor, Playwright, & Labor Union Organizer. Date & Signature on 2 1/2 Inch high by 4 1/4 Inch wide Piece Of card stock. Boldly Signed In Ink: "FRANCIS WILSON/1902."

"FRANCIS WILSON (1854-1935) was an American actor, playwright, & Actor Equity union organizer. He began his career in a minstrel show with Haverly's United Mastodon Minstrels, but by 1878 was playing at the Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, and the next year appeared in "M'liss" with Annie Pixley. After several years in regular comedy, he took up some comic opera, appearing with the McCaull Comic Opera Company and making a great success in "Erminie" (1886). In 1889, leaving New York's Casino Theatre, he made his appearance as a star in "The Oolah." Plays in which he starred subsequently include "The Merry Monarch" (1890); "The Lion Tamer" (1891); "The Little Corporal" (1898); "The Little Father of the Wilderness" (1905); and "The Bachelor's Baby" (1909), which he also wrote. He formed his own theatre company in 1899 & was the author of "Joseph Jefferson: Reminiscences of a Fellow Player" (1906), "The Eugene Field I Knew" (1898), "Francis Wilson's Life of Himself" (1924), and "John Wilkes Booth: Fact and Fiction of Lincoln's Assassination" (1929), written with information from his close friend Edwin Booth. Wilson wrote several plays, of which The Bachelor's Baby was the most successful. He was the founding president of the Actors' Equity Association."

Light toning to card, o/w Overall Condition is Very Good. ALL ITEMS ARE GUARANTEED TO BE ACCURATELY DESCRIBED, NOT DEFECTIVE, & GENUINE.

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Very Good Condition