Nat C. Goodwin | |
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.jpg) Goodwin in 1902 | |
| Born | Nathaniel Carl Goodwin (1857-06-25)June 25, 1857 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | January 31, 1919(1919-01-31) (aged 61) New York City, U.S. |
| Resting place | Milton Cemetery,Milton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1873–1919 |
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Nathaniel Carl Goodwin (July 25, 1857 – January 31, 1919) was an American male actor born inBoston. In his early career he was chiefly known for his performances inmusical theatre andlight opera; making hisBroadway debut in a musicalburlesque version ofBlack-Eyed Susan in 1875. He was a leading memberEdward E. Rice'slight opera company, The Surprise Company, from 1876 until early 1878 when he left to establish his own theatre troupe headlined by his first wife, the actress Eliza Weatherby. He toured the United States with theatre and light opera troupes in both established light opera and in roles written specifically for him over the next decade. In 1889 he switched from portraying musical theatre and opera roles into playing comedic parts in farces of thelegitimate theatre; a switch which brought him fame.[1]
While clerk in a large shop Goodwin studied for the stage and made his first appearance in 1874 at theHoward Athenaeum in Boston inStuart Robson's company as the newsboy inJoseph Bradford'sLaw in New York.[2] The next year he made his New York debut onBroadway atTony Pastor's Opera House as Captain Crosstree in a laudedburlesque adaptation ofDouglas Jerrold'sBlack-Eyed Susan.[1]
The success ofBlack-Eyed Susan earned Goodwin a contract withEdward E. Rice'slight opera company, The Surprise Company. He starred in several musicals and operettas with this group in the years 1876-1878, including Captain Dietrich inJ. Cheever Goodwin'sEvangeline, Yuseff in Goodwin'sLe Petit Corsair, and Paidagogos inPippins. His tenure with the company ended after a heated argument over money, and Goodwin left to establish his own theatre troupe in February 1878 which was headlined by his wife the actressEliza Weathersby and went alternatively by the names Nat Goodwin's Froliques or Eliz Weathersby's Froliques. This group toured the country in farces of various kinds, sometimes including music and sometimes not.[1]
In 1878, he co-founded the BostonElks Lodge, and his association with the lodge, and that of his manager in the 1880s, George W. Floyd(né George Wood Floyd; 1853–1923),[a] would change baseball history, giving us arguably the first role of an agent in baseball history. Floyd, in particular, would serve as a go-between, starting in 1887, between the management of the Boston National League club, the Beaneaters, and its newly signed star,Mike "King" Kelly. In 1889, Goodwin became a member of the governing committee of the newly created Actors' Amateur Athletic Association of America.
When Kelly and his Chicago teammates won the pennant in 1885, Goodwin and Floyd treated the Chicago team to a performance of "The Skating Rink" atHooley’s Theatre in Chicago. "After the overture the orchestra struck up 'See, the Conquering Hero Comes,' and Mr. Floyd conducted the eleven Chicago players to their boxes," Chicago captain-managerCap Anson in the lead." After the first act, Goodwin presented Anson with a "solid silver facsimile of a League ball."
For the majority of the 1880s, Goodwin toured the United States in a series of light opera and musical theatre productions. These included roles in established pieces like Sir Joseph inH.M.S. Pinafore, Lorenzo inLa mascotte, Reginald Bunthorne inPatience, and Duc des Ifs inLes noces d'Olivette, and new works with part written specifically for him.[1] It was not until 1889, however, that Nat Goodwin's talent as a comedian of the legitimate type began to be recognized. From that time he appeared in a number of plays designed to display his drily humorous method, such asBrander Matthews' andGeorge H. Jessop'sA Gold Mine,Henry Guy Carleton'sA Gilded Fool andAmbition,Henry V. Esmond'sWhen We Were Twenty-one, and others. He also found success in more serious works such asAugustus Thomas'sIn Mizzoura andClyde Fitch'sNathan Hale.
A chance trip toGoldfield, Nevada to witness a prize fight led to Goodwin's involvement in promoting mining stocks in association withGeorge Graham Rice. Goodwin quit his partnership with Rice shortly before the latter was arrested for mail fraud.[3]
Perhaps Goodwin's most famous role was as Fagin in a 1912 stage adaptation of Dickens'Oliver Twist in which he appeared withMarie Doro andConstance Collier. He reprised this role for afilm which still survives and is preserved in the Library of Congress.[4] He acted in a handful of films between 1912 and 1916.
Goodwin owned a cafe and cabaret, "Cafe Nat Goodwin", on the privateBristol Pier inSanta Monica, California between 1913 and 1916. After he sold the business in 1916, its name was changed to the Sunset Inn.[5]
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In 1877, he married Eliza Weathersby (d. 1887), an English actress with whom he played for two seasons inBenjamin E. Woolf'sHobbies.[6] Goodwin remarried to an actress named Nella Baker Pease (married in 1890, divorced on Jan. 19, 1898). Until 1903 he was associated in his performances with his third wife, the actressMaxine Elliott (born 1868), whom he married in 1898;[7] this marriage was dissolved in 1908.
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From 1905 to 1910, he partnered withEdna Goodrich in a string of comedy hits — they were married from 1908[8] to 1911. His last wife was the actress Margaret Moreland (married in 1912, divorced in 1918).[9] When he died he was said to have been engaged to the actress Georgia Gardner.[10]
He died in New York City, at theClaridge Hotel, from shock two weeks after having his right eye removed and was buried atMilton Cemetery inMilton, Massachusetts.[11] He was survived by both of his parents. At the time of his death, he was deeply in debt, with his estate listing assets of $6,895 and debts of $15,000.[12]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Goodwin, Nathaniel Carl".Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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