Marshall Stedman (August 16, 1874 – December 16, 1943) was an American stage and silent screen actor/director, playwright, author and drama teacher.
Early life
Edward Marshall Stedman Jr. was born in Bethel,
Maine, the son of Edward Sr. and Eliza Putnam (née Rice) Stedman.
[Marshall Stedman – WWI Draft Registration – Ancestry.com scan][Who's Who in the Film World - edited by Fred C. Justice &Tom R. Smith - Film World Publishing – 1914 - pg. 42] His father was a decorated naval officer who at the time of his death in 1939 had been the oldest surviving graduate of the United States Naval Academy and one of only three retired naval officers who saw service during the American Civil War.
[Edward Stedman, Naval Officer, 94 New York Times - October 17, 1939; pg. 25] Stedman received his early education in
Chicago at South Division High School and the Harvard Preparatory School before attending
Colorado College in Colorado Springs.
[California and Californians: Volume 3,Rockwell Dennis Hunt, Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez, Rockwell - 1926 - pg. 279 - Google Books]
Career
Stedman began his theater career at around the age of eighteen with William Morris’ stock company playing Bob Appleton in
Ludwig Fulda three-act drama
The Lost Paradise, and Ned Annesley in
Sowing the Wind, a four-act play by
Sydney Grundy. He later joined E. H. Sothern for two seasons and went on to star in a number of one-act plays and tour in Shakespearean repertoire productions.
For some years around 1900 Stedman lived in Gilpin County, Colorado with his father, sister Agnes, grandmother Miriam, uncle Josiah Stedman and later his wife Myrtle. News reports of the day indicated his family was involved in a mining venture near America City called the Charlemagne Lode.[Gilpin County Mines Items of Interest from All Parts of the County - Weekly Register-Call, (Central City, CO) Friday, December 01, 1899; Issue 26; col. C][Gilpin County Mines The Lombard at Yankee Hill Opening out into a Big Mine - Weekly Register-Call, (Central City, CO) Friday, July 21, 1899; Issue 7; col B][Stedman, Gilpin County, Co. – 1900 US Census – Ancestry.com scan]
In 1906, Stedman was named head of the drama school at the Chicago Musical College, a position he would hold for some four years. Later he spent a season in vaudeville before venturing into film work as a director with Essanay Studios and later the Selig Polyscope Company, as an actor, director, writer and producer. Several years later Stedman returned to teaching as a drama instructor with the Eagan School of Drama and Music in Los Angeles.
In the years that followed, Marshall Stedman would continue to teach, act and write. He played a number of villain roles in films made by Hobart Bosworth and returned to the stage in community theater productions performed by his students, often in plays he wrote. In the late 1920s Stedman founded the Marshall Stedman School of Drama and Elocution in Culver City, California.
Marriage
On January 13, 1900, Marshall Stedman married in Chicago
Myrtle Stedman, a young actress not yet seventeen.
Lincoln Stedman,
[Lincoln's birth year is often given as 1906 or 1907. The 1910 and 1920 census records indicate though, the event actually occurred around 1902] their only child, was born in 1907 and would go on to have his own career in Hollywood. Stedman and his wife separated around 1919 and a divorce soon followed.
[Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index, 1871-1920 – Ancestry.com][Myrtle Stedman Divorced -The Sandusky Star Journal - October 25, 1919; pg. 5 – Ancestry.com scan][News Notes from Movieland by Daisy Dean - The Sandusky Star Journal November 27, 1920 pg. 4, Ancestry.com scan] He later married Rieka Kulaars, a native of The Netherlands.
Death
Marshall Stedman died at the age of 69 on December 16, 1943, in Laguna Beach. He was survived by his son Lincoln who would die himself before the close of the decade.
[Rights For Ex-Actor - San Antonio Light (San Antonio, Texas) Sunday, December 19, 1943 - Pg. 12][California Death Index Edward Marshall Stedman – Ancestry.com][Lincoln Stedman - New York Times, March 23, 1948; pg. 25]
Selected works
Steadman starred in
Circumstantial Evidence (1912), directed by Otis Thaye
r and produced by Selig Polyscope. Considered long lost it is included in the Dawson Film Find with excerpts and a reference in the documentary (2016).
[List compiled from Google Books and Amazon.com]
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What a Kiss Can Do: And Other Recitations for Children, 1925
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Readings and Encores for Children and Grown-Ups, 1926
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Readings and Sketches for Boys, 1927
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Monologues, Distinctive and Different, 1927
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Samanthy's Suitors: A Character Sketch for a Lady, 1928
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Clever Monologues, 1928
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Sure-Fire Monologues, 1928
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Loving Lunatics: A Farce Comedy in One Act, 1929
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The Missionary to Zulu Land: A Farce Comedy on One Act, 1929
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Tonic: A farce in One Act, 1929
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Out of the Storm: A play in One Act for Two Women, 1929
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Unique Monologues and Recitations for Children, 1929
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Mr. Santa Claus: A Play in One Act, 1930
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Marshall Stedman's New Book of Readings and Monologues, 1931
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Speakin' Day: A Comedy of School Days in One Act, 1931
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A Shot in The Dark: A Comedy Mystery-Drama in One Act, 1931
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The Bloom of Youth: A Farce Comedy in One Act for Three Women, 1931
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The Hoodooed Hindu: A Farce Comedy in One Act, 1931
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Readings and Recitations for Special Days, 1931
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Fifty-Fifty: A Comedy Drama in One Act, 1931
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Clever Sketches for Short Casts, 1932
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Twelve Little Plays for Two Little Players, 1932
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The Old Bachelor's Christmas: A Dramatic Reading (Banner plays), 1932
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Stedman's Readings and Monologues for Children: A Collection of Forty-Eight Readings, Monologues, Recitations, Encores, Play-O-Logues and Novelty Acts, 1932
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Thirty-Two Readings, Monologues and Play-O-Logues for Grown-Ups, 1934
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Amusing Monologues, 1940
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Eight Two Character Stunt Plays, 1946
External links
Sources
