Overview

In a career that spanned 57 years, Dan Mason (1853-1929) went from performing German dialect routines in variety halls to appearing in Broadway musicals to playing character roles in silent films. Along the way he also wrote, produced, directed and starred in his own plays. Best remembered for his role as the irascible ""Skipper"" in the Toonerville Trolley silent comedies, Mason created dozens of unique and colorful characters on stage and screen. This first-ever biography of the American comedian explores the roots of his craft and the challenges he faced navigating the rapidly changing world of popular entertainment in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Full Product Details

9781476683416

Table of Contents

Reviews

Eckhardt has done a superior job of bringing Dan Mason alive both as a person and as an actor, writer, and director. He also brings alive the environment and atmosphere of vaudeville and the stage in the days before electricity was common. --Toonerville Times of Toonerville Collector's Club Newspaper ; an impressively full-bodied portrait of Mason, the man and the performer. --David C. Tucker Blogspot

“Eckhardt has done a superior job of bringing Dan Mason alive both as a person and as an actor, writer, and director. He also brings alive the environment and atmosphere of vaudeville and the stage in the days before electricity was common.”—Toonerville Times of Toonerville Collector’s Club Newspaper ; “an impressively full-bodied portrait of Mason, the man and the performer.” —David C. Tucker Blogspot

Author Information

Joseph P. Eckhardt is a retired college professor of history. His previous works include biographies of film pioneer Siegmund Lubin, nineteenth century artist William T. Trego, and Woodstock artists Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason. He lives in the Philadelphia suburbs.

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