Marshall Stedman

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. 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. Stedman received his early education in Chicago at South Division High School and the Harvard Preparatory School before attending Colorado College in Colorado Springs.

Career Stedman began his theater career at around the age of eighteen with William Morris’ stock company playing Bob Appleton in Ludwig Fulda’s 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.

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. 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. He later married Rieka Kulaars, a native of The Netherlands.

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 Dawson City : Frozen in Time (2016).

What a Kiss Can Do: And Other Recitations for Children, 1925 Readings and Encores for Children and Grown-Ups, 1926 Readings and Sketches for Boys, 1927 Monologues, Distinctive and Different, 1927 Samanthy's Suitors: A Character Sketch for a Lady, 1928 Clever Monologues, 1928 Sure-Fire Monologues, 1928 Loving Lunatics: A Farce Comedy in One Act, 1929 The Missionary to Zulu Land: A Farce Comedy on One Act, 1929 Tonic: A farce in One Act, 1929 Out of the Storm: A play in One Act for Two Women, 1929 Unique Monologues and Recitations for Children, 1929 Mr. Santa Claus: A Play in One Act, 1930 Marshall Stedman's New Book of Readings and Monologues, 1931 Speakin' Day: A Comedy of School Days in One Act, 1931 A Shot in The Dark: A Comedy Mystery-Drama in One Act, 1931 The Bloom of Youth: A Farce Comedy in One Act for Three Women, 1931 The Hoodooed Hindu: A Farce Comedy in One Act, 1931 Readings and Recitations for Special Days, 1931 Fifty-Fifty: A Comedy Drama in One Act, 1931 Clever Sketches for Short Casts, 1932 Twelve Little Plays for Two Little Players, 1932 The Old Bachelor's Christmas: A Dramatic Reading (Banner plays), 1932 Stedman's Readings and Monologues for Children: A Collection of Forty-Eight Readings, Monologues, Recitations, Encores, Play-O-Logues and Novelty Acts, 1932 Thirty-Two Readings, Monologues and Play-O-Logues for Grown-Ups, 1934 Amusing Monologues, 1940 Eight Two Character Stunt Plays, 1946