McKee Rankin

Arthur McKee Rankin (1841 –1914) was a Canadian born American stage actor and manager.

Life Arthur McKee Rankin was born February 6, 1841. He was the son of a member of the Canadian Parliament. After a dispute with his father he left home to become an actor. He made his stage debut in Rochester, New York in 1861 using the name George Henley.

In 1863 he was seen at Wood's Theatre in Cincinnati in the play The Stranger as The Count. During this time he was engaged by Louisa Lane Drew at her Arch Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Rankin served for three months as a Lieutenant in his father’s regiment, the 1st Michigan Lancers, during the American Civil War.

In 1866 he appeared at the Olympic Theatre in London run by Mrs. John Wood. Rankin increasingly became popular in the melodramas of the period and in 1867 was in a play called The Hunchback. In 1870 he appeared with Lydia Thompson in Mosquito and was a leading man from 1873 to 1875 at the famous Union Square Theatre. Having married Elizabeth Blanchard better known as Kitty they acted together in the 1870s appearing in the smash hit play The Two Orphans in 1874. He collaborated with playwright Frederick G. Maeder on several plays, among them The Runaway Wife and The Canuck.

Personal life Rankin married actress Kitty Blanchard in 1869 and had two daughters, Gladys and Phyllis.Through an extra marital affair with Mabel Bert, he fathered Doris Rankin in 1887.

His daughters' various marriages aligned him with other theatrical families. Gladys married Sidney Drew, of the Drew acting family. Phyllis was later the wife of Harry Davenport whose father and sister were E. L. Davenport and the famous Fanny Davenport. Doris Rankin married Lionel Barrymore, of the Barrymore acting family, in 1904. Both Sidney Drew and Lionel Barrymore descended from the famous Louisa Lane Drew of Philadelphia.

Death Rankin's wife Kitty Blanchard died in a hotel in 1911. It's not clear whether they were divorced or separated. Rankin outlived his eldest daughter, Gladys, by 3 months dying in San Francisco on April 17, 1914.

Notable descendant Rankin's great-grandson was Arthur Rankin Jr. whose partnership with Jules Bass brought several Christmas holiday television classics from the Rankin-Bass company.