William Ingersoll

William Ingersoll (October 9, 1860 – May 5, 1936) was an American actor on stage, in musical theatre and in film. During a career spanning over five decades, he played more than 800 roles on stage. After performing in his first silent motion picture in 1920, he appeared in a handful of "talkies" in the 1930s, playing mainly character roles such as doctors, judges and a police commissioner.

Early life William Ingersoll was born in Lafayette, Indiana to a physician father, in a family that had never produced any actors; most of his relatives were shocked when, as a boy, he considered acting as a career, on the suggestion of his elder brother. He studied mining engineering at the Colorado School of Mines in Denver after graduating from Purdue University, where he made such an impression in The Pirates of Penzance that friends urged him to become an actor.

Career Ingersoll joined the Boston Museum Company in 1882, where he remained for five years. In the beginning, he divided his time between acting and supporting the company as a backstage hand and general utility man, eventually making his first professional appearance as a fully fledged actor in 1885. He performed with Marie Wainwright in Twelfth Night at Palmer's Theatre in New York and went on tour with her for three seasons; she rated Ingersoll as "the best leading man on the American stage."

In 1894, Ingersoll joined the summer stock theatre company that James F. Neill and R.L. Giffen had organized at the Manhattan Beach, Denver. In September of the same year, he joined the first winter stock company that Neill and Giffen also organized at the Lyceum Theatre, Denver. When T. Daniel Frawley—who had placed another company in Salt Lake City in December 1894—later purchased the Neill-Giffen interests and moved the organization to San Francisco, Ingersoll remained on the roster of the combined Denver and Salt Lake City company.

Ingersoll then married and left the stage, but resumed his acting career after his wife's death. He first joined the Nat Goodwin Company, with whom he performed in In Mizzoura when it opened at the Baldwin Theatre in San Francisco in June 1896; immediately after the play closed, the whole company sailed to Australia on June 25. Ingersoll remained with the Goodwin company for a period that included four seasons in Australia. In addition to performing with the Nat Goodwin company, Ingersoll played in the supporting companies of Mary Shaw, William H. Crane, Marie Cahill and Charles Richman.

He played leading parts at the Grand Opera House in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and at the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He acted in many roles as a visiting star in Columbus, Cincinnati, at the Elitch Theatre in Denver, Colorado, and in Washington, D.C., Providence, Rhode Island, Richmond, Virginia, Salt Lake City, and on Broadway, among many others. He performed with stars of the period, such as Margaret Maher, Ethel Barrymore, Mrs. Fiske, and William DeWolf Hopper. In 1928–1929, he played in Brothers at the 48th Street Theatre in New York, learning his part perfectly in two days, one of the instances of his exceptional memory; this was the 821st he had learned.

After appearing on stage for 55 years and trying his hand in a silent film in 1920, he progressed into sound films in the 1930s, and one of his final talkies was Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936), in which he played the role of the Doctor.

Personal life At the time of his death in 1936, Ingersoll was married to Mabel Tate, and they had a daughter, Mrs Ira Minnick.

Memberships Ingersoll was elected to The Lambs Theatre Club in 1893, and was also a member of The Players Club and of the council of the Actors' Equity Association.

Selected works Stage

In the table below, all theatres are located in New York, NY, except where indicated. Title Role Theatre Opening date Closing date # of perf. (Unknown) June ??, 1896 June ??, 1896 N/A Egerton Brown October 11, 1897 (Unknown) N/A (Unknown) July 10, 1898 (Unknown) N/A Guy Fitzroy January 2, 1899 (Unknown) N/A Scaramba July 10, 1899 October 28, 1899 154 December 9, 1899 (Unknown) October 2, 1899 October ??, 1899 28 (Unknown) October 21, 1899 36 (Unknown) December 26, 1904 January 1, 1905 34 Moonshine Plunger Dawson Liberty Theatre October 30, 1905 December 2, 1905 53 Majestic Theatre January 6, 1906 Charlie Galloway February 12, 1906 April 1, 1906 81 Roger Grant May 20, 1907 June 1, 1907 16 The Pirate March 24, 1912 March 31, 1912 N/A (Unknown) October 28, 1913 January 1, 1914 79 (Unknown) December 2, 1914 December 31, 1914 30 Experience January 22, 1918 February 9, 1918 23 (Unknown) 23 October 31, 1918 August 1, 1919 316 Henry Annixter March 29, 1920 May 1, 1920 64 John Copley Adams November 1, 1920 December 11, 1920 48 Robert Fay, Lieut. Gov. of December 8, 1921 January 1, 1922 46 Mason Talbot April 24, 1922 June 17, 1922 61 Mr. Peyton August 17, 1922 August 26, 1922 12 Theodore Cummings November 29, 1922 March 1, 1923 125 August 6, 1923 August 31, 1923 24 Lord Palmerston November 15, 1923 December 1, 1923 44 George's Father March 3, 1924 October 11, 1924 120 Doctor Armstrong March 16, 1925 April 4, 1925 24 Gospodar Jevrem Vesilie, Scavenger January 25, 1926 March 1, 1926 58 Dr. David Holden March 29, 1926 May 1, 1926 64 Vincent Lorrimore September 11, 1928 September 30, 1928 15 Jed Hampton October 1, 1928 October ??, 1928 23 Rev. David Rushbrook November 8, 1928 November ??, 1928 19 Dr. Calvin Moore December 25, 1928 August 3, 1929 255 George's Father December 25, 1931 January 1, 1932 27 Prosper Weems April 19, 1932 April 30, 1932 7 Professor Warren June 27, 1932 July ??, 1932 24 Thomas Williamson January 21, 1933 March 1, 1933 49 Dr. Powell April 27, 1933 May ??, 1933 28 Count von Talheim June 26, 1933 July 1, 1933 9 Admiral Standish January 6, 1934 January 13, 1934 9 October 1, 1934 October 27, 1934 112 October 29, 1934 January 5, 1935

Film Partners of the Night (1920), as Police Commissioner Thorne The Cheat (1931), as Croupier Fifi (1933), as Uncle Mary Burns, Fugitive (1935), as Judge Whipsaw (1935), as Dr. Williams Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936), as the Doctor Half Angel (1936), as Judge And Sudden Death (1936), as Judge

Explanatory footnotes