Monarchs of minstrelsy, from "Daddy" Rice to date — John Shaqi
Monarchs of minstrelsy, from "Daddy" Rice to dateRice, Edw. Le Roy (Edward Le Roy)
History
Monarchs of minstrelsy, from "Daddy" Rice to date
Rice, Edw. Le Roy (Edward Le Roy)
Actors -- United States; Minstrel shows
In the Fall of the same year he joined Lew Benedict’s Minstrels. Mr.
Olcott’s banner year as a minstrel was in 1879; here’s the record.
September 13, opened with Simmons and Slocum’s Company in Philadelphia;
November 27, he played a full season with the Three Rankin’s Minstrels,
opening at Columbus, Ohio, on the above date, and closing with the
company (which also closed) November 27, 1879, after a consecutive run
of one consecutive night. Was Mr. Olcott discouraged? Not much; he
became a member of Haverly’s Mastodons at Buffalo, N. Y.; prior to
which he was with Hooley and Emerson’s Megatherians. July 31, 1880, he
opened with Haverly at the Drury Lane Theatre, London, England.
October 17, 1881, he opened in San Francisco with Billy Emerson’s
Minstrels. About January, 1884, he married Miss Carrie Armstrong in
Philadelphia.
Mr. Olcott was with Carncross’ Minstrels in Philadelphia, where he
remained about two or three years. Seasons of 1884-85-86 he was with
Thatcher, Primrose and West’s Minstrels. September 11, 1886, he again
joined Simmons and Slocum’s Company in the Quaker City.
A short time after that he became a member of the “Old Homestead”;
later he played Nanki Poo in the “Mikado”; subsequently entering the
field of Irish drama.
Chauncey Olcott was born July 21, 1857, at Providence, R. I.
HARRY M. PRICE, prominent in many musical productions for his many
successes in Dutch comedy parts, was one of the Price Bros., from 1877
to 1882, doing black-face song and dance acts.
Theo. Price, his brother, has retired from active theatricals on
account of illness.
Harry M. Price was born in Baltimore, Md., May 20, 1857.
BANKS WINTER first appeared theatrically as a member of an amateur
minstrel company in his native city; that was in 1877.
Mr. Winter became a real minstrel November 9, 1879, at Dayton, Ohio,
when he joined Haverly’s Mastodons--and there were others, notably
Billy Arlington’s; Skiff’s California; Leavitt’s Gigantean’s;
Haverly-Cleveland’s; Cleveland’s and five years with Thatcher, Primrose
and West’s.
In November, 1900, Mr. Winter, accompanied by his charming and talented
young daughter, entered the vaudeville field, and as Banks and Winona
Winter, traveled for several seasons.
In the Fall of 1907 Mr. Winter played a brief engagement in a
vaudeville act, appearing in black-face. The report that Mr. Winter
didn’t black his ears or eyes on this occasion is manifestly absurd.
Mr. Winter was born in Macon, Ga., February 8, 1857; after which he
wrote “White Wings”; and incidentally no one ever sang it better, for
Banks Winter was one of minstrelsy’s great tenors.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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