|
[[File:Olivermorosco-1915Oliver Morosco -newspaper Aug 1916 CM.jpg|thumb|240px|right|Oliver Morosco, 1915.from a 1916 magazine]]
'''Oliver Morosco''' (June 20, 1875 – August 25, 1945) was an American theatrical producer, director, writer, film producer, and theater owner. He owned the [[Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company]]. He brought many of his theater actors to the screen.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eUs_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1140&dqq=oliver.morosco+photplay&pg=PA1140 |title = The Moving Picture World|year = 1915}}</ref> [[Frank A. Garbutt]] was in charge of the film business.<ref name="films" /> ItThe company was merged with [[Adolph Zukor]]'s [[Famous Players-LaskyPlayers–Lasky Corporation]] in 1916.
==Biography==
BornHe was born '''Oliver Mitchell''' in [[Logan, Utah]], to John Leslie Mitchell and Esmah Badure Montrose. The Mitchells divorced, and Esmah Mitchell took her two sons to California, eventually arriving in San Francisco. At the age of six, Oliver and his brother Leslie,<ref>[http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/sayre/id/6207 Leslie Morosco] (Univ.University of Washington, Sayre collection)</ref>, three years his elder, were hired by Walter M. Morosco (1846–1901) to perform in his acrobatic trouptroupe, the Royal Russian Circus, then a regular attraction at [[Woodward's Gardens]], a popular San Francisco amusement park.
Walter M. Morosco made an arrangement with Esmah Montrose Mitchell to become the foster father of her sons, and to give them his name. He was a theatrical impresario as well as an acrobat, and owned and operated [[Morosco's Grand Opera House]],<ref> one of San Francisco's leading theaters. When Oliver was a teenager, his foster father took over operation of another San Francisco venue, the Amphitheater, and of The Auditorium at San Jose, California, and made Oliver the manager of both houses.
{{cite web|url=http://verplanckconsulting.com/War-Memorial-Opera-House.pdf|title=War Memorial Opera House|publisher=verplanck consulting|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413072409/http://verplanckconsulting.com/War-Memorial-Opera-House.pdf|archive-date=2016-04-13|url-status=bot: unknown|quote=...the Wade (later Grand) Opera House. Located on the north side of Mission Street, just west of Third Street, the Grand Opera House perished in 1906, along with most of the city's other opera houses, including the Tivoli Opera House and the Orpheum Theater.}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb3d5nb3cg/?layout=metadata|title=Grand Opera House, Mission St. [No. 2.]|website=content.cdlib.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wvsudy6RdGAC&pg=PA106&lpg=PA106&dq=Wade#v=onepage&q=Wade&f=false|title=San Francisco's Lost Landmarks|first=James R.|last=Smith|date=4 January 2018|publisher=Quill Driver Books|via=Google Books|isbn=978-1-884995-44-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/9197/|title=PCAD - Wade's Opera House, San Francisco, CA|website=pcad.lib.washington.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18760229.2.51.4&e=-------en--20--1---tx%252509txIN--------1|title=Daily Alta California 29 February 1876 – California Digital Newspaper Collection|website=cdnc.ucr.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6NbOx9VMJGIC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=Wade|title=Music and Politics in San Francisco: From the 1906 Quake to the Second World War|first=Leta E.|last=Miller|date=4 January 2018|publisher=University of California Press|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0-520-26891-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/c8mp517f/|title=[Photograph of Grand Opera House]|website=Calisphere}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6NbOx9VMJGIC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=Opera|title=Music and Politics in San Francisco: From the 1906 Quake to the Second World War|first=Leta E.|last=Miller|date=4 January 2018|publisher=University of California Press|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0-520-26891-3}}</ref><ref>[[:File:LLOYD(1876) INTERIOR VIEW OF WADE'S OPERA HOUSE pg162.jpg]]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sfblockhistory.wikidot.com/theaters|title=Theaters - San Francisco Block by Block|website=sfblockhistory.wikidot.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.ouk.edu.tw/yen/grove/Entries/S24512.htm|title=San Francisco.|website=www2.ouk.edu.tw}}</ref><ref>http://art.famsf.org/souvenir-program-wades-opera-house-january-17-1876-36444</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19070212.2.24|title=San Francisco Call 12 February 1907 – California Digital Newspaper Collection|website=cdnc.ucr.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb3870068d/?brand=oac4&layout=metadata|title=Grand Opera House|website=oac.cdlib.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb3d5nb3cg/?brand=oac4&layout=metadata|title=Grand Opera House, Mission St. [No. 2.]|website=oac.cdlib.org}}</ref><ref>''Wade's Opera House'', later ''Grand Opera House'', later ''Morosco's Grand Opera House''</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/c83j39xx/?brand=oac4&layout=metadata|title=[Wade's Opera House souvenir program]|website=oac.cdlib.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18760113.2.28|title=Daily Alta California 13 January 1876 – California Digital Newspaper Collection|website=cdnc.ucr.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/20690/|title=PCAD - Grand Opera House, San Francisco, CA|website=pcad.lib.washington.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfcityguides.org/public_guidelines.html?article=324&submitted=TRUE&srch_text=&submitted2=&topic=B|title=SF Theater Quiz - San Francisco History - Guidelines Newsletter|website=www.sfcityguides.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n2014-46561/|title=Morosco's Grand Opera House|website=www.worldcat.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/c8j964b0/?brand=oac4&layout=metadata|title=[Cover of Wade Opera House and Art Gallery program]|website=oac.cdlib.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/c89884z9/?layout=metadata&brand=oac4|title=[Photograph of drawing of the interior of the Grand Opera House]|website=oac.cdlib.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/The-Great-Quake-1906-2006-Days-before-the-2520536.php|title=The Great Quake: 1906–2006 / Days before the disaster|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stpatricksf.org/the-changing-faces-of-st-patricks/|title=The Changing Faces of St Patricks|website=St. Patrick Church}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/The-passionate-1879-battle-over-The-Passion-6922896.php|title=The passionate 1879 battle over 'The Passion'|publisher=}}</ref><ref>http://www.artandarchitecture-sf.com/carusos-dream-causes-pianos-to-fly.html</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historynet.com/the-great-1906-san-francisco-earthquake-and-fire.htm|title=The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire - HistoryNet|website=www.historynet.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/California/San_Francisco/_Texts/SFH/1*.html|title=The San Francisco Horror • Chapter 1|website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roguesgalleryonline.com/is-that-my-head-or-an-earthquake/|title=Is that my head or an Earthquake?|date=23 January 2013|publisher=}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web
|url=https://archive.org/details/crockerlangleysa1905sanf
|title=San Francisco City Directory
|date=1905
|website=
|series=
|publisher=Crocker-Langley
|location=
|access-date=
|quote=Grand Opera House, North Side of Mission between 3rd Street and 4th Street (page 799)
}}
</ref> one of San Francisco's leading theaters. When Oliver was a teenager, his foster father took over operation of another San Francisco venue, the Amphitheater, and of The Auditorium at San Jose, California, and made Oliver the manager of both houses.
In 1899, Oliver Morosco moved to Los Angeles to begin his independent career as a theatrical impresario. He took over the lease on the troubled Burbank Theatre and soon made it a success with a series of stock companies and shows featuring the popular actors of the day. Such stars as [[Wilton Lackaye]], [[Richard Bennett (actor)|Richard Bennett]], [[Edgar Selwyn]], and [[Margaret Illington]] appeared at the Burbank Theatre. A number of original plays were first mounted at the Burbank and later performed in New York City. These included "The Rose of the Rancho" by [[Richard Walton Tully]], and actor-playwright Edgar Selwyn's "The Country Boy" and "The Arab."
Though Los Angeles remained his home, Morosco began producing plays in New York City in 1906 and mounted over 40 productions on Broadway including ''[[Peg o' My Heart (play)|Peg o' My Heart]]'' and ''[[The Bird of Paradise (1912 play)|The Bird of Paradise]]'' both starring [[Laurette Taylor]]. He contributed lyrics to a [[Victor Schertzinger]] song he had added to [[L. Frank Baum]] and [[Louis F. Gottschalk]]'s musical, ''[[The Tik-Tok Man of Oz]]'', which he produced in 1913. Through this show he discovered [[Charlotte Greenwood]] and made her a star. In 1917, he opened the Morosco Theatre in New York.
In 1919–1920, he produced the [[Edward Everett Rose]]-scripted satirical melodrama, ''[[The Master Thief (play)|The Master Thief]]'', starring [[Francis X. Bushman]] and [[Beverly Bayne]]. In 1922 he produced [[Thompson Buchanan]]'s ''[[The Sporting Thing To Do]]'' at the [[Philharmonic Auditorium]] in Los Angeles, and then took the play to [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in 1923.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=LOS ANGELES, 'The Sporting Thing To Do'|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]| volume=34|issue=37|date=September 16, 1922|page= 96}}</ref><ref>{{cite work|title=Legitimate: BROADWAY REVIEWS - THE SPORTING THING TO DO|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|volume=70|issue=1|date=Feb 22, 1923|page=18}}</ref>
In 1926 the once successful Morosco filed for bankruptcy, his fortune lost in part due to a large speculative purchase of land in California where he planned to create a development called "Morosco Town".
*''[[Out of the Wreck]]'' (1917)
*''[[The World Apart]]'' (1917)
*''[[Big Timber (1917 film)|Big Timber]]'' (1917)
*''[[The Varmint]]'' (1917)
*''[[Jack and Jill (1917 film)|Jack and Jill]]'' (1917)
*''[[Tom Sawyer (1917 film)|Tom Sawyer]]'' (1917)<ref name="films">{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ShfkkJFnzpEC&pg=PA440&dqq=oliver.morosco+photplay#v=onepage&qpg=oliver.morosco%20photplay&f=falsePA440 |title = William Desmond Taylor: A Dossier|isbn = 978-1-4616-7434-4|last1 = Long|first1 = Bruce|date = January 1991| publisher=Scarecrow Press }}</ref>
* ''[[The Half Breed (1922 film)|The Half Breed]]'' (1922)
==See also==
==Further reading==
*''Life of Oliver Morosco; The Oracle of Broadway, Written from His Own Notes and Comments.'' Morosco, Oliver, Helen McRuer Morosco, and Leonard Paul Dugger. Caldwell, Id: Caxton Printers, 1944.
*[http://www.losangelestheatres.googlepages.com/globe#morosco Morosco Biography at Los Angeles Theatres.com] ▼*[http://findagrave.com/memorial/39919551/oliver-mitchell-morosco Findagrave.com] ▼
==References==
*"Heyday on Broadway." ''The New York Times'' September 17, 1944.
*"Morosco Killed Under Street Car". ''The New York Times'', August 26, 1945.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100616124857/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,855246,00.html "Top Slander" ''Time Magazine'', September 3, 1945]
{{Commons cat|Oliver Morosco}}
▲*[http://www.losangelestheatres.googlepages.com/globe#morosco Morosco Biography at Los Angeles Theatres.com]
▲*[http://findagrave.com/memorial/39919551/oliver-mitchell-morosco Findagrave.com]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:American theatre managers and producers]]
[[Category:American theatre directors]]
[[Category:ImpresariosAmerican impresarios]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in California]]
| 