Tyrone Power, Sr.

For other uses, see Tyrone Power (disambiguation).
Tyrone Power, Sr.

Tyrone Power, Sr., c. 1916
Born Frederick Tyrone Edmond Power
(1869-05-02)2 May 1869
London, England, United Kingdom
Died 23 December 1931(1931-12-23) (aged 62)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Other names Fred
Spouse(s) Maud White (unknown marriage date)
(as of 1904)
Edith Crane (m.Sept 19, 1908)
(1908-1912; her death)
Helen Emma Reaume (m. June 10, 1912)
(1912-1920; divorced; 2 children)
Bertha Knight
(1921-1927; her death)
Children Tyrone Power
Anne Power
Parent(s) Harold Littledale Power (father)
Ethel Lavenu (mother)

Frederick Tyrone Edmond Power (2 May 1869 – 23 December 1931) was an English stage and screen actor, who acted under the name Tyrone Power.

Early life

Power was born in London in 1869, the son of Harold Littledale Power and Ethel Lavenu. His father had worked as a singer and actor before his marriage, most notably in Edmund Yates' production "Invitations" at the Egyptian Hall, London, 1862–63. Turning to business, his father became a wine merchant, later collaborating in the mining business with his brother Frederick Power. Power's father was the youngest son of the Irish actor Tyrone Power, from whom his son, grandson and great grandson would later take their stage names. His mother Ethel Lavenu, an actress was the third daughter of conductor and composer Lewis Henry Lavenu.

Frederick Power, as he was then known, was educated at Hampton School then Dover College with his brother George, who would later accompany him on tour in America as Littledale Power. In 1883 at the age of 14 he was sent from Britain to Florida by his parents to learn citrus planting.

Career

Stage

After a couple of years Power ran away from his farm work and joined a theatre stock company at St. Augustine, Florida, debuting as Gibson in Charles Hawtrey's The Private Secretary on 29 November 1886 aged 17. Power steadily moved up the ranks in a variety of roles mainly Shakespearean parts. In 1899 he was in the cast of Mrs Fiske's Becky Sharp which costarred Maurice Barrymore. 1902 saw Power join Mrs. Fiske again in Mary of Magdala. The following year Power starred opposite Edgar Selwyn in Ulysses. (Selwyn would later join part of his name with Samuel Goldfish's name to create Goldwyn Studios.) Power also had roles in Julia Marlowe's When Knighthood Was in Flower in a 1904 revival.

In August of 1905 Power appeared at the Elitch Theatre in Denver with his wife, Edith Crane, in Tess of the D'Urbervilles. According to Mary Elitch Long, in her autobiography, Lady of the Gardens, "I shall never forget the beauty of his voice nor his first utterance as he entered the Gardens: 'I am about to realize a great ambition, and that is to play in the Elitch Gardens Theatre.'"

In 1908 Power had what was probably his greatest personal theatrical success, The Servant in the House. The production ran for 80 performances in the first half of 1908 and then a return engagement for 48 performances near the close of the year. Following this success Power appeared in a few more original stage productions like Chu Chin Chow (American version) and The Wandering Jew, which apparently was a huge musical. The rest of his theatrical career before World War I and after consisted of revivals of popular and Shakesperean plays such as The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, the all-star play Diplomacy, and The Rivals. In 1922, he played Claudius in John Barrymore's groundbreaking production of Hamlet.

Films

After an extremely prosperous 30 years of acting on the stage and touring around the world, Power moved into silent films in 1914. Initially playing the leading man in films, he soon switched to playing villains and proved highly successful. In 1916 Power played the male lead in Where Are My Children?, a serious film about birth control and social issues directed by pioneer woman director Lois Weber and her husband Phillips Smalley. A pristine copy of this film is preserved in the Library of Congress. That same year Power appeared in a Selig film called John Needham's Double. When not acting on Broadway, Power appeared in films. Producer William Fox found him a great character part at Fox Studios in Footfalls (1921).

Also in 1921 Power appeared in D.W. Griffith's Dream Street in which experimental synchronised sound was used, using the Photokinema sound-on-disc system. In 1924 Power was in the cast of the sumptuous Janice Meredith, a Hearst produced Marion Davies vehicle. In 1925 Power appeared in a film called The Red Kimono, a film as daring as Where Are My Children? had been a decade earlier. The Red Kimono was produced and partly written by Dorothy Davenport, the widow of Wallace Reid. It is the only silent Power film available on home video or DVD.

Power finished out the decade & silent era in several A-list silent films. In 1930, Power had a final great role as the villainous "bull whacker" Red Flack in Raoul Walsh's widescreen epic The Big Trail, which was Power's first (and only) talkie and provided an unknown John Wayne with his first starring role. Power then prepared to film a sound remake of The Miracle Man, which had been a great silent success in 1919 for Lon Chaney. A few scenes had been shot but before filming could be completed on The Miracle Man. Power died of a heart attack in the arms of his 17-year-old son at the end of 1931. He was 62. His part of the preacher in The Miracle Man was taken up by fellow veteran actor Hobart Bosworth.

He is now usually referred to as Tyrone Power, Sr., to distinguish him from his son, actor Tyrone Power, who would die in 1958 at the age of 44, also of a heart attack .

Stage appearances

Production Production Company, Dates
The Private Secretary
Charles Hawtrey
Gibson his debut on November 29, 1886 with St. Augustine, Florida stock company
Saratoga
Bronson Howard
The Hon. William Carter at Mechanics' Institute, St. John, NB, Huebner-Holmes Co., June 22, 1888
The Texan
Tyrone Power, Sr.
William Plainleigh at Opera House, St. John, NB and at the Masonic Hall at Chatham and Newcastle, New Brunswick, own company, June, 1893, and at Princess's Theatre, London, June, 1894
The Two Roses
James Albery
Digby Grant at Opera House, St. John, NB, own company, June, 1893
Betsy Adolphus at Opera House, St. John, NB, own company, June, 1893
The Sins of the Fathers
W. Lestocq
Sir Roger Walvernby & Norman Vernley at Opera House, St. John, NB, own company, June, 1893
Guy Mannering
Sir Walter Scott
Dominie Sampson opened at Montreal, Fanny Janauschek company c.1888-1891
The School for Scandal
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Sir Oliver Surface Augustin Daly players, 1891
The Magistrate
Arthur Wing Pinero
Posket Augustin Daly players, c.1891-1898
The Cabinet Minister
Arthur Wing Pinero
Brooke Twombley Augustin Daly players, c.1891-1898
The Foresters
Alfred Tennyson
Much the Miller Augustin Daly players, c.1891-1898
As You Like It
William Shakespeare
Frederick Augustin Daly players, c.1891-1898
Love's Labour's Lost
William Shakespeare
Holofernes Augustin Daly players, c.1891-1898
Much Ado about Nothing
William Shakespeare
Antonio Augustin Daly players, c.1891-1898
The Taming of the Shrew
William Shakespeare
Christopher Sly Augustin Daly players, c.1891-1898, and with own company Australia and New Zealand tour 1900-1902
The Tempest
William Shakespeare
Caliban Augustin Daly players, c.1891-1898
The Merry Wives of Windsor
William Shakespeare
Host of the Garter Inn Augustin Daly players, c.1891-1898
Magda
Hermann Sudermann
- Minnie Maddern Fiske's company c.1890s
Frou-Frou
Henri Meilhac, Ludovic Halévy
- Minnie Maddern Fiske's company c.1890s
Becky Sharp
Langdon Mitchell ad. Thackeray's Vanity Fair
Lord Steyne Minnie Maddern Fiske's company, Fifth Avenue Theatre, September 12-December, 1899, 116 performances
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Thomas Hardy dram.
- Australia and New Zealand tour 1900-1902
Trilby
George du Maurier dram.
- Australia and New Zealand tour 1900-1902
Our Boys
Henry James Byron
- Australia and New Zealand tour 1900-1902
The Only Way
Freeman C. Wills, Frederick Langbridge ad. A Tale of Two Cities
- Australia and New Zealand tour 1900-1902
The Merchant of Venice
William Shakespeare
Bassanio at the Lyceum Theatre, London with Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, June, July, 1902
Mary of Magdala
William Winter
Judas Iscariot Minnie Maddern Fiske's company, Manhattan Theatre, November, 1902, 105 performances
Ulysses
Stephen Phillips
Ulyssesat the Garden Theatre, September 14-November,1903, 65 performances
Ingomar
Maria Lovell
Ingomar at the Empire Theatre, Broadway, May 16, 1904
Yvette
Pierre Berton ad. Cosmo Gordon Lennox
- at the Knickerbocker Theatre, Broadway, May 13, 1904
When Knighthood Was in Flower
Charles Major ad. Paul Kester
The Princess at the Empire Theatre, Broadway, May, 1904, 16 performances
Adrea
David Belasco
- at the Belasco Theatre, January 1 – April 26, 1905, 123 performances
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
- at the Elitch Theatre, August, 1905
The Redskin
Donald MacLaren
Lonawandaat the Liberty Theatre, January 3- March, 1906, 26 performances
The Strength of the Weak
Alice M. Smith, Charlotte Thompson
- at the Liberty Theatre, April 17- May, 1906
The Christian Pilgrim
James MacArthur
Apollyon, Beelzebub, Giant Despair, Lord Hategood at the Liberty Theatre, November, 1907, 14 performances
The Servant in the House
Charles Rann Kennedy
Robert Smith at the Savoy Theatre, March 23 – June 1, 1908, 80 performances, October 19-November, 1908, 48 performances
Thais
Anatole France, ad. Paul Wilstach
- at the Criterion Theatre, March 14-April, 1911, 31 performances

"Julius Caesar" Marcus Brutus one performance for 40,000 at Beachwood Canyon, Hollywood, May 1916

Julius Caesar
William Shakespeare
Marcus Brutus at the Lyric Theatre, November 4-December, 1912, 32 performances, outdoor performance before 40,000 at Beachwood Canyon Hollywood, May 1916, one performance at the Cort Theatre, March 15, 1918
Chu Chin Chow
Oscar Asche
Abu Hasan American premiere at the Manhattan Opera House, October 22, 1917, second run at the Century Theatre, January 14-April, 1918, 208 performances
The Little Brother
Milton Goldsmith, Benedict James
- at the Belmont Theatre, November 25, 1918-March, 1919, 120 performances
The Wandering Jew
Ernest Temple Thurston
Mathathias, The Unknown Knight, Matteo Battadio, Matteos Battadios at the Knickerbocker Theatre, opened October 26, 1921
The Rivals
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Sir Anthony Absolute at the Empire Theatre, opened June 5, 1922
Hamlet
William Shakespeare
Claudius King of Denmark at the Sam H. Harris Theatre, November 16, 1922-February, 1923, 101 performances
Venus
Rachel Crothers
Herbert Beveridge at the Theatre Masque, December 26, 1927-January, 1928, 8 performances
Diplomacy (play)
Victorien Sardou
Markham at Erlanger's Theatre, May 28-July, 1928, 40 performances
The Unknown Warrior
Paul Raynal trans. Cecil Lewis
Elderly Man at Charles Hopkins Theatre, October 29-November, 1928, 8 performances
The Merchant of Venice
William Shakespeare
Duke of Venice at the Royale Theatre, opened November 16, 1931, 8 performances

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1914 Aristocracy Jefferson Stockton
1915 A Texas Steer Maverick Brander
1915 Sweet Alyssum Roanoke Brooks
1916 The Devil-in-Chief -
1916 Thou Shalt Not Covet I, or the Hero
1916 John Needham's Double Lord John Needham/Joseph Norbury
1916 Where Are My Children? District Attorney Richard Walton
1916 The Eye of God Olaf
1917 The Planter Ludwig Hertzer
1917 Lorelei of the Sea Paul Alternative titles: A Modern Lorelei
The Lorelei, Sirens of the Sea
1917 National Red Cross Pageant Servia
1919 The Mad Woman -
1920 The Great Shadow Jim McDonald
1921 Dream Street Street Preacher
1921 The Black Panther's Cub Count Boris Orliff
1921 Footfalls Hiram Scudder
1923 Fury Captain Leyton
1923 The Truth About Wives Howard Hendricks
1923 Bright Lights of Broadway John Kirk
1923 Wife in Name Only Dornham
1923 The Daring Years James LaMotte
1923 The Day of Faith Michael Anstell
1924 Damaged Hearts Sandy
1924 The Lone Wolf Bannon
1924 Trouping with Ellen Mr. Llewellyn
1924 The Story Without a Name Drakma Alternative title: Without Warning (USA)
1924 For Another Woman -
1924 Greater Than Marriage Father
1924 Janice Meredith Lord Cornwallis Alternative title: The Beautiful Rebel
1924 The Law and the Lady John Langley Sr.
1925 The Wanderer Jesse
1925 Where Was I? George Stone
1925 A Regular Fellow King
1925 The Red Kimona Gabrielle's Father Alternative title: Red Kimona
Red Kimono (USA)
1925 Braveheart Standing Rock
1925 Bride of the Storm Jacob Kroon
1926 The Test of Donald Norton John Corrigal
1926 Out of the Storm Mr. Lawrence
1926 Hands Across the Border John Drake
1927 The Elegy Servant of Satan
1930 The Big Trail Red Flack, wagon boss

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