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Marshall Pinckney Wilder

Marshall P. Wilder
Marshall Wilder crop.jpg
Born Marshall Pinckney Wilder
(1859-09-19)September 19, 1859
Geneva, New York, U.S.A.
Died January 10, 1915(1915-01-10) (aged 55)
St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A.
Occupation Humorist
Years active 1880–1915
Spouse(s) Sophie Hanks
Children 2

Marshall Pinckney Wilder (September 19, 1859 – January 10, 1915) was an American actor, monologist, humorist and sketch artist.

Marshall Pinckney Wilder (sometimes spelled Marshal) was born along the north shore of Seneca Lake at Geneva, New York the son of Dr. Louis de Valois Wilder and the former Mary A. Bostwick. He shared the same name as his great-uncle, a distinguished amateur pomologist and floriculturist, who help found the Boston Horticultural Society and American Pomological Society. His father was an 1843 graduate of the Geneva Medical College and for a number of years an attending physician at Flower Hospital at the New York Medical College and a member of the New York Homeopathic Medical Society.

While still a boy, Wilder’s family moved to Rochester where he became popular for his talent as a storyteller and apparent gift as a clairvoyant. It was also at Rochester that Wilder received his early inspiration for a later vocation after attending a public reading at Corinthian Hall. In his youth he worked as a pin-boy at a bowling alley and storeroom clerk for a summer resort, before moving to New York City around the age of twenty where found employment as a file boy with a commercial firm. Before a while Wilder starting augmenting his income by giving humorous monologues for 50 cents a performance.

These early performances were held in the drawing rooms of wealthy New Yorkers gaining him the notoriety to soon join the ranks of full-time entertainers. In 1883 Wilder traveled to London where he became a favorite of the British Royal Family. While still the Prince of Wales, King Edward VII became an admirer of Wilder and over the years would attend nearly twenty of his performances. Wilder's career eventually branched into vaudeville and in 1904 embarked on a round the world tour.


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