Otis Skinner
| Otis Skinner | |
|---|---|
Cabinet Card circa 1900–1910
NYPL Digital Gallery |
|
| Born |
Otis A. Skinner June 28, 1858 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | January 4, 1942 (aged 83) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Resting place | , U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, writer |
| Spouse(s) |
Maud Durbin 1895-1936 (her death) |
| Children | Cornelia Otis Skinner |
Otis Skinner (June 28, 1858 – January 4, 1942) was a popular American stage actor active during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Otis A. Skinner was born on June 28, 1858, in Cambridge, Massachusetts the middle of three boys raised by Charles and Cornelia Skinner. He was later brought up in Hartford, Connecticut where Charles Skinner served as a Universalist minister. His older brother, Charles Montgomery Skinner, became a noted journalist and critic in New York, while his younger brother William was an artist. Skinner was educated in Hartford with an eye towards a career in commerce but a visit to the theater left him stage-struck. He secured his father's blessing for a theatrical career, and his father not only approved but also obtained from P. T. Barnum an introduction to William Pleater Davidge. Davidge employed him at eight dollars a week, and Skinner's career was launched. In the latter half of the 1870s, he played various bit roles in stock companies, and alongside stars such as John Edward McCullough. He built up his repertoire for several years in New York and Boston, including three years with Lawrence Barrett.
By the mid-1880s, he was touring first with Augustin Daly, then, in 1889, with the troupe of Edwin Booth and Helena Modjeska. After that season, he played Romeo in London opposite Margaret Mather. His association with Mather lasted two years; after, with Booth dead, he returned to Modjeska, starring opposite her in her most famous roles. He also originated the role of Schwartz in Hermann Sudermann's Magda, and played Armand in Dumas's Camille.
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