Frank Bacon (January 16, 1864 â€" November 19, 1922), was an American
character actor and playwright who after years of relative obscurity
achieved great success as he entered the twilight of his career. The
1918 play Lightnin', which Bacon co-wrote and starred in, set a
Broadway record for the day of 1,291 performances and was still going
strong on tour after more than 700 shows when Bacon was forced to bow
out due to fatigue. His death from a heart attack followed a week
later.Bacon was born on his parents’ farm about five miles west of
Yuba City, California, not far from Bogue Station on the old Southern
Pacific Railroad line. His parents, Lehella Jane McGrew and Lyddall
Bacon, came from Kentucky and were married at Prairie City on October
2, 1853 by the Rev. Alex Graham in a double ceremony with Sarah Emma
McGrew and E. H. Heacock.Bacon was raised in San Jose where he
attended school before dropping out in his early teens to work at a
nearby sheep ranch. At around the age of 17 Bacon became a
photographer’s apprentice and with a brother would eventually open
his own studio in San Jose. After several years he abandoned
photography for newspaper work and became an advertising agent for the
San Jose Mercury. A few years later he purchased The Napa Reporter and
not long afterwards founded The Mountain View Register.After a failed
foray into politics and growing disenchantment with the newspaper
business, Bacon chose to “turn respectable†and joined a San Jose
stock company. By 1894 he was a member of a dramatic company with D.
K. Higgins and Georgia Waldron playing the villain in Higgins’
melodrama, The Plunger. He later formed a small company with his wife
and a few other actors and toured mostly California venues for a
number of seasons. During this period, eight-year-old Roscoe Arbuckle
made his stage debut with Bacon's company at Santa Ana, California.
character actor and playwright who after years of relative obscurity
achieved great success as he entered the twilight of his career. The
1918 play Lightnin', which Bacon co-wrote and starred in, set a
Broadway record for the day of 1,291 performances and was still going
strong on tour after more than 700 shows when Bacon was forced to bow
out due to fatigue. His death from a heart attack followed a week
later.Bacon was born on his parents’ farm about five miles west of
Yuba City, California, not far from Bogue Station on the old Southern
Pacific Railroad line. His parents, Lehella Jane McGrew and Lyddall
Bacon, came from Kentucky and were married at Prairie City on October
2, 1853 by the Rev. Alex Graham in a double ceremony with Sarah Emma
McGrew and E. H. Heacock.Bacon was raised in San Jose where he
attended school before dropping out in his early teens to work at a
nearby sheep ranch. At around the age of 17 Bacon became a
photographer’s apprentice and with a brother would eventually open
his own studio in San Jose. After several years he abandoned
photography for newspaper work and became an advertising agent for the
San Jose Mercury. A few years later he purchased The Napa Reporter and
not long afterwards founded The Mountain View Register.After a failed
foray into politics and growing disenchantment with the newspaper
business, Bacon chose to “turn respectable†and joined a San Jose
stock company. By 1894 he was a member of a dramatic company with D.
K. Higgins and Georgia Waldron playing the villain in Higgins’
melodrama, The Plunger. He later formed a small company with his wife
and a few other actors and toured mostly California venues for a
number of seasons. During this period, eight-year-old Roscoe Arbuckle
made his stage debut with Bacon's company at Santa Ana, California.
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