George Beban (December 13, 1873 â€" October 5, 1928) was an American
actor, director, writer and producer. Beban began as a child performer
in San Francisco, California, and became a well-known vaudevillian and
stage actor in the 1890s and 1900s. He was best known for his
portrayal of Italian immigrant characters, including his starring
roles in the play The Sign of the Rose and the 1915 silent film
classic The Italian. Though strongly associated with his Italian
immigrant roles, Beban was born in San Francisco, could not speak a
word of Italian and was the son of parents from Dalmatia (in
modern-day Croatia) and Ireland.Beban was born in San Francisco,
California in 1873. He grew up on San Francisco's Telegraph Hill and
was one of four sons of Rocco Beban, a Dalmatian immigrant, and
Johanna Dugan, from County Cork, Ireland. At age eight, he began a
stage career singing with the Reed and Emerson Minstrels. His talent
as a singer led to the young Beban acquiring the nickname "The Boy
Baritone". He then acted in juvenile roles for the California Theater
stock company in San Francisco.At age 22, Beban began a career as a
Broadway theater actor in New York. He appeared in several musical
comedies and performed with Weber & Fields and with Marie Cahill.
Beban's stage credits include Parrot and Monkey Time (1896), a
minstrel feature at Sam T. Jack's Theater; A Modern Venus (1898), a
burlesque playing at Sam T. Jack's Theater; A Trip to Buffalo (1902);
Nancy Brown (1903); Fantana (1905); Moonshine (1905â€"06), a
production of the Marie Cahill company; About Town (1906), a musical
comedy by the Lew Fields All Star Company about life in Paris; The
Great Decide (1906); The Girl Behind the Counter (1907â€"1908); The
American Idea (1908), a musical comedy by George M. Cohan; Hokey-pokey
(1912); and Anna Held's All Star Variete Jubilee (1913â€"1914).George
M. Cohan wrote'The American Idea for Beban to play the lead role of
Pierre Souchet (and Trixie Friganza as the co-star). Beban had
previously played French characters in Marie Cahill's production Ben
Bolt, and in Lew Fields' About Town. In 1907, the Chicago Tribune
wrote the following about Beban's French character: "The best work of
the entire entertainment is accomplished by George Beban as the
excitable Frenchman ... The actor makes this Count Boti a veritable
Frenchman, every intonation and inflection, every motion, look, and
gesture being exact."
actor, director, writer and producer. Beban began as a child performer
in San Francisco, California, and became a well-known vaudevillian and
stage actor in the 1890s and 1900s. He was best known for his
portrayal of Italian immigrant characters, including his starring
roles in the play The Sign of the Rose and the 1915 silent film
classic The Italian. Though strongly associated with his Italian
immigrant roles, Beban was born in San Francisco, could not speak a
word of Italian and was the son of parents from Dalmatia (in
modern-day Croatia) and Ireland.Beban was born in San Francisco,
California in 1873. He grew up on San Francisco's Telegraph Hill and
was one of four sons of Rocco Beban, a Dalmatian immigrant, and
Johanna Dugan, from County Cork, Ireland. At age eight, he began a
stage career singing with the Reed and Emerson Minstrels. His talent
as a singer led to the young Beban acquiring the nickname "The Boy
Baritone". He then acted in juvenile roles for the California Theater
stock company in San Francisco.At age 22, Beban began a career as a
Broadway theater actor in New York. He appeared in several musical
comedies and performed with Weber & Fields and with Marie Cahill.
Beban's stage credits include Parrot and Monkey Time (1896), a
minstrel feature at Sam T. Jack's Theater; A Modern Venus (1898), a
burlesque playing at Sam T. Jack's Theater; A Trip to Buffalo (1902);
Nancy Brown (1903); Fantana (1905); Moonshine (1905â€"06), a
production of the Marie Cahill company; About Town (1906), a musical
comedy by the Lew Fields All Star Company about life in Paris; The
Great Decide (1906); The Girl Behind the Counter (1907â€"1908); The
American Idea (1908), a musical comedy by George M. Cohan; Hokey-pokey
(1912); and Anna Held's All Star Variete Jubilee (1913â€"1914).George
M. Cohan wrote'The American Idea for Beban to play the lead role of
Pierre Souchet (and Trixie Friganza as the co-star). Beban had
previously played French characters in Marie Cahill's production Ben
Bolt, and in Lew Fields' About Town. In 1907, the Chicago Tribune
wrote the following about Beban's French character: "The best work of
the entire entertainment is accomplished by George Beban as the
excitable Frenchman ... The actor makes this Count Boti a veritable
Frenchman, every intonation and inflection, every motion, look, and
gesture being exact."
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