James Morrison Steele MacKaye (/məˈkaɪ/ mÉ™-KY; June 6, 1842 â€"
February 25, 1894) was an American playwright, actor, theater manager
and inventor. Having acted, written, directed and produced numerous
and popular plays and theatrical spectaculars of the day, he became
one of the most famous actors and theater producers of his
generation.Steele MacKaye was born in Buffalo, New York. His father,
Colonel James M. MacKaye, was a successful attorney and an ardent
abolitionist; Steele's mother died when he was young. His aunt was
Sarah MacKaye Alling (1809â€"1904) and he had two sisters, Emily
MacKaye von Hesse (1838â€"1919), Sarah MacKaye Warner (1840â€"1876)
and two half-brothers, William Henry MacKaye (1834â€"1888) and Henry
Goodwin MacKaye (1856â€"1913). While young, Steele attended Roe's
Military Academy in Cornwall-on-Hudson and the William Leverett
Boarding School in Newport. Under the influence from his father, who
was also an art connoisseur, MacKaye initially planned to become an
artist. During his teens he studied painting with William Morris Hunt,
then continued his studies at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. He
returned to the U.S. in order to serve for the Union Army during the
American Civil War. A member of New York's Seventh Regiment, he
eventually rose to the rank of Major before an illness forced his
retirement. MacKaye would later model in full uniform for John Quincy
Adams Ward's Seventh Regiment Memorial statue, which stands in Central
Park.In 1869, MacKaye traveled to Paris with his family, where he
became the disciple of the renowned French acting teacher François
Delsarte. Under Delsarte, MacKaye learned to enhance performance
through pose and gesture. He would later teach and utilize this system
during his career. On his return to the United States a year later, he
lectured on the philosophy of ethics and "natural" acting in New York,
Boston and elsewhere. In 1873 he became the first American actor to
portray Hamlet in London.MacKaye was the author of thirty plays. As a
dramatist, MacKaye is seen as representative of the transition from an
older theatrical tradition to a newer one, incorporating realism and
naturalistic portrayals. His first play to be published was Hazel
Kirke, which was privately printed in New York in 1880. The play,
while a smash-hit with audiences, received neutral-to-negative
response from theatre critics, who criticized its lack of a primary
antagonist. In the mid-1880s he helped establish the first school of
acting in the United States, the Lyceum Theatre School, which later
became the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA). He was also well
known for his theatrical innovations, having invented a variety of
devices including flame-proof curtains, folding theater seats and the
"Nebulator", a machine for creating clouds onstage. In all, he
patented over 100 theatrical inventions.
February 25, 1894) was an American playwright, actor, theater manager
and inventor. Having acted, written, directed and produced numerous
and popular plays and theatrical spectaculars of the day, he became
one of the most famous actors and theater producers of his
generation.Steele MacKaye was born in Buffalo, New York. His father,
Colonel James M. MacKaye, was a successful attorney and an ardent
abolitionist; Steele's mother died when he was young. His aunt was
Sarah MacKaye Alling (1809â€"1904) and he had two sisters, Emily
MacKaye von Hesse (1838â€"1919), Sarah MacKaye Warner (1840â€"1876)
and two half-brothers, William Henry MacKaye (1834â€"1888) and Henry
Goodwin MacKaye (1856â€"1913). While young, Steele attended Roe's
Military Academy in Cornwall-on-Hudson and the William Leverett
Boarding School in Newport. Under the influence from his father, who
was also an art connoisseur, MacKaye initially planned to become an
artist. During his teens he studied painting with William Morris Hunt,
then continued his studies at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. He
returned to the U.S. in order to serve for the Union Army during the
American Civil War. A member of New York's Seventh Regiment, he
eventually rose to the rank of Major before an illness forced his
retirement. MacKaye would later model in full uniform for John Quincy
Adams Ward's Seventh Regiment Memorial statue, which stands in Central
Park.In 1869, MacKaye traveled to Paris with his family, where he
became the disciple of the renowned French acting teacher François
Delsarte. Under Delsarte, MacKaye learned to enhance performance
through pose and gesture. He would later teach and utilize this system
during his career. On his return to the United States a year later, he
lectured on the philosophy of ethics and "natural" acting in New York,
Boston and elsewhere. In 1873 he became the first American actor to
portray Hamlet in London.MacKaye was the author of thirty plays. As a
dramatist, MacKaye is seen as representative of the transition from an
older theatrical tradition to a newer one, incorporating realism and
naturalistic portrayals. His first play to be published was Hazel
Kirke, which was privately printed in New York in 1880. The play,
while a smash-hit with audiences, received neutral-to-negative
response from theatre critics, who criticized its lack of a primary
antagonist. In the mid-1880s he helped establish the first school of
acting in the United States, the Lyceum Theatre School, which later
became the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA). He was also well
known for his theatrical innovations, having invented a variety of
devices including flame-proof curtains, folding theater seats and the
"Nebulator", a machine for creating clouds onstage. In all, he
patented over 100 theatrical inventions.
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