William J. Le Moyne (1831â€"1905) was an American actor who is
credited with playing Deacon Perry in the first stage adaption of
Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.William
J. Le Moyne (sometimes spelled Lemoyne or LeMoyne) was born on April
29, 1831, in Boston, Massachusetts, where he began performing in
amateur theater productions at around the age of fifteen. Le Moyne may
have briefly supported himself as a silversmith before his
professional stage debut on May 10, 1852, at Portland, Maine, playing
an officer in The Lady of Lyons, a romantic drama by Edward
Bulwer-Lytton. Later that year Le Moyne joined the repertory company
at Peale's Museum in Troy, New York, as a $6 a-week 'utility man' (bit
player) that was later increased to $8 after he demonstrated an
ability to play 'old man roles'. The company was largely made up of
friends and family of its manager, George C. Howard and is remember
for staging the first production of Uncle Tom's Cabin on September 27,
1852, at Peale's Museum. The play was an immediate hit and had a run
of one hundred performances, remarkable at the time for a community
the size of Troy. Le Moyne's tour with Uncle Tom's Cabin the following
year paved the way for his one-day becoming an actor of national
standing.At the outbreak of the American Civil War Le Moyne enlisted
as a first lieutenant with Company B of the 28th Massachusetts
Volunteers under the command of fellow actor Lawrence Barrett. At some
point Barrett resigned and Le Moyne assumed command only to witness
over half his men killed or wounded in a string of Northern defeats in
South Carolina and Virginia. In September 1862, Le Moyne himself was
severely wounded during the Battle of South Mountain and was unable to
return to military service. He was later granted by congress a
retroactive promotion to the rank of captain dating back to the point
he assumed command of company B.In 1863 Le Moyne returned to the stage
where he remained active until the dawn of the twentieth century. He
appeared in a number of plays based on the works of Charles Dickens
playing such characters as Fagin, Captain Cuttle, Uriah Heep, Squeers,
Plummer, Dick Swiveller and Caleb. In Shakespeare's Hamlet Le Moyne is
said[who?] to have played every major male role except that of the
prince himself. Over his career Le Moyne performed with companies
headed by legendary actors Edwin Booth, Edwin Forrest and Charles
Fletcher(or possibly Charles Fechter), and in producer Daniel
Frohman's Lyceum Theatre Company. Heart trouble forced Le Moyne to
retire from the stage in 1901 after supporting James K. Hackett in Don
Caesar's Return.
credited with playing Deacon Perry in the first stage adaption of
Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.William
J. Le Moyne (sometimes spelled Lemoyne or LeMoyne) was born on April
29, 1831, in Boston, Massachusetts, where he began performing in
amateur theater productions at around the age of fifteen. Le Moyne may
have briefly supported himself as a silversmith before his
professional stage debut on May 10, 1852, at Portland, Maine, playing
an officer in The Lady of Lyons, a romantic drama by Edward
Bulwer-Lytton. Later that year Le Moyne joined the repertory company
at Peale's Museum in Troy, New York, as a $6 a-week 'utility man' (bit
player) that was later increased to $8 after he demonstrated an
ability to play 'old man roles'. The company was largely made up of
friends and family of its manager, George C. Howard and is remember
for staging the first production of Uncle Tom's Cabin on September 27,
1852, at Peale's Museum. The play was an immediate hit and had a run
of one hundred performances, remarkable at the time for a community
the size of Troy. Le Moyne's tour with Uncle Tom's Cabin the following
year paved the way for his one-day becoming an actor of national
standing.At the outbreak of the American Civil War Le Moyne enlisted
as a first lieutenant with Company B of the 28th Massachusetts
Volunteers under the command of fellow actor Lawrence Barrett. At some
point Barrett resigned and Le Moyne assumed command only to witness
over half his men killed or wounded in a string of Northern defeats in
South Carolina and Virginia. In September 1862, Le Moyne himself was
severely wounded during the Battle of South Mountain and was unable to
return to military service. He was later granted by congress a
retroactive promotion to the rank of captain dating back to the point
he assumed command of company B.In 1863 Le Moyne returned to the stage
where he remained active until the dawn of the twentieth century. He
appeared in a number of plays based on the works of Charles Dickens
playing such characters as Fagin, Captain Cuttle, Uriah Heep, Squeers,
Plummer, Dick Swiveller and Caleb. In Shakespeare's Hamlet Le Moyne is
said[who?] to have played every major male role except that of the
prince himself. Over his career Le Moyne performed with companies
headed by legendary actors Edwin Booth, Edwin Forrest and Charles
Fletcher(or possibly Charles Fechter), and in producer Daniel
Frohman's Lyceum Theatre Company. Heart trouble forced Le Moyne to
retire from the stage in 1901 after supporting James K. Hackett in Don
Caesar's Return.
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