David Belasco (July 25, 1853 â€" May 14, 1931) was an American
theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the
first writer to adapt the short story Madame Butterfly for the stage,
and he launched the theatrical career of many actors, including James
O'Neill, Mary Pickford, Lenore Ulric and Barbara Stanwyck. Belasco
pioneered many innovative new forms of stage lighting and special
effects in order to create realism and naturalism.David Belasco was
born in San Francisco, California, the son of Abraham H. Belasco
(1830â€"1911) and Reyna Belasco (née Nunes, 1830â€"1899), Sephardic
Jews who had moved from London’s Spanish and Portuguese Jewish
community during the California Gold Rush.:13 He began working in a
San Francisco theatre doing a variety of routine jobs, such as call
boy, script copier or as an extra in small parts.:14 He received his
first experience as a stage manager while on the road. He said, "We
used to play in any place we could hire or get intoâ€"a hall, a big
dining room, an empty barn; any place that would take us.":14From late
1873 to early 1874, he worked as an actor, director, and secretary at
Piper's Opera House in Virginia City, Nevada, where he found "more
reckless women and desperadoes to the square foot…than anywhere else
in the world". His developmental years as a supporting player in
Virginia City colored his thoughts eventually helping him to conceive
realistic stage settings. He said that while there, seeing "people
die under such peculiar circumstances" made him "all the more
particular in regard to the psychology of dying on the stage. I think
I was one of the first to bring naturalness to bear in death scenes,
and my varied Virginia City experiences did much to help me toward
this. Later I was to go deeper into such studies." His recollections
of that time were published in Hearst's Magazine in 1914. By March
1874, he was back at work in San Francisco, eventually managing Thomas
Maguire's Baldwin Theater. When Maguire lost the theater in 1882,
Belasco relocated to the East Coast bringing his practical western
experiences with him. The West allowed him to develop his talents as
not only a performer, but in progressive production design and
execution. A gifted playwright, Belasco went to New York City in 1882
where he worked as stage manager for the Madison Square Theatre
(starting with Young Mrs. Winthrop), and then the old Lyceum Theatre
while writing plays. By 1895, he was so successful that he was
considered America's most distinguished playwright and producer.
theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the
first writer to adapt the short story Madame Butterfly for the stage,
and he launched the theatrical career of many actors, including James
O'Neill, Mary Pickford, Lenore Ulric and Barbara Stanwyck. Belasco
pioneered many innovative new forms of stage lighting and special
effects in order to create realism and naturalism.David Belasco was
born in San Francisco, California, the son of Abraham H. Belasco
(1830â€"1911) and Reyna Belasco (née Nunes, 1830â€"1899), Sephardic
Jews who had moved from London’s Spanish and Portuguese Jewish
community during the California Gold Rush.:13 He began working in a
San Francisco theatre doing a variety of routine jobs, such as call
boy, script copier or as an extra in small parts.:14 He received his
first experience as a stage manager while on the road. He said, "We
used to play in any place we could hire or get intoâ€"a hall, a big
dining room, an empty barn; any place that would take us.":14From late
1873 to early 1874, he worked as an actor, director, and secretary at
Piper's Opera House in Virginia City, Nevada, where he found "more
reckless women and desperadoes to the square foot…than anywhere else
in the world". His developmental years as a supporting player in
Virginia City colored his thoughts eventually helping him to conceive
realistic stage settings. He said that while there, seeing "people
die under such peculiar circumstances" made him "all the more
particular in regard to the psychology of dying on the stage. I think
I was one of the first to bring naturalness to bear in death scenes,
and my varied Virginia City experiences did much to help me toward
this. Later I was to go deeper into such studies." His recollections
of that time were published in Hearst's Magazine in 1914. By March
1874, he was back at work in San Francisco, eventually managing Thomas
Maguire's Baldwin Theater. When Maguire lost the theater in 1882,
Belasco relocated to the East Coast bringing his practical western
experiences with him. The West allowed him to develop his talents as
not only a performer, but in progressive production design and
execution. A gifted playwright, Belasco went to New York City in 1882
where he worked as stage manager for the Madison Square Theatre
(starting with Young Mrs. Winthrop), and then the old Lyceum Theatre
while writing plays. By 1895, he was so successful that he was
considered America's most distinguished playwright and producer.
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