Mr. Mason Remembered

How many performers whose careers began before the advent of motion pictures have had their achievements lost to history? Yes, we remember a select few, but a lack of documentation, and short memories, put the kibosh on too many others.

That's no longer the case for comic actor Dan Mason (1853-1929), thanks to Joseph P. Eckhardt's latest book. The author was granted access to a rich array of photographs, scripts, and playbills, as well as Mason's  uncompleted memoir. With that framework embellished by Eckhardt's exhaustive research, the result is Dan Mason: From Vaudeville to Broadway to the Silent Screen (McFarland).

In many ways, Mason's career illustrates the sweeping changes in the entertainment industry between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We follow along as Mason, a high school dropout, finds his comedic gifts adaptable to variety shows, vaudeville, Broadway, and finally silent movies. Fans of early motion picture comedy will enjoy reading about Mason's work in the Toonerville Trolley two-reelers of the early 1920s. Had he lived a year or two longer, he likely would have sound pictures on his resume as well.

Naturally, there are questions that cannot be fully answered, 100 to 150 years later. When complete details are elusive, Eckhardt is honest enough to say so. Nonetheless, the author gives us an impressively full-bodied portrait of Mason, the man and the performer. There were frequently stresses and challenges in his life, among them a brief early marriage, the death of his first two children before they reached adulthood, and recurring money problems. Not only was he devoted to his daughter Anna, known as Nan, but he also took a young actress, Wilna Hervey, under his wing. Decades ahead of his time, he was completely supportive when the two women became romantically involved, fully embracing them as a loving couple.

Cliched though it might seem, there's a poignancy about a performer who carefully saves yellowing newspaper clippings and memorabilia over a period of some years, clearly hoping that someone, sometime, will care. Luckily for Dan Mason, Joseph P. Eckhardt came along and understood the worth of what he found. Readers will surely do likewise.

NOTE: I was furnished with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.