David Belasco

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Lore & Background

David Belasco was born in 1853 in San Francisco, California, the son of Abraham H. Belasco and Reyna Belasco, Sephardic Jews who had immigrated from London's Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community during the California gold rush. He began working as a youth in a San Francisco theater doing jobs like call boy, script copier, or extra. From 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.' Seeing 'people die under such peculiar circumstances' made him 'all the more particular in regard to the psychology of dying on the stage.' By March 1874 he was back in San Francisco, eventually managing Thomas Maguire's Baldwin Theater. When Maguire lost the theater in 1882, Belasco relocated to the East Coast. He went to New York City in 1882, working as stage manager for the Madison Square Theatre and then the old Lyceum Theatre, while also writing original plays. By 1895, he was considered America's most distinguished playwright and producer. Over his career, stretching between 1884 and 1930, Belasco wrote, directed, or produced more than 100 Broadway plays, including Hearts of Oak, The Heart of Maryland, and Du Barry. He helped establish careers for dozens of stage performers, including Leslie Carter, Ina Claire, Maude Adams, Jeanne Eagels, Lenore Ulric, David Warfield, and Barbara Stanwyck. He also gave Mary Pickford her stage name and worked with Lionel Barrymore. Belasco was married to Cecilia Loverich for over fifty years; they had two daughters, Reina and Augusta. He died on May 14, 1931, at age 77 in Manhattan, and was interred in Linden Hill Jewish Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens.

Reader's Guide

David Belasco's significance lies in his pioneering contributions to stage lighting and naturalism. He demanded a natural acting style and developed stage settings with authentic lighting effects, using colored lights via motorized color-changing wheels to evoke mood and setting. He was one of the first directors to eschew traditional footlights in favor of lights concealed below floor level, hidden from the audience. He used 'follow spots' to further create realism and often tailored lighting to actors' complexions and hair color. He ordered a specially made 1000-watt lamp, the only director to have one for the first two years after its introduction (1914–1915). His production of The Girl of the Golden West (1905) opened with a spectacular sunset that lasted five minutes before any dialogue. His sets were highly detailed: for one play an operational laundromat was built onstage, and for The Governor's Lady a reproduction of a Childs Restaurant kitchen was used. He was said to put appropriate scents into theater ventilation systems. His original scripts often contained long, specific descriptions of props and set dressings. Though initially less appreciated than European counterparts like André Antoine and Constantin Stanislavski, he is now regarded as 'one of the first significant directorial figures in the history of the American theatre.' His works Madame Butterfly and The Girl of the Golden West were adapted as operas by Giacomo Puccini, and more than forty motion pictures have been made from his plays.

Did You Know?

• Belasco was the first writer to adapt the short story Madame Butterfly for the stage.
• He launched the careers of actors including James O'Neill, Mary Pickford, Lenore Ulric, and Barbara Stanwyck.
• He ordered a specially made 1000-watt lamp and was the only director to have one for the first two years after its introduction (1914–1915).
• His production of The Girl of the Golden West (1905) opened with a spectacular sunset that lasted five minutes before any dialogue.
• Belasco was a member of The Lambs from 1893 to 1931.