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Eddie Cantor, Will Rogers, William Morris and Saranac Lake

August 29, 2020 by Amy Catania 4 Comments

Dr. Edgar Mayer, actor Eddie Cantor, possibly Al Jolson, theatrical agent William Morris. Courtesy of Gail Brill.One of the things I am missing this summer is the theater. From Broadway in the city of New York to Pendragon Theatre in the Adirondacks and everywhere in between, stages have gone dark.

Actors are a lively, irrepressible bunch, and so it’s a testament to the seriousness of the ongoing pandemic that theaters are closed.

During the 1918 influenza pandemic, Broadway did not shut down. A New York Times article this past July titled, “’Gotham Refuses to Get Scared’: In 1918, Theaters Stayed Open” described how, at the height of the flu epidemic, New York’s health commissioner declined to close performance spaces. Instead, he instituted public health measures such as staggering show times, eliminating standing room tickets, and mandating that anyone with a cough or sneeze be removed from theaters immediately.

The Times article described parallels to the current pandemic, and we Saranac Lakers would notice another connection. The lead photo from the 1918 Ziegfeld Follies included actors Will Rogers and Eddie Cantor. Eddie Cantor was one of the famous visitors to Saranac Lake. Although we have no record of Will Rogers ever coming here, his memory lives on in a beautiful local sanatorium named for him.

Advertisement in Moving Picture World, Nov 1917 for the American film Daughter of Destiny (1917). Public Domain.Eddie Cantor and Will Rogers were guided in their acting careers by one of Saranac Lake’s most famous TB patients and residents, William Morris. He founded the talent agency in 1898 that still carries his name. Morris came to Saranac Lake for his health in 1902, and by the 1920s, he was spending much of his time at his Camp Intermission on nearby Lake Colby. He was one of many theater people, from ticket takers to vaudeville stars, who make up a vibrant part of Saranac Lake history.

While the show went on, TB was a common hazard of the job, and the theater community did not ignore the need for support. Empathy is an essential part of the job description for an actor, so it’s no surprise that many people in the entertainment business engage in helping others.

Impresario and theater owner Edward F. Albee led efforts to provide subsidized care to workers in vaudeville at three different cure cottages in the village. William Morris and his wife Emma established the Saranac Lake Day Nursery to provide childcare and nutrition to children in need. Morris brought to Saranac Lake some of the most famous entertainers of the time to raise funds for many causes. Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, and Harry Lauder performed for fundraisers to support the Day Nursery, the Jewish Community Center, the Methodist Church, and St. Bernard’s Church. Morris brought actress Olga Petrova to Saranac Lake to turn the first shovel of earth for a housing project on Lake Street.

William Morris helped found the National Vaudeville Artists Home in Saranac Lake in 1929. In 1936, following the tragic death of Will Rogers in a plane crash, the facility took the name Will Rogers Memorial Hospital. It was a fitting tribute to the great American humorist, actor and vaudevillian, known throughout America as the country’s “Ambassador of Good Will.” In service today as a beautifully restored retirement community, the building hosts a stage where TB patients once put on performances. The Will Rogers Motion Pictures Pioneers Foundation in Los Angeles continues to support workers from the entertainment industry in need.

Saranac Lake High School chorus with Will Rogers bannerDuring the TB years, Saranac Lake children visited Will Rogers Hospital for holiday concerts. There, they serenaded the patients in the stairwell that wound up around the Will Rogers statue. Today, the tradition continues, when school children sing to elderly residents for the annual winter concert. For now the stage and stairwell are quiet, but actors are irrepressible. We can trust that someday soon, the show will go on.

Photos, from above: Dr. Edgar Mayer, actor Eddie Cantor, possibly Al Jolson, and theatrical agent William Morris courtesy Gail Brill; Advertisement in Moving Picture World, Nov., 1917;  and Saranac Lake High School chorus students pose with banner of Will Rogers in the stairwell at Saranac Lake Village at Will Rogers following last year’s winter concert courtesy of Historic Saranac Lake.

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Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: art, Historic Saranac Lake, Influenza, Saranac Lake, Theatre

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. kent barwick says

    August 30, 2020 at 2:58 PM

    ,Thanks for an interesting piece, Who knew Wm Morris and Albee so involved,
    I am curious to know if there is a good history of the early 20th Century in Saranac Lake.
    My grandfather had a presumably brilliant brother , Howard Victor Littell who graduated from High School at age 12 ( too young to go the College) who went to work in a box factory and taught himself Greek while waiting to enter College finally at age 15, In any case he was Superintendent of Schools in Saranac after WW! and I’d love to learn more about him and life in this remarkable village.

    Reply
    • Editorial Staff says

      August 30, 2020 at 6:17 PM

      Saranac and Saranac Lake are two separate communities.

      Reply
      • Richard says

        August 31, 2020 at 9:18 AM

        And in NY State, School Districts are independent entities and may overlap political jurisdictions of several Towns. Villages and Cities may have a dedicated S.D., but Towns must meet a population limit or share jurisdiction.

        Reply
    • Amy says

      October 21, 2020 at 8:51 PM

      Hi Kent, I just saw your message here! Yes, we often hear about Howard V. Littel here at Historic Saranac Lake. He was very well liked a the school, and many tributes show up in the old yearbooks to him. See his page on our wiki site: https://localwiki.org/hsl/Howard_V._Littell. Do drop us a line at mail@historicsaranaclake.org!

      Reply

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