Marshall P. Wilder
Encyclopedia
Marshall P. Wilder was a famous actor, monologist, humorist and sketch artist who was one of the first persons with a disability to become a celebrity on his own terms.
the son of Dr. Louis de Valois Wilder and the former Mary A. Bostwick. He shared the same name as his great-uncle, a distinguished amateur pomologist and floriculturist, who help found the Boston Horticultural Society
and American Pomological Society
. His father was an 1843 graduate of the Geneva Medical College
and for a number of years an attending physician at Flower Hospital at the New York Medical College
and a member of the New York Homeopathic Medical Society.
While still a boy, Wilder’s family moved to Rochester
where he became popular for his talent as a storyteller
and apparent gift as a clairvoyant. It was also at Rochester that Wilder received his early inspiration for a later vocation after attending a public reading at Corinthian Hall. In his youth he worked as a pin-boy at a bowling alley and storeroom clerk for a summer resort, before moving to New York City around the age of twenty where found employment as a file boy with a commercial firm. Before a while Wilder starting augmenting his income by giving humorous monologues for 50 cents a performance.
. While still the Prince of Wales
, King Edward VII became an admirer of Wilder and over the years would attend nearly twenty of his performances. Wilder's career eventually branched into vaudeville
and in 1904 embarked on a round the world tour.
In describing his monologues the Syracuse Herald wrote in a 1907 article: “His pathos
, his humor, his indescribable droll and uplifting optimism
keeps bubbling forth all through the evening".
Wilder, who always signed his correspondence “Merrily yours”, authored three books over his career, I’ve Smiled With (1899), The Sunnyside of the Street (1905), Smiling Around the World (1908) and had edited a number of volumes of The Wit and Humor of America and The Ten Books of the Merrymakers. The Washington Post
wrote in 1915 of his coping with physical disabilities (dwarfism
and kyphosis
), “Wilder coaxed the frown of adverse fortune into a smile.”
Though nearly forgotten today, Wilder was heralded in his lifetime and did not let his dwarfism be an excuse for cheap entertainment. Wilder shunned offers by showmen like P.T. Barnum to instead become an established legitimate stage actor and sketch artist. He made his earliest motion picture appearance in 1897, for which he received $600, and his last in 1913. Wilder also left recordings of his routines.
At the end of each performance Wilder was known to seek out everyone involved in the show to shake their hand always with a generous tip in his palm. Wilder was until his final curtain call a headliner earning a five-figure annual income. At one point in his career Wilder was willing to take a cut in pay in order to play a vaudeville circuit he felt catered to an audience that better appreciated his humor. This eventually did not come about because of booking issues.
complicated by pneumonia
. The funeral service was held a few days later at the Stephen Merritt Mortuary Chapel in New York. Marshal Wilder was survived by his children, who shared the bulk of his quarter million dollar estate, and a sister, Jennie Cornelia Wilder, who also had some success as an entertainer of diminutive stature.
During the Great Depression
Grace Wilder served as director of the Puppets and Marionettes department of the Public Works Administration
(PWA) Drama Division. She would later serve in a similar capacity as a social worker in New York City and with community puppet theaters in California
. According to one of his obituaries, puppetry
was a childhood interest of her father's who would entertain his neighbors with Punch and Judy
shows charging two cents admission or a nickel for reserved seating.
Marshall P. Wilder Jr. became a pioneer in the development of television
when in 1931 he participated in the first successful transmission of a signal to a ship stationed some 50 miles offshore. And later during World War II
was one of the technicians who helped develop what today are called smart bombs by engineering a television camera small enough to fit into the nosecone of a bomb
or unmanned aircraft that could be directed by remote control
.
Early life
Marshall Pinckney Wilder (sometimes spelled Marshal) was born along the north shore of Seneca Lake at Geneva, New YorkGeneva, New York
Geneva is a city in Ontario and Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York. The population was 13,617 at the 2000 census. Some claim it is named after the city and canton of Geneva in Switzerland. Others believe the name came from confusion over the letters in the word "Seneca" written in cursive...
the son of Dr. Louis de Valois Wilder and the former Mary A. Bostwick. He shared the same name as his great-uncle, a distinguished amateur pomologist and floriculturist, who help found the Boston Horticultural Society
Massachusetts Horticultural Society
The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, sometimes abbreviated to MassHort, is an American horticultural society based in Massachusetts. It describes itself as the oldest, formally-organized horticultural institution in the United States...
and American Pomological Society
American Pomological Society
The American Pomological Society, founded in 1848 to foster the growing of fruit and the development of new varieties, is the oldest fruit organization in North America.-References:...
. His father was an 1843 graduate of the Geneva Medical College
Geneva Medical College
Geneva Medical College was founded on September 15, 1834, in Geneva, New York, as a separate department of Geneva College, currently known as Hobart and William Smith Colleges. In 1871, the medical school was transferred to Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York...
and for a number of years an attending physician at Flower Hospital at the New York Medical College
New York Medical College
New York Medical College, aka New York Med or NYMC, is a private graduate health sciences university based in Westchester County, New York, a suburb of New York City and a part of the New York Metropolitan Area...
and a member of the New York Homeopathic Medical Society.
While still a boy, Wilder’s family moved to Rochester
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
where he became popular for his talent as a storyteller
Storyteller
- Films and television :* Narradores de Javé , a 2003 Brazilian film by Eliane Caffé* The Storyteller , a 2009 American horror film* The Storyteller, a 1988 television series by Jim Henson...
and apparent gift as a clairvoyant. It was also at Rochester that Wilder received his early inspiration for a later vocation after attending a public reading at Corinthian Hall. In his youth he worked as a pin-boy at a bowling alley and storeroom clerk for a summer resort, before moving to New York City around the age of twenty where found employment as a file boy with a commercial firm. Before a while Wilder starting augmenting his income by giving humorous monologues for 50 cents a performance.
Career
These early performances were held in the drawing rooms of wealthy New Yorkers gaining him the notoriety to soon join the ranks of full-time entertainers. In 1883 Wilder traveled to London where he became a favorite of the British Royal FamilyBritish Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
. While still the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
, King Edward VII became an admirer of Wilder and over the years would attend nearly twenty of his performances. Wilder's career eventually branched into vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
and in 1904 embarked on a round the world tour.
In describing his monologues the Syracuse Herald wrote in a 1907 article: “His pathos
Pathos
Pathos represents an appeal to the audience's emotions. Pathos is a communication technique used most often in rhetoric , and in literature, film and other narrative art....
, his humor, his indescribable droll and uplifting optimism
Optimism
The Oxford English Dictionary defines optimism as having "hopefulness and confidence about the future or successful outcome of something; a tendency to take a favourable or hopeful view." The word is originally derived from the Latin optimum, meaning "best." Being optimistic, in the typical sense...
keeps bubbling forth all through the evening".
Wilder, who always signed his correspondence “Merrily yours”, authored three books over his career, I’ve Smiled With (1899), The Sunnyside of the Street (1905), Smiling Around the World (1908) and had edited a number of volumes of The Wit and Humor of America and The Ten Books of the Merrymakers. The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
wrote in 1915 of his coping with physical disabilities (dwarfism
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
and kyphosis
Kyphosis
Kyphosis , also called roundback or Kelso's hunchback, is a condition of over-curvature of the thoracic vertebrae...
), “Wilder coaxed the frown of adverse fortune into a smile.”
Though nearly forgotten today, Wilder was heralded in his lifetime and did not let his dwarfism be an excuse for cheap entertainment. Wilder shunned offers by showmen like P.T. Barnum to instead become an established legitimate stage actor and sketch artist. He made his earliest motion picture appearance in 1897, for which he received $600, and his last in 1913. Wilder also left recordings of his routines.
At the end of each performance Wilder was known to seek out everyone involved in the show to shake their hand always with a generous tip in his palm. Wilder was until his final curtain call a headliner earning a five-figure annual income. At one point in his career Wilder was willing to take a cut in pay in order to play a vaudeville circuit he felt catered to an audience that better appreciated his humor. This eventually did not come about because of booking issues.
Marriage
In 1903 Marshall Wilder married Sophie Cornell Hanks, the daughter of a New Jersey dentist. Sophie was a writer and dramatist who collaborated with Wilder on his books. Their daughter Grace was born in 1905 around the time the couple returned from the world tour. Marshall Jr. followed a year or so later. On December 20, 1913 Sophie died at the age of 35 in New York City after a brief illness and failed operation. She was in the city to give dramatic readings of her new book, The Golden Lotus.Death
Following the loss of his wife Wilder's health began to decline and a little over a year later fell ill while in St. Paul, Minnesota for an engagement. His death there on January 10, 1915 was attributed to heart diseaseHeart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
complicated by pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. The funeral service was held a few days later at the Stephen Merritt Mortuary Chapel in New York. Marshal Wilder was survived by his children, who shared the bulk of his quarter million dollar estate, and a sister, Jennie Cornelia Wilder, who also had some success as an entertainer of diminutive stature.
During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
Grace Wilder served as director of the Puppets and Marionettes department of the Public Works Administration
Public Works Administration
The Public Works Administration , part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act in June 1933 in response to the Great Depression...
(PWA) Drama Division. She would later serve in a similar capacity as a social worker in New York City and with community puppet theaters in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. According to one of his obituaries, puppetry
Puppetry
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance which involves the manipulation of puppets. It is very ancient, and is believed to have originated 30,000 years BC. Puppetry takes many forms but they all share the process of animating inanimate performing objects...
was a childhood interest of her father's who would entertain his neighbors with Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy is a traditional, popular puppet show featuring the characters of Mr. Punch and his wife, Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Punch and one other character...
shows charging two cents admission or a nickel for reserved seating.
Marshall P. Wilder Jr. became a pioneer in the development of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
when in 1931 he participated in the first successful transmission of a signal to a ship stationed some 50 miles offshore. And later during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
was one of the technicians who helped develop what today are called smart bombs by engineering a television camera small enough to fit into the nosecone of a bomb
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
or unmanned aircraft that could be directed by remote control
Remote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
.
Filmography
- Marshall P. Wilder (1897)
- Actor's Fund Field Day (1910)
- Marshall P. Wilder (1912)(as himself)
- Chumps (1912)
- The Five Senses (1912)
- The Pipe (1912)
- The Greatest Thing in the World(1912)
- Professor Optimo (1912)
- Mockery (1912)
- The Godmother (1912)
- The Curio Hunters (1912)
- The Widow's Might (1913)
External links
- Marshall P. Wilder at IMDb.com
- portrait of Marshall P. Wilder, 1914(University of Washington, Sayre collection)
- portrait gallery of Marshall P. Wilder(NY Public Library, Billy Rose collection)
- bio and portrait gallery
- formal portrait, Marshall Wilder; 1885
- Marshall P. Wilder speaking in 1908 recording