Monroe Salisbury
Encyclopedia
Monroe Salisbury was an American actor. He appeared on the stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 for several years and then became an early movie star
Movie star
A movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...

.

Salisbury was a matinee idol
Matinee idol
Matinée idol is a term used mainly to describe film or theatre stars who are adored to the point of adulation by their fans.The term almost exclusively refers to male actors. Invariably the adulation was fixated on the actor's looks rather than performance...

. He began his acting
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....

 career on the stage in 1898, appearing in numerous romantic leads. He also appeared in five Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 productions. He was in 42 silent movies
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 between 1914
1914 in film
The year 1914 in film involved some significant events, including the debut of Cecil B. DeMille as a director.-Events:*The 3,300-seat Mark Strand Theatre opens in New York City....

 and 1922
1922 in film
-Events:* June 11 - United States première of Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North, the first commercially successful feature length documentary film....

, working frequently with director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...

. Salisbury, who appeared in several western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 movies
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

, also appeared in two talkies
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...

, in 1929
1929 in film
-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....

 and 1930
1930 in film
-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...

.

After his career was at an end, Salisbury died at a mental hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...

 from a fractured skull sustained during a fall.

Early life

He was born Orange Salisbury Cash in Angola, New York
Angola, New York
Angola is a village in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 2,266 at the 2000 census. The name is reportedly derived from the South-central African country of Angola...

, the son of David Cash (c. 1840–?) and Ellen Louise Salisbury (1842–1929). Orr's two elder sisters were Adelaide Mary Cash (1864–1956), who married John C. Bosche, and Anna Louise Cash (1868–1951), whose married name was Clark.

His mother had a younger brother named Orange James Salisbury (1844–1907). She also had an elder brother named Monroe Salisbury (1835–1905), a government contractor and well-known turfman
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 who bred racehorses.

Stage career

Orr took the name Monroe Salisbury as his stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...

. He appeared behind the footlights with such notables as Richard Mansfield
Richard Mansfield
Richard Mansfield was an English actor-manager best known for his performances in Shakespeare plays, Gilbert and Sullivan operas and for his portrayal of the dual title roles in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....

, Eleonora Duse
Eleonora Duse
-Life and career:Duse was born in Vigevano, Lombardy, and began acting as a child. Both her father and her grandfather were actors, and she joined the troupe at age four. Due to poverty, she initially worked continually, traveling from city to city with whichever troupe her family was currently...

, John Drew, Nance O'Neil, Minnie Maddern Fiske
Mrs. Fiske
Minnie Maddern Fiske , born as Marie Augusta Davey, but often billed simply as Mrs. Fiske, was one of the leading American actresses of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. She also spearheaded the fight against the Theatrical Syndicate for the sake of artistic freedom...

 and Kathryn Kidder
Kathryn Kidder
Kathryn Kidder was an American actress, born at Newark, N. J. She studied dramatic art in New York, London, and Paris, made her début as an actress in Chicago in 1886, and later appeared in Davy Crockett, Nordeck, and Little Lord Fauntleroy.After 1894 she starred continuously in old English...

.

While he was performing in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

, in June 1900, Salisbury and his mother were staying in a hotel on Weybosset Street when the U.S. Federal Census
United States Census
The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...

 was taken. His debut on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 was in the play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

 Marta of the Lowlands (1903).

Movie career

Salisbury's movie debut was in the uncredited role as Sir Henry, Earl of Kerhill, in DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...

's The Squaw Man (1914
1914 in film
The year 1914 in film involved some significant events, including the debut of Cecil B. DeMille as a director.-Events:*The 3,300-seat Mark Strand Theatre opens in New York City....

). He also worked for DeMille in such movies as Brewster's Millions
Brewster's Millions (1914 film)
Brewster's Millions is a 1914 comedy film directed by Oscar Apfel and Cecil B. DeMille. It's an adaptation of the novel written by George Barr McCutcheon. The novel had also been turned into a successful 1906 Broadway play that also starred Edward Abeles...

, The Master Mind
The Master Mind
The Master Mind is a 1914 American black & white silent crime/drama film directed by Oscar Apfel and Cecil B. DeMille. The plot revolves around a defense attorney who, unable to obtain the acquittal of an innocent young man, concocts a complicated and diabolical scheme to revenge himself upon the...

, The Virginian
The Virginian (1914 film)
The Virginian is a 1914 film based upon the novel by Owen Wister, and starring Dustin Farnum as the Virginian. The movie is the first of several versions, including a 1929 movie with Gary Cooper and Walter Huston and a 1960 television series. The 1914 film was directed by Cecil B....

, and Rose of the Rancho
Rose of the Rancho
Rose of the Rancho is a 1914 Western film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film cost $16,988 to make, and grossed $87,028.-Plot:Esra Kincaid takes land by force and, having taken the Espinoza land, his sights are set on the Castro rancho...

, which were all released in 1914. He also appeared alongside Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro....

 in The Lamb
The Lamb (1915 film)
The Lamb is a 1915 silent film that was Douglas Fairbanks's first starring role in a film. Fairbanks apparently played an extra or warm up part in Martyrs of the Alamo before releasing The Lamb. Surviving stills of The Lamb show Fairbanks at one point as an Indian brave in a near state of nudity...

and Double Trouble (both 1915
1915 in film
The year 1915 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 8 : D.W Griffith's The Birth of a Nation premieres at Clune's Auditorium Los Angeles and breaks box office and film length records, running at a total length of 3 hrs 10 minutes.* June 18 : The Motion Picture Directors...

).

Salisbury scored his greatest success when he starred as Alessandro in Ramona
Ramona (1916 film)
Ramona is a 1916 drama film directed by Donald Crisp, based on Helen Hunt Jackson's 1884 novel Ramona. The film is considered to be lost....

(1916
1916 in film
The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 17 - release of A Daughter of the Gods, the first US production with a million dollar budget, with the first nude scene by a major star....

) opposite Adda Gleason
Adda Gleason
Adda Gleason was an American actress.Gleason was born in Chicago, Illinois. She starred in the 1916 film adaptation of Ramona. She died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* That Devil, Bateese...

 in the title role
Title role
The title role in the performing arts is the performance part that gives the title to the piece, as in Aida, Giselle, Michael Collins or Othello. The actor, singer or dancer who performs that part is also said to have the title role....

. He then signed with Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

, where he was among the top movie star
Movie star
A movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...

s for several years.

When he registered for the draft of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, in late 1918, Salisbury and his mother were living in the Mountain View Inn at 5956 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...

 in Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...

.

In the late 1910s, he bought a 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) citrus ranch near Hemet
Hemet, California
Hemet is a city in the San Jacinto Valley in Riverside County, California, United States. It covers a total area of , about half of the valley, which it shares with the neighboring city of San Jacinto. The population was 78,657 at the 2010 census....

, and, between pictures, it was his habit to drive out and drop in unexpectedly on the Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 overseer and his family who lived on the place and worked in the groves.

In 1920, Salisbury and his mother were still living at the Mountain View Inn on Hollywood Boulevard. He formed his own production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...

, that same year, and produced
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...

 and starred in The Barbarian (1921
1921 in film
-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1921:U.S.A. unless stated*$10,000 Under a Pillow, silent film directed by Frank Moser*The Ace of Hearts, silent film directed by Wallace Worsley*Across the Divide, silent film directed by John Holloway...

). His final starring role was in the drama
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 Great Alone (1922
1922 in film
-Events:* June 11 - United States première of Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North, the first commercially successful feature length documentary film....

), in which he played a half-Native American college student and football player, a character presumably half his age. He then retired from the screen.

In June 1928, he returned to the U.S. at the Port of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, from Kobe, Japan
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...

, aboard the S.S. Taiyo Maru, and gave his U.S. address as Hemet, California.

Comeback

With the advent of sound in the late 1920s, Salisbury returned to the screen in two talkies. He appeared in a Christie
Christie Film Company
Christie Film Company was an American pioneer motion picture company founded in Hollywood, California by Al Christie and Charles Christie, two brothers from London, Ontario, Canada....

 comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 short
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...

, Her Husband's Woman (1929
1929 in film
-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....

). He then played John Lamar in Universal's 10 chapter serial
Serial (film)
Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials, Film serials or Chapter plays, were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction...

 The Jade Box
The Jade Box
The Jade Box is a Universal movie serial. It was a partially sound film with large silent elements. Only an incomplete version survives today.-Plot:...

(1930
1930 in film
-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...

).

The Jade Box serial was Salisbury's final movie appearances. In 1930, he was living at the Warner Kelton Hotel at 6326 Lexington Avenue, just west of Vine Street, in Hollywood.

In February 1932, he returned to Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

, at San Pedro
San Pedro, Los Angeles, California
San Pedro is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area...

, from Ensenada, Mexico
Ensenada, Baja California
Ensenada is a coastal city in Mexico and the third-largest city in Baja California. It is located south of San Diego on the Baja California Peninsula. The city is locally referred to as La Cenicienta del Pacífico, or, The Cinderella of the Pacific...

, aboard the S.S. Ruth Alexander, and gave his U.S. address as 6326 Lexington Hollywood.

Final years

On July 2, 1935, Salisbury entered Patton State Hospital
Patton State Hospital
Patton State Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located in San Bernardino, California.Opened in 1893 as the Southern California State Asylum for the Insane and Inebriates, it was renamed Patton State Hospital after Harry Patton, a member of the first Board of Managers, in 1927.Patton is a state...

, a mental facility
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...

 near San Bernardino
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...

, as a patient. He may have been admitted under his real name, Orr Cash. His occupation was given as hotel clerk. A month later, he suffered a bad fall at the institution and was fatally injured.

Monroe Salisbury died at age 59 from a fractured skull sustained in his fall at the institution. He was at a local mortuary for a day before his true identity was discovered. Only four mourners were present at his funeral on August 9, 1935, at the mortuary in San Bernardino. His body was returned to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, for cremation
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....

 and his ashes interred with his mother in the family plot at Rosedale Cemetery.

Selected filmography

  • The Squaw Man (1914
    1914 in film
    The year 1914 in film involved some significant events, including the debut of Cecil B. DeMille as a director.-Events:*The 3,300-seat Mark Strand Theatre opens in New York City....

    )
  • Brewster's Millions
    Brewster's Millions (1914 film)
    Brewster's Millions is a 1914 comedy film directed by Oscar Apfel and Cecil B. DeMille. It's an adaptation of the novel written by George Barr McCutcheon. The novel had also been turned into a successful 1906 Broadway play that also starred Edward Abeles...

    (1914)
  • The Master Mind
    The Master Mind
    The Master Mind is a 1914 American black & white silent crime/drama film directed by Oscar Apfel and Cecil B. DeMille. The plot revolves around a defense attorney who, unable to obtain the acquittal of an innocent young man, concocts a complicated and diabolical scheme to revenge himself upon the...

    (1914)
  • The Virginian
    The Virginian (1914 film)
    The Virginian is a 1914 film based upon the novel by Owen Wister, and starring Dustin Farnum as the Virginian. The movie is the first of several versions, including a 1929 movie with Gary Cooper and Walter Huston and a 1960 television series. The 1914 film was directed by Cecil B....

    (1914)
  • Rose of the Rancho
    Rose of the Rancho
    Rose of the Rancho is a 1914 Western film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film cost $16,988 to make, and grossed $87,028.-Plot:Esra Kincaid takes land by force and, having taken the Espinoza land, his sights are set on the Castro rancho...

    (1914)
  • Ramona
    Ramona (1916 film)
    Ramona is a 1916 drama film directed by Donald Crisp, based on Helen Hunt Jackson's 1884 novel Ramona. The film is considered to be lost....

    (1916
    1916 in film
    The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 17 - release of A Daughter of the Gods, the first US production with a million dollar budget, with the first nude scene by a major star....

    )
  • That Devil, Bateese
    That Devil, Bateese
    That Devil, Bateese is a silent drama film directed by William Wolbert, starring Lon Chaney, Sr., and was Chaney's final film in his first stint at Universal Studios. The film is now considered to be a lost film.-Cast:...

    (1918
    1918 in film
    The year 1918 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*Following litigation for anti-trust activities, the US Supreme Court orders the Motion Picture Patents Company to disband....

    )
  • The Jade Box
    The Jade Box
    The Jade Box is a Universal movie serial. It was a partially sound film with large silent elements. Only an incomplete version survives today.-Plot:...

    (1930
    1930 in film
    -Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...

    )

External links

  • Monroe Salisbury at the Internet Broadway Database
    Internet Broadway Database
    The Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade association for the North American commercial theatre community....

  • Monroe Salisbury at the Internet Movie Database
    Internet Movie Database
    Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...

  • Monroe Salisbury at Silent Ladies & Gents - Photos Of...
  • Monroe Salisbury Memorial at Find A Grave
    Find A Grave
    Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...

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