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311:. Witnesses claimed he was found at the scene with an abrasion on the wrist indicating he had been struggling with someone, and he was heard saying, "My God! I'd give the world to get back to the last four hours!" Nevertheless, he was found
274:, claiming, "He was, perhaps, one of the most comical men that I ever met; and for the life of me I could never refrain from giving imitations of him." Curtis also claimed to have thought of the character while waiting for a train in
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A year after the building opened, Curtis was arrested for drunken behavior. The arresting officer, Alexander Grant, was shot and killed and, though Curtis denied responsibility, he was indicted for
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and continued using the
Plastrick character into the 1890s. Though there are many quoted sources for the character of Sam'l after it brought Curtis meteoric fame and fortune, the character was a
570:
By Thomas Samuel Duke, Captain of Police, San
Francisco; Published with Approval of the Honorable Board of Police Commissioners of San Francisco, 1910. (Public Domain Free Download)
800:
155:, was an American stage actor, producer, and real estate developer, at one point tried and acquitted of a policeman's murder. He achieved fame in the title role of
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300:. He began building the Peralta Park Hotel in 1888; the structure, with its sixty rooms and twenty baths, opened in 1891. The building was later converted into a
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Duke, Thomas Samuel (1910). "The Trials of the
Prominent Actor, Maurice Curtis, Alias Sam'l o' Posen, for the Murder of Police Officer Alexander Grant.".
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Curtis revived his
Plastrick show. He tempered the stereotypical or crude aspects of the character and, by 1894, one reviewer noted, "Nobody, whether
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on July 4, 1895, and one historian noted the "puzzling afternoon" was "beyond the grasp" of the audience, who expected to laugh
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Mauritz
Bertram Strelinger was born in 1849 as proved by the entry in the Strelinger family Bible. He was born to a
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330:." With this change, the character was less successful overseas, however. Curtis attempted one performance in
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in the 1870s. He was best known for starring as Samuel
Plastrick, the lead character in the comic melodrama
583:"Richard Schwartz tells terrific tale of world famous actor who transformed Berkeley — Berkeleyside"
193:
270:"drummer", or traveling salesman, and Curtis claimed he based his portrayal of him on a real salesman in
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All Star
Carnival), which began a world tour specifically to compete with a similar troupe overseen by
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and others claimed credit as well. The role earned him substantial fame and wealth amounting to
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Ragged But Right: Black
Traveling Shows, Coon Songs, and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz
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The Image of the Jew in
American Literature: From Early Republic to Mass Immigration
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The Image of the Jew in
American Literature: From Early Republic to Mass Immigration
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369:
555:
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The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty, The Extraordinary Rise and Fall of Actor M.B.Curtis
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or Gentile, could find offence in this amiable, ingenious and kind hearted young
319:, and a procedural dismissal, but both his finances and reputation were ruined.
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The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of
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on May 16, 1881, after a national tour, having previously been rejected by all
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family in Nagy Selmetz, a Hungarian town that is now in Slovakia outside of
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and always received great praise in newspaper reviews. He cut his teeth in
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669:. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2003 (second edition): 233.
534:. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2003 (second edition): 231.
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100 Years on the Road: The Traveling Salesman in American Culture
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in 1856 as a six year old with his family. He tried to join the
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a Hungarian town that is now in Slovakia outside of Ruzomberok
252:
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18:
689:. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1982: 29.
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From Stereotype to Metaphor: The Jew in Contemporary Drama
707:
That's Got 'Em!: The Life and Music of Wilbur C. Sweatman
647:
That's Got 'Em!: The Life and Music of Wilbur C. Sweatman
560:. San Francisco: James H. Barry Company. pp. 30–35.
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In 1883, Curtis purchased the copyright of the play from
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He was the only private citizen to ever pay to keep the
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theatre owners and is credited as introducing the first
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Emigrants from the Austrian Empire to the United States
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Curtis used some of his income to invest in developing
609:. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008: 42.
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M. B. Curtis and the Making of the American Stage Jew
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219:He performed in over 200 roles from low comedy to
649:. University Press of Mississippi, 2010: 21–22.
629:. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2009: 94.
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729:. University Press of Mississippi, 2009: 44.
709:. University Press of Mississippi, 2010: 22.
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247:in 1879, according to Curtis, and opened in
801:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
750:Maurice Curtis lent Berkeley brief splendor
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162:Sam'l of Posen; or, The Commercial Drummer
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349:In 1899, Curtis founded the M. B. Curtis
65:Learn how and when to remove this message
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806:Male actors from Berkeley, California
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557:Celebrated Criminal Cases of America
514:. Yale University Press, 1995: 136.
372:stepped up as manager in his place.
752:, by Daniella Thompson (June 2006)
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368:, Curtis abandoned the group and
786:Actors from Berkeley, California
585:. berkeleyside.com. 7 April 2017
483:Schwartz, Richard (April 2017).
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315:in 1893 after four trials, two
282:$ 250,000 ($ 8,477,778 today).
126:c. 1920 (aged 70–71)
356:Company (sometimes called the
304:until its demolition in 1959.
1:
725:Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff.
208:. He eventually got a job at
456:University of Illinois Press
237:; or, The Commercial Drummer
791:Jewish American male actors
607:Berkeley: A City in History
243:. It was first produced in
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781:American male stage actors
216:and began a stage career.
204:but was very drawn to the
151:(1849 – 1920), stage name
113:(now Liptovská Štiavnica,
100:Mauritz Bertram Strelinger
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796:American theatre people
342:character rather than
605:Wollenberg, Charles.
298:Berkeley, California
510:Spears, Timothy B.
259:as hero character.
111:Kingdom of Hungary
715:978-1-60473-099-9
705:Berresford Mark.
655:978-1-60473-099-9
645:Berresford Mark.
635:978-0-7385-6942-0
625:Markel, Wendy P.
615:978-0-520-25307-0
494:978-0-9678204-5-3
287:Statue of Liberty
210:McVickers Theatre
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153:M. B. Curtis
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766:1849 births
317:hung juries
294:real estate
221:Shakespeare
194:drummer boy
760:Categories
735:1604731486
589:2017-04-07
437:References
364:. Once in
313:not guilty
190:Union Army
179:Ruzomberok
107:Nagyselmec
47:footnoting
460:pp. 28-45
366:Australia
328:Israelite
233:Sam'l of
200:and then
169:Biography
142:Acquitted
55:June 2018
627:Berkeley
354:Minstrel
257:salesman
253:New York
249:New York
229:Montreal
115:Slovakia
43:citation
566:3811019
376:Gallery
245:Georgia
214:Chicago
206:theatre
202:Chicago
198:Detroit
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340:Jewish
332:London
309:murder
268:Jewish
264:Jessop
175:Jewish
134:Murder
346:him.
289:lit.
276:Texas
235:Posen
192:as a
731:ISBN
711:ISBN
691:ISBN
671:ISBN
651:ISBN
631:ISBN
611:ISBN
562:OCLC
536:ISBN
516:ISBN
489:ISBN
344:with
338:the
227:and
123:Died
103:1849
96:Born
45:and
324:Jew
296:in
239:by
212:in
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280:US
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
