Percy Waram
Percy Thomas Carne Waram was a British-born stage and film actor who spent much of his career in the United States. His career lasted 55 years on the American stage, and he had memorable roles in The Shanghai Gesture, Elizabeth the Queen, Mary of Scotland, Pride and Prejudice, and Anne of the Thousand Days. He starred in the Chicago production of Life With Father for three years, setting box office and attendance records, after which he took the production on the road for another 38 weeks. He starred in the Broadway production of The Late George Apley for a year, and then spent another 80 weeks with the show's national tour.
Waram originated the role of Horace Vandergelder in The Merchant of Yonkers, and appeared in an influential if not successful modern dress version of Hamlet.
Waram made only a few films, and had no starring roles, but is best remembered now for his role as General Haynesworth in the film A Face in the Crowd.
Early life
Percy Thomas Carne Waram was born 28 October 1880 in Cornwall in the United Kingdom to Joseph Carne Waram and his wife, Margaret Frances. His father served in the British Army, and his mother's family was Irish. He was a descendant of Mary Saunderson Betterton, the famed Elizabethan era actress. His great-grandmother was Julia Betterton Glover, the great comic actress of the early 1800s and the first woman to perform in Hamlet. His grandmother and mother were also actresses.As a child, Waram wanted to join the army like his father had. While on holiday when he was 15 years old, he visited his older sister, who was appearing in the play East Lynne. A member of the cast fell ill, and Waram was cast as a butler in the play. He was immediately recast in the double role of an English nurse and French nurse. It was his stage debut.
His family's difficult financial condition led him to go to work as an actor. He took a position with the same traveling company in which his sister was an actress, but quit shortly thereafter to join Sir Ben Greet repertory company. He made his London theatrical debut in 1899. Waram came with the Greet troupe when it traveled to the United States in 1902. He made his American stage debut in the play Everyman at the Maryland Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland.
After two years in the United States, Waram returned to the U.K. in 1905 to form his own touring troupe. The company largely performed in rural areas, often appearing in "tough mining towns". While performing in Glasgow, Scotland, an audience member threw a mug of beer at his head, knocking him senseless. Waram decided to rejoin the Ben Greet company after the incident, and traveled with them to the U.S. again. He traveled back and forth between the United Kingdom and United States, appearing in plays on both side of the Atlantic Ocean. He permanently relocated to the U.S. in 1908.
Stage work
Early years
The Greet troupe specialized in presenting plays by William Shakespeare, and Waram appeared in As You Like It, The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, and The Taming of the Shrew. The Greet players occasionally did other plays, and Waram appeared in She Stoops to Conquer in 1908.Waram sometimes worked for other companies as well. He appeared in the Violet Allen Company's production of Twelfth Night an American tour in 1903, the Frances Delaval Company's production of Her Lost Self at the St. James' Theatre in London in 1906, and performed for the William Faversham Company in 1909.
In 1910, Waram formed a very small troupe under the name "Percy Waram & Co.", and toured the Keith-Albee-Orpheum and Proctor theater circuits in vaudeville in the sketch The Boatswain's Mate. W. W. Jacobs and Herbert N. Sargent wrote the sketch specifically for Waram, adapting a short story of the same name by Jacobs. The sketch made its debut at the Montauk Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, and Waram & Co. performed it until October 1915. Vaudeville proved highly lucrative for him.
Broadway debut and other early stage work
Waram most likely made his Broadway debut in the 1909 production of The Barber of New Orleans at Daly's Theatre. The following year he appeared in Arthur Conan Doyle play The Fires of Fate at the Liberty Theatre on Broadway.After his three years in vaudeville ended, Waram returned to the stage as Captain Smollett in Treasure Island. The play premiered in June 1916 at the Colonial Theatre in Chicago. In October, the production moved to the Punch and Judy Theatre on Broadway, The play was Waram's first hit, running for 331 performances.
Waram returned to Broadway in the Mark Swan play Somebody's Luggage at the 48th Street Theatre in August 1916. This was followed by the role of the Gardener in the Charles Frohman Company's production of J. M. Barrie play Barbara's Wedding. The play had its world premiere in Buffalo, New York.
His second hit play was Jane Cowl and Jane Murfin Lilac Time, and his first important role. He played Captain Paget in the national touring company, which had a long run in Chicago in early 1918. He joined William Faversham's production of Lord and Lady Algy, which premiered at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway in December 1918, and stayed with the production during its 1919 national tour. He played the role of Lord Andrew Gordon in Guy Bolton and George Middleton play Adam and Eva during its national tour, which began in the summer of 1920 and did not end until March 1921. He followed by playing the role of George Herbert in Norman Trevor's Little Theater Group production of The Married Woman at Broadway's Princess Theatre in December 1921.
Waram appeared in a number of Broadway plays over the next five years: As Phillip Blanchard in Eden Phillpotts' The Shadow at the Klaw Theatre in April 1922, as the Elder Brother in The Lucky One at the Garrick Theatre in November 1922, as Jacques in The Tidings Brought to Mary at the Garrick Theatre in December 1922, as Domin in R.U.R. at the Shubert Theatre in April 1923, as Winthrop Field in A Love Scandal at the Ambassador Theatre in November 1923, as Beaucaire in Monsieur Beaucaire at the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis in May 1924, as Maitland White in Philip Barry You and I at the Murat Theatre in May 1924, as Hugh Chadwell in Walter Archer Frost Cape Smoke at the Martin Beck Theatre in February 1925, as Horatio in a modern dress version of Hamlet at the Booth Theatre in November 1925, and as Citizen Hogan in Hangman's House at the Forrest Theatre in December 1926. Waram later considered his role in the modern dress Hamlet to be one of the most important in his career.
''The Shanghai Gesture'' and stardom
After a run of nearly a year on Broadway, John Colton hit play The Shanghai Gesture began a national tour, which began in Chicago in March 1927. Waram played Sir William Charteris, taking over from McKay Morris. The play altered his career, turning him into a major star on the stage. After a four month run in Chicago, the play moved to Salt Lake City in May 1927, and San Francisco in June. After a four month run in California, the play moved to Kansas City, where it broke box office records for attendance. The play then toured Cincinnati, Detroit, Montréal, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., before returning to Broadway's Majestic Theatre on January 30, 1928 for a final, limited run.Waram worked steadily through the early years of the Great Depression after the success of The Shanghai Gesture. Taking almost no time off, he appeared as Bill Walker in the October 1928 production of Major Barbara at the Guild Theatre, and the role of the Servant in Camel Through the Needle's Eye at the Guild Theatre in April 1929. He left Camel after just a week in the role to join the national touring company of Major Barbara. The role helped cement his reputation as a reliable actor, and brought him to the attention of producers nationwide. After spending the summer on tour, he took the role of Col. Pickering in the regional touring company of Pygmalion. The play premiered in September 1929 at the Wilson Theatre in Detroit for tryouts before moving to Indianapolis, St. Louis, Chicago, and Pittsburgh.
In October 1930, Waram originated the role of Sir Walter Raleigh in Maxwell Anderson new play, Elizabeth the Queen. The play debuted at Ford's Theatre in Baltimore and then played regionally before making its Broadway premiere at the Guild Theatre in November 1930. Waram toured nationally in the role until June 1931.
After taking a year off, Waram took the role of Comte Dubarry in the new operetta The Dubarry, which had its world premiere at George M. Cohan's Theatre in November 1932. The operetta was not successful, and in April 1933 Waram originated the role of Howard Bartlett in Somerset Maugham new play, For Services Rendered. After a tryout in Oakland, California, the first week of April, the play moved to the Booth Theatre on Broadway. The play closed quickly, and was critically panned. Waram's performance was considered the only outstanding aspect of the production. With work on the stage scarce due to the Great Depression, Waram joined the summer stock repertory company at the Casino Theatre in Newport, Rhode Island. He appeared in at least one play, the drawing room comedy Aren't We All? In October 1933, he appeared as Don Salluste de Bazan in an English-language adaptation of Victor Hugo Ruy Blas. After a brief run at the Majestic Theatre, the play moved to Baltimore, where it closed after a week. Waram was not out of work long: When Stanley Ridges left the role of Lord Morton in Mary of Scotland at the Alvin Theatre, Waram took over the role.
After Mary of Scotland closed in May 1934, Waram accepted the role of Uncle Robert in Picnic, a new comedy by Gretchen Damrosch staged at the National Theatre. The play quickly closed, and Waram returned to the Casino Theatre's summer stock company, where he appeared in A Bill of Divorcement and Benn Levy Art and Mrs. Bottle. Although Waram had no contract at the start of the 1934-1935 theater season, he appeared as Henry Pryor in the drama Living Dangerously at the Morosco Theatre in January 1935.