Frank M. Mayo

Frank Maguire Mayo (1839–1896) was an American actor and comedian, born in Boston, Massachusetts.

Frank M. Mayo
Born1839
Boston, Massachusetts
Died1896
OccupationStage actor

He followed the Gold Rush to San Francisco where at seventeen years of age he began his theatrical career after failure in the mines. Within a few years he was appearing in the stock company of manager Thomas Maguire with the young Edwin Booth. In the early 1860s he supported Adah Isaacs Menken and won acclaim for his first Hamlet performed before Virginia City, Nevada audiences.[1] He won applause in some classic roles, but his first great success was as Badger in The Streets of New York which he appeared in Boston in August 1865. In 1872 he brought out Davy Crockett, a backwoods character which endeared him to the public. In later years he played in "Davy Crockett" revivals. Mayo was an early proponent of realism in acting technique.

Mayo's daughter Eleanora Nellie Mayo (1872?-1929) was married to James Elverson Jr., editor and owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson was a character well suited to display his talents as a comedian. Other favorite roles were in "Nordeck" and "The Royal Guard". Mayo is buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

References
  1. Eichin, Carolyn Grattan, From San Francisco Eastward: Victorian Theater in the American West, (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2020), 177-79,1948908387 (ISBN 9781948908382)


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