Jack Langrishe
Encyclopedia
John S. "Jack" Langrishe (died December 12, 1895) , popularly known as the "Comedian of the Frontier", was an actor and impresario who travelled extensively throughout the American West.
Jack S. Langrishe, sometimes noted as John, arrived with his wife Jeannette and their Company, to Deadwood, South Dakota
July 15, 1876. Mr. Langrishe along with treasurer and troupe manager Jonas Hellawell, leased the McDaniels Theatre July 22, 1876 from Cheyenne, Wyoming theatre manager James McDaniels, who constructed the first theatre in Deadwood.
The Langrishe Theatre’s first production was "Trodden Down" July 29, 1876. The Langrishe Theatre provided facilities for the Jack McCall
murder trial, the man accused in the death of Wild Bill Hickok
, the first marriage to be performed in Deadwood August 26, 1876, George Morgan to L. McKelvey by Judge Kuykendall, and as a meeting place for the secret society
, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
. General George Crook
and his officers would attend a performance at the Langrishe Theatre September 23, 1876 while visiting Deadwood.
Jack Langrishe was an integral player in shaping Deadwood’s early day history as he participated in civic endeavors such as Fourth of July event planning and fund raising for health charities. The Langrishe Company’s benefit performance October 14, 1876 donated receipts totaling over $73 to Deadwood’s hospital kitty.
Calamity Jane
would appear at the Langrishe Theatre in 1876 along with noted attractions such as Jenny Lind Burlesque. Legitimate Deadwood actors and actresses, Fanny B. Price, Augusta Chambers, Belle Gilbert, Jim Gilbert, Frank Perkins, Jimmy J.M. Martin, W. J. Gross, Viola Porter, J.P. Clark and Emma Whittle performed nightly to packed houses while other forms of Deadwood entertainment and amusement drew equally large variety audiences at the Gem and Bella Union Theatres where Negro Minstrels, Clog Dancers, Acrobats, Child Contortionists, Double Trapeze, Brass Bands and Serio-comic Song and Character Sketch Artists Charles Vincent and Georgie Morrell Vincent were at the top of the bill.
Jack Langrishe leased and remodeled the Tremont House in Deadwood May 1879 and built new opera houses in the nearby mining towns of Central City and Lead, two and ten miles up Deadwood Gulch. On Langrishe Theatre opening night May 9, 1878, choice seats sold for $25 and theatre goers were tempted to sample strawberries and ice cream after the performance.
Many Deadwood miners and businessmen relocated to Leadville, Colorado
January 1879 to follow the promise of the new rush and the next big strike. Jack Langrishe Company would once again be on the boards with fellow Deadwood manager Billy Nuttall’s Bella Union Theatre Company who opened the new Leadville Grand Central Theatre. Al Swearengen
and the Gem Theater
troupe visited Leadville February 1879, but chose to remain in Deadwood. The Langrishe Troupe continued to perform to audiences in Deadwood, Central, Lead and to the soldiers at Ft. Meade through the summer of 1879. The Jack Langrishe Company’s final performance to a Deadwood audience would be "Our American Cousin
" August 15, 1879 performed by troupe artists The Gilberts.
Jack and Jeannette Langrishe opened November 23, 1879 at the Tabor Opera House operated by Colorado Silver Baron Horace Austin Warner Tabor
and Baby Doe Tabor, Leadville, Colorado. Popular Langrishe actor Jimmy Martin would join with fellow Gem and Bella Union Theatre artists Flora Belle and Fannie Garretson to open at Leadville’s McDaniels Theatre May 1880.
The Langrishe Theatre building would be rented to Impresario Johnny Rogers and The Metropolitan Company where legitimate theatre continued to be a successful choice of entertainment for an evolving Deadwood audience. The Old Langrishe Theatre building would continue to serve as a theatre and as a church for Congregationalist services until its final demise in the Big Deadwood Fire of September 26, 1879. The following productions were performed by Jack Langrishe and Company 1876 – 1879, Deadwood, South Dakota.
Langrishe was portrayed by Brian Cox in the third season of the HBO television series Deadwood
.
Jack S. Langrishe, sometimes noted as John, arrived with his wife Jeannette and their Company, to Deadwood, South Dakota
Deadwood, South Dakota
Deadwood is a city in South Dakota, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is named for the dead trees found in its gulch. The population was 1,270 according to a 2010 census...
July 15, 1876. Mr. Langrishe along with treasurer and troupe manager Jonas Hellawell, leased the McDaniels Theatre July 22, 1876 from Cheyenne, Wyoming theatre manager James McDaniels, who constructed the first theatre in Deadwood.
The Langrishe Theatre’s first production was "Trodden Down" July 29, 1876. The Langrishe Theatre provided facilities for the Jack McCall
Jack McCall
John "Jack" McCall , known by the nickname "Crooked Nose Jack or Broken Nose Jack, was the killer of James "Wild Bill" Hickok, shooting him from behind, an act that among admirers of Hickok and students of Hickok's history has given rise to the phrase "the coward Jack McCall."-...
murder trial, the man accused in the death of Wild Bill Hickok
Wild Bill Hickok
James Butler Hickok , better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West. His skills as a gunfighter and scout, along with his reputation as a lawman, provided the basis for his fame, although some of his exploits are fictionalized.Hickok came to the West as a stagecoach...
, the first marriage to be performed in Deadwood August 26, 1876, George Morgan to L. McKelvey by Judge Kuykendall, and as a meeting place for the secret society
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows , also known as the Three Link Fraternity, is an altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the similar British Oddfellows service organizations which came into being during the 18th century, at a time when altruistic and charitable acts were...
. General George Crook
George Crook
George R. Crook was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.-Early life:...
and his officers would attend a performance at the Langrishe Theatre September 23, 1876 while visiting Deadwood.
Jack Langrishe was an integral player in shaping Deadwood’s early day history as he participated in civic endeavors such as Fourth of July event planning and fund raising for health charities. The Langrishe Company’s benefit performance October 14, 1876 donated receipts totaling over $73 to Deadwood’s hospital kitty.
Calamity Jane
Calamity Jane
Martha Jane Cannary Burke , better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, and professional scout best known for her claim of being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok, but also for having gained fame fighting Native Americans...
would appear at the Langrishe Theatre in 1876 along with noted attractions such as Jenny Lind Burlesque. Legitimate Deadwood actors and actresses, Fanny B. Price, Augusta Chambers, Belle Gilbert, Jim Gilbert, Frank Perkins, Jimmy J.M. Martin, W. J. Gross, Viola Porter, J.P. Clark and Emma Whittle performed nightly to packed houses while other forms of Deadwood entertainment and amusement drew equally large variety audiences at the Gem and Bella Union Theatres where Negro Minstrels, Clog Dancers, Acrobats, Child Contortionists, Double Trapeze, Brass Bands and Serio-comic Song and Character Sketch Artists Charles Vincent and Georgie Morrell Vincent were at the top of the bill.
Jack Langrishe leased and remodeled the Tremont House in Deadwood May 1879 and built new opera houses in the nearby mining towns of Central City and Lead, two and ten miles up Deadwood Gulch. On Langrishe Theatre opening night May 9, 1878, choice seats sold for $25 and theatre goers were tempted to sample strawberries and ice cream after the performance.
Many Deadwood miners and businessmen relocated to Leadville, Colorado
Leadville, Colorado
Leadville is a Statutory City that is the county seat of, and the only municipality in, Lake County, Colorado, United States. Situated at an elevation of , Leadville is the highest incorporated city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States...
January 1879 to follow the promise of the new rush and the next big strike. Jack Langrishe Company would once again be on the boards with fellow Deadwood manager Billy Nuttall’s Bella Union Theatre Company who opened the new Leadville Grand Central Theatre. Al Swearengen
Al Swearengen
Ellis Albert "Al" Swearengen was a pimp and early entertainment entrepreneur in Deadwood, South Dakota, running the Gem Theater, a notorious brothel, for 22 years, and combining a reputation for brutality with an uncanny instinct for forging political alliances.Swearengen and his twin brother,...
and the Gem Theater
Gem Theater
The Gem Theater was a saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota, owned by Al Swearengen. Swearengen and the Gem are both portrayed in the HBO television show, Deadwood.-Opening:...
troupe visited Leadville February 1879, but chose to remain in Deadwood. The Langrishe Troupe continued to perform to audiences in Deadwood, Central, Lead and to the soldiers at Ft. Meade through the summer of 1879. The Jack Langrishe Company’s final performance to a Deadwood audience would be "Our American Cousin
Our American Cousin
Our American Cousin is an 1858 play in three acts by English playwright Tom Taylor. The play is a farce whose plot is based on the introduction of an awkward, boorish but honest American, Asa Trenchard, to his aristocratic English relatives when he goes to England to claim the family estate...
" August 15, 1879 performed by troupe artists The Gilberts.
Jack and Jeannette Langrishe opened November 23, 1879 at the Tabor Opera House operated by Colorado Silver Baron Horace Austin Warner Tabor
Horace Austin Warner Tabor
Horace Austin Warner Tabor , also known as The Bonanza King of Leadville, was an American prospector, businessman, and politician. His life is the subject of Douglas Moore's opera, The Ballad of Baby Doe....
and Baby Doe Tabor, Leadville, Colorado. Popular Langrishe actor Jimmy Martin would join with fellow Gem and Bella Union Theatre artists Flora Belle and Fannie Garretson to open at Leadville’s McDaniels Theatre May 1880.
The Langrishe Theatre building would be rented to Impresario Johnny Rogers and The Metropolitan Company where legitimate theatre continued to be a successful choice of entertainment for an evolving Deadwood audience. The Old Langrishe Theatre building would continue to serve as a theatre and as a church for Congregationalist services until its final demise in the Big Deadwood Fire of September 26, 1879. The following productions were performed by Jack Langrishe and Company 1876 – 1879, Deadwood, South Dakota.
Langrishe was portrayed by Brian Cox in the third season of the HBO television series Deadwood
Deadwood (TV series)
Deadwood is an American Western drama television series created, produced and largely written by David Milch. The series aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006, spanning three 12-episode seasons. The show is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before...
.