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Gertrude Shipman

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Gertrude Shipman, also known as Gertrude Shipman McGill (August 20, 1879[a]–February 14, 1960), was an American actress who at twenty years of age was considered one of the leading actresses of the Kingston Dramatic Company.[2] She performed on stage, often with her husband Lawrence B. McGill, and established her own company of performers by 1906. She acted in four films. Camille (1912), Checkers (1913), Arizona (1913), and The Price He Paid (1914).

1899 lithograph of Shipman
1899 lithograph of Shipan and Lawrence B. McGill, Library of Congress[1]

Personal life

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Shipman was born on August 20, 1879, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Elizabeth J. Brooks Shipman and Robert W. Shipman.[3][a] Her father was a farmer, an operator of an installment house, and an investor in a theatrical business.[5] She had a brother named L. B. Shipman.[6] She graduated from Berkeley Lyceum,[5] which was a small playhouse in New York City until 1916.[7]

She married Lawrence B. McGill on November 18, 1899, in Maysville, Kentucky[8] at the Central Presbyterian Church.[2] They were both employed by the Kingston Dramatic Company and they were in the town for a production at the opera house.[2][b] Her father, who had a financial interest in the company, attended the wedding.[2] After her marriage, she went by the names Gertrude Alice McGill and Gertrude Shipman McGill.[3][9]

Lawrence McGill was a director, writer and actor from Courtland, Mississippi.[10][11] It was his second marriage.[2] Shipman and McGill had a son, born August 18, 1904. They lived in Waldo, Florida.[11][c]

Career

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Shipman played the lead role of The Senator’s Daughter in Fort Wayne, Indiana in May 1899 for the Keystone Dramatic Company,[12] which provided quality plays and entertainment at reasonable prices.[13] She made a "favorable impression" and the performers left the audience "highly entertained".[12] She was described as "A clever leading lady" and one of the favorite members of the company that year.[14]

Shipman and McGill played a "dandy repertoire of plays" in opera houses across Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey starting by November 1899.[15][16][17][18][19] Shipman primarily performed with her husband, such as the naval drama The Signal of Liberty,[20][21][22] the five-act Escape the Law,[23][24][18][16][17] From Sire to Son,[25][26] and Heart of the Mountains.[27][28] The Signal of Liberty was described as a powerful play, "filled with dramatic scenes and the comedy which comes in naturally."[26] She performed the roles of mother and daughter in From Sire to Son.[29] She performed in the five-act play, The Woman from Martinque.[21][13]

A year after their marriage, Shipman and McGill returned to the Washington Opera House of Maysville and performed in A Soldier of the Empire by Howard Hall.[30] For her work with Keystone Dramatic Company, she has been described as: ".. not the mechanical and stagy heroine so often seen in repertoire companies, but a creature of flesh and blood, and her earnest and conscientious work last night was pleasing and artistic."[31] Shipman was described as “the star of the company and deserves to be at its head. She is an earnest, painstaking actress, has excellent contact with her emotions.[19]

In 1901, she and Lawrence B. McGill copyrighted The Marriage Contract, a play.[32] She had her own company Gertrude McGill & Company,[33] when she performed in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1906.[34] The same year, Shipman, McGill, and a supporting company performed Raffles at the opening of the vaudeville season.[35]

She starred in the 1912 film Camille, an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas novel, with Irving Cummings,[36] directed by Jay Hunt. A reviewer described her performance as superb.[37]

Gertrude McGill & Company performed Oh, You Steve, in Bridgewater, New Jersey, and Portland, Oregon, in 1911.[38][39] The Club Woman was produced in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1913.[40] She appeared in a John Patrick Mulgrew play in Chicago in 1919.[41] Inside Outside Inn, a comedy, was performed by the company at the Sandusky Theater in 1920.[33]

Death

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McGill died on February 22, 1928, and Shipman died on February 14, 1960. They are buried at the Laurel Grove Cemetery in Waldo, Florida.[11]

Filmography

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b Elizabeth Jane and Robert Shipman had a daughter, Gertrude Arnetta Shipman who was baptized on April 9, 1876.[4]
  2. ^ They performed on the day of their wedding in Maysville, Kentucky.[2]
  3. ^ Edmund Robert McGill may have been Jerry McGill who was a writer, director and producer for radio and TV programs.[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Gertrude Shipman, Lawrence B. McGill". Library of Congress.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Marriage in Theatrical Circles: Mr. Lawrence B. McGill and Miss Gertrude Shipman of the Keystone Company Wed To-Day". The Evening Bulletin. Maysville, Kentucky. November 18, 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  3. ^ a b "Gertrude Shipman McGill, by January 1941", Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
  4. ^ "Gertrude Annetta Shipman, April 9, 1876, McClure Avenue Presbyterian Church", Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1907, Presbyterian Historical Society
  5. ^ a b "Upper Reese Residents leave for Florida". Altoona Tribune. 1920-11-18. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  6. ^ "Mrs. E. J. Shipman died". Altoona Tribune. 1925-05-28. p. 14. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  7. ^ "Berkeley Lyceum to be Torn Down; $1,000,000 Commercial Building on Site of French Theatre's Home. INVESTMENT OF $2,000,000 Erection of 16-Story Structure to Follow Razing of Playhouse In West 44th St. on May 1". The New York Times. April 12, 1916. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  8. ^ Wilson, S. (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. Academic & Nonfiction Books anthology. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. p. 498. ISBN 978-1-4766-2599-7. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  9. ^ Fair in Behalf of Actors' Fund of America: Official Souvenir, May 1907. Wynkoor, Hallenbeck, Crawford. 1907. p. 193.
  10. ^ Shipman (1899-11-23). "Marriage of McGill". The News-Herald. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  11. ^ a b c d "Waldo Celebrities" (PDF). The Waldo Phoenix. Waldo Historical Society. July 2011. p. 3.
  12. ^ a b "The Keystone Dramatic Company Pleases - Another Ladies' Night". The Fort Wayne News. 1899-05-09. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  13. ^ a b "Tonight: Keystone Dramatic Company". The Danville News. 1900-03-26. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  14. ^ "On Monday night". Chillicothe Gazette. 1899-10-07. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  15. ^ "Recalling Incidents of the Past" (PDF). Billboard. p. 46.
  16. ^ a b "Amusements: Keystone Dramatic Company Entertain Lake and Appreciative Audiences". The News-Herald. 1899-11-02. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  17. ^ a b "The Keystone Dramatic Company All Next Week". The Evening Bulletin. 1899-11-09. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  18. ^ a b "Grand Opera House - Escaped From the Law". Reading Times. 1900-02-28. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  19. ^ a b "Amusements: Notes of Interest to York's Amusement Lovers". The Gazette. 1900-04-16. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  20. ^ "Signal of Liberty: Keystone Dramatic Company at Girard's Family Theater". The Buffalo Times. 1900-01-16. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  21. ^ a b "Standing Room Only". The Danville News. 1900-03-24. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  22. ^ "Amusements: Notes of Interest to York's Amusement Lovers". The Gazette. 1900-04-16. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  23. ^ "Kingston Dramatic company - "Escaped From the Law" - Altoona". Altoona Tribune. 1900-02-20. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  24. ^ "Keystone Dramatic Company - "The Signal of Liberty"". Reading Times. 1900-02-24. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  25. ^ "Amusements: Grand Opera House". Reading Times. 1900-03-01. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  26. ^ a b "Last Night's Play". The Danville News. 1900-03-28. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  27. ^ "Grand Opera House". Reading Times. 1900-03-06. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  28. ^ "Theatrical: The Keystone's Success". Republican and Herald. 1900-03-22. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  29. ^ "From Sire to Son". The News. 1900-04-26. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  30. ^ "Married Here - Gertrude Shipman and Lawrence McGill". The Evening Bulletin. 1900-11-22. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  31. ^ "The Keystone Dramatic Company opens a four days' engagement". Altoona Tribune. 1900-02-17. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  32. ^ Office, Library of Congress Copyright (March 21, 1918). "Dramatic Compositions Copyrighted in the United States, 1870 to 1916". Johnson Reprint Corporation – via Google Books.
  33. ^ a b "At the Theater". The Sandusky Star-Journal. 1920-02-28. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  34. ^ "Miss Gertrude Shipman McGill - performing for her own company". Altoona Mirror. 1906-07-07. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  35. ^ "Poli's "Raffles" Gertrude Shipman, Lawrence McGill and Company". Hartford Courant. 1907-08-19. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  36. ^ Katchmer, G.A. (2015). A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4766-0905-8. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  37. ^ "Motion Picture News". Motion Picture News Incorporated. March 21, 1912 – via Google Books.
  38. ^ "Proctor's Vaudeville Theatre". The Courier-News. 1911-06-03. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  39. ^ "Pantages Unequaled Vaudeville". The Oregon Daily Journal. 1911-10-08. p. 37. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  40. ^ "Bijou Pantages Vaudeville - Gertrude McGill & Co". Star Tribune. 1913-10-29. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  41. ^ "John Patrick Mulgrew". Archived from the original on 2009-10-09.
  42. ^ "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com.
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