Jerome Sykes | |
---|---|
Born | Jerome H. Sykes June 24, 1868 Washington, D. C., US [1] |
Died | December 29, 1903 35) | (aged
Resting place | Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York |
Occupation(s) | Actor, comedian |
Spouses |
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Jerome Sykes (June 24, 1868 - December 29, 1903) [2] [3] was an American stage actor, singer and comedian. He was perhaps best known for his performances as Foxy Quiller in two theatrical productions. His brother Albert S Sykes was also an actor.[ citation needed ]
Sykes was born in Washington, D.C., [3] under the name of Henry Karl August Seitz and grew up in a house where part of the Library of Congress now stands. [4] He "was a member of a famous family of actors ..." [5]
Sykes' professional debut came in the 1884-1885 season [6] in a performance of The Mikado with the Ford Opera Company in Baltimore. [3] His biggest Broadway success was The Billionaire (1902-03) which had in its cast May Robson and Sallie Fisher and was the New York debut of Marie Doro. [7] His other Broadway credits included Foxy Quiller (In Corsica) (1900), Chris and the Wonderful Lamp (1900), and The Three Dragoons (1899). [8]
Sykes portrayed Constable Foxy Quiller in The Highwayman, which became popular enough that it resulted in a sequel, Foxy Quiller. [9]
During a party feted for Sykes and The Billionaire in Chicago, Sykes caught pneumonia, while wearing too few clothes in the dead of winter, and died at 35. [10] After his body was temporarily stored in a receiving tomb at Greenwood Cemetery, he was buried at St. James Episcopal Cemetery in St. James, New York, where his family had a summer residence for many years. [5]
Sykes was married twice, to Agnes Sherwood, who died in 1896 and to actress Jessie Wood. [11] [ unreliable source? ]
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The Billionaire is a musical in three acts with music by Gustave Kerker, and both book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith. The show was written with the backing of producers Klaw and Erlanger and was made specifically for the talents of Jerome Sykes who portrayed "The Billionaire", John Doe. The action of the musical begins in Nice, France during Carnival where the billionaire Sykes meets a young American girl, Pansy Good, studying to be an actress. Impressed with her talents, he buys her Doe's Theatre in New York City and establishes her as a star. Later, Doe attempts to ride a horse in a race at the Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, but is too fat to succeed. Pansy rides the horse instead and wins the race.
Jerome Sykes.