![]() But he says the Garrison finishes are worth it, and he is perfectly right. Why, he goes up to the baseball grounds at One Hundred and Fifty-fifth street after the matinees on Saturday, and he travels this six miles simply to see, perhaps, the two final innings, and any one can imagine the rapidity with which he must scrape off the makeup and get into his street clothes in order to secure even this much. Physically, of course, he is a corker, but when I say big I mean big morally and intellectually. That year, Bell called Hopper "the biggest baseball crank that ever lived. It is a rich gag and takes immediately", the Brooklyn Eagle said. The slider tumbles Bell, and when he rises from the somersault all three yell out to the audience for judgment, and go off kicking like Anson and Ewing. The latter has a ball, and as Hopper takes the bat in hand and Bell acts as catcher the former goes through the customary contortion act in pitching, and as Hopper hits the ball he runs off the stage, as if running the bases, and presently returns chased by De Angelis, who passes the ball to Bell as catcher just as Hopper makes a big slide for home base. Bell returns "with a bat in his hand, followed by DeWolf Hopper and De Angelis. In the first inning, someone presented him with an eight-inch sunflower.Īlso in 1889, Bell, Hopper and fellow McCaull Comic Opera Company actor Jefferson De Angelis were doing the following skit for their third encore in Boccaccio. The following year, he helped organize an actor's benefit for a sick young actress. Back in 1886, besides organizing a regular ball team among actors, he played in a benefit game for a demented playwright. In 1889, Hopper became founding president of the Actors' Amateur Athletic Association of America. Cottrelly handles a diminutive bat as striker and endeavors to make a 'home run.'" Bell, with a bird cage on his head and boxing gloves on his hands, plays catcher, while Mme. To accompany a song with a baseball stanza, "Mr. It was in The Black Hussar that Hopper first incorporated a baseball theme that drew notice in the sporting press. The role that he remembered with greatest pleasure was Old Bill in The Better 'Ole (1919).ĭeWolf Hopper autographed sketch by Manuel Rosenberg for the Cincinnati Post, 1921 Eventually, he starred in more than thirty Broadway musicals, including Castles in the Air (1890), Wang (1891), Panjandrum (1893), and John Philip Sousa's El Capitan (1896). He achieved the status of leading man in The Black Hussar (1885) and appeared in the hit Erminie in 1887. He had a loud bass singing voice, however, and made his mark in musicals, beginning in Harrigan and Hart's company. Originally, he wanted to be a serious actor, but at 6' 5" (196 cm) and 230 pounds, he was too large for most dramatic roles. He made his stage debut in New Haven, Connecticut, October 2, 1878. It was modified to "DeWolf" because of the frequency that it was mispronounced "Dwolf". : 10 Hopper was called Willie as a child, and then Will or Wolfie, but when he set out on an acting career he chose his more distinguished middle name as his stage name. Though his parents intended that he become a lawyer, Hopper did not enjoy that profession. ![]() His paternal grandfather Isaac Hopper was a Philadelphia Quaker, and conductor of the Philadelphia station of the Underground Railroad. His father was a wealthy Quaker lawyer and his mother came from a noted Colonial family. Hopper was born William D'Wolf Hopper : 5 in New York City, the son of John Hopper (born 1815) and Rosalie D'Wolf (born 1827). ( April 2010) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. This section needs additional citations for verification. ![]()
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