| Cabinet Photograph Beverley - Photographer Church Street, Blackpool, England c. 1900 Signed with a hard to read inscription that may read: “Ikey John, from his old pal, George Alison”, this cabinet photograph depicts British stage a early film star George Alison. Apparently very well known in his time, Alison’s legacy is a case in point that all celebrity – no matter how celebrated it is at the time – is fleeting. Almost nothing has been easily uncovered regard his life a work. The Internet Movie Database (IMDB)gives us his birth and death dates (1861-1936) and a list of two film productions in which he appeared. These include The Daughter of Pan (1913) and Dr. Rameau (1915). The IMDB also mentions that his stock and trade was made by playing “aristocratic’ type including judges and doctors and apparently army officers in the uniform of which he is shown here although the role he was playing at the time is not known. A listing of stage productions Alison took part in only lists those that occurred in the United States starting in 1900. This photograph was taken in the British resort town of Blackpool but I have been unable to turn up any play lists for that town that mention Alison. My assumption is that this photograph predates Alison’s 1900 American debut. After encountering an image such as this my goal in never to create a simple list of roles that the actor may have played but rather uncover as much as possible regarding their day to day lives and anecdotes that may reveal something of the person they were offstage. Research in ongoing. |
