Gertrude Shipman Explained

Gertrude Shipman, also known as Gertrude Shipman McGill (August 20, 1879 - 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. 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).

Personal life

Shipman was born on August 20, 1879, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Elizabeth J. Brooks Shipman and Robert W. Shipman. Her father was a farmer, an operator of an installment house, and an investor in a theatrical business.[1] She had a brother named L. B. Shipman.[2] She graduated from Berkeley Lyceum, which was a small playhouse in New York City until 1916.[3]

She married Lawrence B. McGill on November 18, 1899, in Maysville, Kentucky[4] at the Central Presbyterian Church. They were both employed by the Kingston Dramatic Company and they were in the town for a production at the opera house. Her father, who had a financial interest in the company, attended the wedding. After her marriage, she went by the names Gertrude Alice McGill and Gertrude Shipman McGill.[5]

Lawrence McGill was a director, writer and actor from Courtland, Mississippi.[6] [7] It was his second marriage.[8] Shipman and McGill had a son, born August 18, 1904. They lived in Waldo, Florida.

Career

Shipman played the lead role of The Senator’s Daughter in Fort Wayne, Indiana in May 1899 for the Keystone Dramatic Company, which provided quality plays and entertainment at reasonable prices. She made a "favorable impression" and the performers left the audience "highly entertained".[9] She was described as "A clever leading lady" and one of the favorite members of the company that year.[10]

Shipman and McGill played a "dandy repertoire of plays" in opera houses across Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey starting by November 1899.[11] [12] Shipman primarily performed with her husband, such as the naval drama The Signal of Liberty,[13] [14] the five-act Escape the Law,[15] [16] [17] [18] [19] From Sire to Son,[20] and Heart of the Mountains.[21] [22] The Signal of Liberty was described as a powerful play, "filled with dramatic scenes and the comedy which comes in naturally."[23] She performed the roles of mother and daughter in From Sire to Son.[24] She performed in the five-act play, The Woman from Martinque.[25] [26]

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.[27] 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."[28] 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.

In 1901, she and Lawrence B. McGill copyrighted The Marriage Contract, a play.[29] She had her own company Gertrude McGill & Company, when she performed in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1906.[30] The same year, Shipman, McGill, and a supporting company performed Raffles at the opening of the vaudeville season.[31]

She starred in the 1912 film Camille, an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas novel, with Irving Cummings,[32] directed by Jay Hunt. A reviewer described her performance as superb.[33]

Gertrude McGill & Company performed Oh, You Steve, in Bridgewater, New Jersey, and Portland, Oregon, in 1911.[34] [35] The Club Woman was produced in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1913.[36] She appeared in a John Patrick Mulgrew play in Chicago in 1919.[37] Inside Outside Inn, a comedy, was performed by the company at the Sandusky Theater in 1920.[38]

Death

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

Filmography

Notes and References

  1. News: 1920-11-18 . Upper Reese Residents leave for Florida . 6 . Altoona Tribune . 2021-04-16.
  2. News: 1925-05-28 . Mrs. E. J. Shipman died . 14 . Altoona Tribune . 2021-04-16.
  3. News: April 12, 1916 . 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. . en-US . The New York Times . 2021-04-16 . 0362-4331.
  4. Book: Wilson, S. . Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. . McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers . Academic & Nonfiction Books anthology . 2016 . 978-1-4766-2599-7 . 2020-05-08 . 498.
  5. Book: Fair in Behalf of Actors' Fund of America: Official Souvenir, May 1907 . 1907 . Wynkoor, Hallenbeck, Crawford . en . 193 .
  6. News: Shipman . 1899-11-23 . Marriage of McGill . 5 . The News-Herald . 2021-04-15.
  7. July 2011. Waldo Celebrities. The Waldo Phoenix. Waldo Historical Society. 3.
  8. News: November 18, 1899. Marriage in Theatrical Circles: Mr. Lawrence B. McGill and Miss Gertrude Shipman of the Keystone Company Wed To-Day . 3 . The Evening Bulletin . Maysville, Kentucky. 2021-04-15.
  9. News: 1899-05-09 . The Keystone Dramatic Company Pleases - Another Ladies' Night . 3 . The Fort Wayne News . 2021-04-16.
  10. News: 1899-10-07 . On Monday night . 7 . Chillicothe Gazette . 2021-04-16.
  11. Recalling Incidents of the Past . Billboard . 46.
  12. News: 1900-04-16 . Amusements: Notes of Interest to York's Amusement Lovers . 1 . The Gazette . 2021-04-17.
  13. News: 1900-01-16 . Signal of Liberty: Keystone Dramatic Company at Girard's Family Theater . 4 . The Buffalo Times . 2021-04-17.
  14. News: 1900-04-16 . Amusements: Notes of Interest to York's Amusement Lovers . 1 . The Gazette . 2021-04-17.
  15. News: 1900-02-20 . Kingston Dramatic company - "Escaped From the Law" - Altoona . 4 . Altoona Tribune . 2021-04-17.
  16. News: 1900-02-24 . Keystone Dramatic Company - "The Signal of Liberty" . 6 . Reading Times . 2021-04-17.
  17. News: 1900-02-28 . Grand Opera House - Escaped From the Law . 1 . Reading Times . 2021-04-17.
  18. News: 1899-11-02 . Amusements: Keystone Dramatic Company Entertain Lake and Appreciative Audiences . 8 . The News-Herald . 2021-04-17.
  19. News: 1899-11-09 . The Keystone Dramatic Company All Next Week . 3 . The Evening Bulletin . 2021-04-17.
  20. News: 1900-03-01 . Amusements: Grand Opera House . 2 . Reading Times . 2021-04-17.
  21. News: 1900-03-06 . Grand Opera House . 8 . Reading Times . 2021-04-17.
  22. News: 1900-03-22 . Theatrical: The Keystone's Success . 1 . Republican and Herald . 2021-04-17.
  23. News: 1900-03-28 . Last Night's Play . 4 . The Danville News . 2021-04-17.
  24. News: 1900-04-26 . From Sire to Son . 1 . The News . 2021-04-17.
  25. News: 1900-03-24 . Standing Room Only . 3 . The Danville News . 2021-04-17.
  26. News: 1900-03-26 . Tonight: Keystone Dramatic Company . 4 . The Danville News . 2021-04-17.
  27. News: 1900-11-22 . Married Here - Gertrude Shipman and Lawrence McGill . 3 . The Evening Bulletin . 2021-04-16.
  28. News: 1900-02-17 . The Keystone Dramatic Company opens a four days' engagement . 5 . Altoona Tribune . 2021-04-17.
  29. Web site: Dramatic Compositions Copyrighted in the United States, 1870 to 1916. Library of Congress Copyright. Office. March 21, 1918. Johnson Reprint Corporation. Google Books.
  30. News: 1906-07-07 . Miss Gertrude Shipman McGill - performing for her own company . 5 . Altoona Mirror . 2021-04-16.
  31. News: 1907-08-19 . Poli's "Raffles" Gertrude Shipman, Lawrence McGill and Company . 7 . Hartford Courant . 2021-04-16.
  32. Book: Katchmer, G.A. . A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses . McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers . 2015 . 978-1-4766-0905-8 . 2020-05-08 .
  33. Web site: Motion Picture News. March 21, 1912. Motion Picture News Incorporated. Google Books.
  34. News: 1911-06-03 . Proctor's Vaudeville Theatre . 10 . The Courier-News . 2021-04-16.
  35. News: 1911-10-08 . Pantages Unequaled Vaudeville . 37 . The Oregon Daily Journal . 2021-04-16.
  36. News: 1913-10-29 . Bijou Pantages Vaudeville - Gertrude McGill & Co. . 11 . Star Tribune . 2021-04-16.
  37. Web site: John Patrick Mulgrew . https://web.archive.org/web/20091009231412/http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?. 2009-10-09.
  38. News: 1920-02-28 . At the Theater . 6 . The Sandusky Star-Journal . 2021-04-16.
  39. Web site: AFI|Catalog. catalog.afi.com.

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