Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-30
STUART ROBSON DEAD
NOTED ACTOR PASSES AWAY IN
NEW YORK.
Heart Disease the Cause of Death-He
Had Successful
Career.

Stuart Robson, the veteran comedian, died
last night of heart disease at the Hotel
Savoy. He was sixty-seven years old and
had been on the stage for fifty-one years.
Mr.. Robson was taken i'll early in March
and was obliged to rest completely for two
weeks. He resumed his engagement on
March 10, and after playing in New York
and Brooklyn appeared in various towns in
the upper part of that state. A few days
ago he was taken i'll in Auburn. N. Y, and
was then brought to New York city. The
interment will take place at Cohasset,
Mass. on Friday.
For the last twenty five years Stuart Rob-
son was one of the best-known and most
personally popular comedians in ths coun-
try. and the fact that he might almost be
said to have died in harness. before his
seasons tour was finished and while he was
buslly preparing for a new production next
season, marks the distinction that is his
the regrets of a rising generation of play
goers who knew him and expected still
more from him, as well as the mourning of
an older generation VINO knew him years
ago, before he became Bertie the Lamb,
even perhaps before he appeared with Will
liam II. Crane, who survives him. Both
generations can claim him. for he died with
his career, honorable as it had been, I'M
finished.
Stuart Robson (whose name was Henry
Stuart before he became universally known
by the name he took for stage purposes)
was born in Annapolis, Md, in 1896. His
1ather was prosperous lawyer and gave
his son good education. He came to
washington and was page at the Capitol
He then learned the printing business at
the government printing office and after
was not to be kept off the stage,
however, and John e. Owens gave
him his first chance at leading
part in Baltimore: The part was Sc
mi iroap fni H.,
Uncle Toms Cabin as 1t Is and Robson
tried to play it such, being so he later
confessed, full of the idea that he was
made for a tragedian. But the audience
there he changed his determination and
set about becoming comedian from inten-
uon. rive years later he returned to Bal
tlmore, SO far successful that he won
laughter as tribute, not SATIRE He
remained with John T. Ford-u 1860.
Later he became a favorite at the old
Union Square Theater, where he was asso-
GATED with the excellent actors in the COM
pany But luck first came his way with a
good strong swing in 1877. at the Park
Iheater, where he appeared with w. H.
crane in Growers. comedy, Our Boarding
House. His Gillipod and Cranes Elevator
at once jumped up to the leading charac-
tiers OF the play, which was hardly the
intention of the author, and the partnership
of Robson and Crane, which lasted for a
dozen years and became famous all over
Many of the productions of these two are
now almost forgotten, but two plays they
produced are still fresh in mind 1.-The
comedy OF Errors' and Bronson Howard's
The Henrietta John Mccullough first
suggested the Shakespearian revival
We can't play that" said Robson; lit
would be physical impossiblity We
would have to look alike. am thin. grace
full and beautiful. Crane is fat, ugly and
stumpy."
'One of us be lar" said Crane, land
am too much of a gentleman to name his
name"
But the production was finally made at
the Park Theater, New York, in 1879, under
the management Of Henry E. Abbey. After
the performance, in their dressing room
the two mourned their mistake. They
thought from the feel of the house that
they had failed. But in came Petroleum
'. Nasty. Fame and fortune are at your
feet, my trim-built wherry, duplicating
your ambient caress." said he to .tobson.
He was right In the next seven years the
two made $125O0O out of the play
The Henrietta" was not produced until
nine years later. In the remaining seasons
of the partnership of the pair it Melted
100000. Crane and Robson parted. each to
star individually in 1889, with the best OF
feeling on both sides. Since then Mr.. Rob-
son revived "She Stops to Conquer and
tried various other plays but THE Hem
rietta," which he bought, and THE Comedy
of Errors" remained his chief vehicles He
made the character of BERTHE. the Lamb,
with Its comical affectations, it's droll voice
and face, its cry of Peanuts at a momen-
tous crisis, and it's underlying true hearted
ness and nobility, one of the best-known
representations on the comedy stage 1t was
only couple of weeks ago, at the Grand
Opera House. in New York city, that Mr.
Robson played The Henrietta for the lest
time, for next season he was to have APP
peared in a new comedy by Augustus
Thomas. How much The Henrietta" has
Melted, merely to judge its success by finan-
cial standards, it is impossible to estimate
but it is said to be more than 100000
Mr.. Robson was twice married. His first
wife, who left him a daughter now living
in Boston, also died suddenly from heart
failure, fourteen years ago. His second
wife, whom he married in the city hall of
that city in 1891, was Miss May Waldron
Dougherty, his leading woman in THE
Henrietta BY her he had son. Both
survive him. His first appearance after
this second wedding was in rs Marriage a
Failure?" the same evening, and both he
and his leading woman had merry recep-
ton from Brooklyn audience that entered
into the spirit of the occasion.
Mr.. Robson made his summer home at
COhasset, Mass, where he always took his
company, rehearsing it for the fall pro-
ductiOn under the trees. He had a wide cir
Gle of personal friends drawn to him by
his CHEEKY spirit and kindly nature. lie
was a lover of rare books and curios also,
and his home was one of the most attract
i've on the Massachusetts south shore.