Players Club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Players, which is its proper name, is a club founded in New York City by the famed 19th century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth who purchased for his home, for $75,000, this 1844 mansion at 16 Gramercy Park, across the square from the Gramercy Park Hotel which stands on land once occupied by architect Stanford White.
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[edit] Reasons for founding his club
On April 14, 1865, Edwin's younger brother John Wilkes, a popular actor, assassinated President Lincoln, and the life of his family, and all actors everywhere, changed. Understandably, they found themselves despised by the society of the time. Perhaps inspired by London's Garrick Club, in a massive attempt to reclaim the respect of their contemporaries, and in an effort to re-establish the Booth name, he asked his friend across the square to remodel his home into an American actors' club, a place where professionals could mingle with American men of industry and goodwill. The building was completely redesigned, furnished, equipped and decorated with Booth's personal possessions. When ready, a series of meetings was held, and a small group of founders turned the place over to newly invited members in a grand ceremony on December 31, 1888. Thus The Players was born, and interestingly the word "club" does not appear. In the title papers, it is stated that Edwin Booth should retain a furnished apartment for his own use where he could be left undisturbed as he wished. And it was in that revered room on the third floor, remaining undisturbed still, that he died at 1 a.m. on a stormy night, June 7, 1893, aged 59.
[edit] Membership
Members of the Players included the local pillars of society of the day, prominent bankers, lawyers and businessmen, as well as those identified with other arts - writers, journalists, critics, sculptors, architects, painters, and so forth. A board of directors was formed, a requirement being that at least five of the nine directors must be professional actors, dramatists, or theatrical managers to hold sway. That Booth succeeded in his dream is unquestioned. And, perhaps unknowingly, he helped to create an almost symbiotic relationship between American and English theatre tradition.
In the early years, Presidents and members of The Players have included Joseph Jefferson, who succeeded Booth as president after his death, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), John Barrymore, Walter Hampden and Eugene O'Neill, and since then the roster of famous names continues unabated. The current president of the club is film actor Timothy Hutton. Presiding over the club on a daily basis is President Emeritus, actor Michael Allinson.
[edit] Club activities
The club, next door and East of the National Arts Club, has not been without its ups and downs, for it is an old building, expensive to run and maintain. It needs to keep Players amused and occupied, while at the same time remain steadfast in its duty as a fiduciary and repository of American and British theatre history, memorabilia, and theatrical artifacts reflecting worthy standards in the modern world. For many years, the Players provided rooms where visiting actors could stay, but modern fire laws forced the club to discontinue this practice in the 1980's. Today, it still holds its "Pipe Nights" honoring theatrical notables, and maintains an excellent kitchen and cellars, and a billiard table in the always busy basement bar. And in the place which is still the dining room, a stage was built where actors can perform for members, celebrities can be honored, staged readings can be made, and new works tried out.
[edit] Later problems
During the first years of its life, women were only allowed in as invited guests, but eventually, starting with the membership of Helen Hayes in 1989, women would be able to join. And the crowning achievement of that decision was when Lynn Redgrave was elected President in 1994. Her presidency only lasted a year, but it led to financial reforms, for she was asked to sign their tax return. Her husband John Clark would not let her do this. Instead, they contributed money for the engagement of accountants, for financial records were missing, and proper books hadn't been kept. The John Drew fund, administered by the club, was empty, and the upstairs library a mess. Then the attorney general got involved, and the club was in danger of being closed down.
12 years later, on January 25, 2006, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, in a press release, announced that an agreement had been made stating that "Under the terms of the agreement, The Players, without admitting or denying wrongdoing, has repaid $325,000 to the fund, and the fund itself has agreed to dissolve. A plan of dissolution, approved by New York State Supreme Court, required that the fund’s assets be transferred to the Actors' Fund. The Actors’ Fund has agreed to administer a new "John Drew Fund," and to use the income from the fund to make grants to needy individuals associated with the entertainment industry. The new fund is expected to be operational in early 2006. This development follows another agreement entered into by the Attorney General in December 2003 with The Players and the Hampden-Booth Theatre Library. That agreement resolved claims that The Players’ board of directors had unduly dominated the affairs of the library and had misappropriated library assets."
The club, thus rehabilitated is now on a more secure footing. Redgrave's presidency lasted only one year, for she was unseated by a newly formed nominating committee with a minority of actors, contrary to Booth's intention.
[edit] Current condition
Today, with its associated Hampden-Booth library on the top floor, the club looks forward in better financial condition, attracts new members, and continues its strong alliance with British theatre. The legendary name of Booth began, after all, with the arrival from London of Booth's father, Junius Brutus Booth, in 1821. He left his wife behind, and arrived with his mistress, by whom he had ten children; America suited him very well. He settled in Bel Air, a hamlet close to Baltimore, where he built a farm which he named Tudor Hall, and raised his kids. And passed on to them his talents, for he had been every bit the rival of Edmund Kean in his homeland. His house, in a bad state of repair, and some land still stands to this day, and having been recently purchased by the community of Harford County as a museum, its future should be secure. Redgrave had made a written offer to purchase Tudor Hall during her tenure with the intention of incorporating it into the Players, but the owners rejected the offer.
