Francis Jackson Powers (June 4, 1865 Virginia – May 10, 1940 Santa Monica, California) was an actor, playwright, screenwriter, and director from the United States.[1] His play The First Born was staged on Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre by David Belasco in 1897; a work in which he also starred in the lead part of Chan Wang. The play told the story of Chinese life in San Francisco, and was a hit in New York.[2] His other Broadway credits included performances in Richard Carvel (1901, Empire Theatre), Hon. John Grigsby (1902, Manhattan Theatre), Robert Emmet (1902, Haverly's 14th Street Theatre), and Adrea (1905, Belasco Theatre). In addition to working as a stage actor he also performed in silent films.
Powers died on May 10, 1940 in Santa Monica, California at the home of his daughter.[3] He was the brother of newspaper cartoonist T. E. Powers.[4]
Selected filmography
Actor
- Out of the Dust (1920, as Sgt. Burns)[5]
- The White Rider (1920, as Major Drake)[6]
- The Love Trap (1923, as Judge Lyndon)[7]
- Rouged Lips (1923, as Mr. MacPherson)[8]
- Playing It Wild (1923, as Old Man Web)[9]
- The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln (1924, as Richard J. Oglesby)[10]
- The Iron Horse (1924, as Sergeant Slattery)[11]
- The Fighting Heart (1925, as John Anderson)[12]
- Lightnin' (1925, uncredited)
- Thank You (1925, as Gossiping Man)
- The Show (1927, uncredited)
Director
- Clothes (1914)[13]
- The Port of Missing Men (1914)[14]
- The Ring and the Man (1914)[15]
- The Little Gray Lady (1914)[16]
- The Arrow Maiden (1915, also screenwriter)[17][18]
- As in the Days of Old (1915)[17]
- The Bride of the Sea (1915)[19]
- Father (1915, also screenwriter)[20]
- The Lady of Duty (1915, also screenwriter)[21]
- Old Mother Grey (1915)[22]
- One Who Serves (1915)[23]
- Good and Evil (1916, also screenwriter)[24]
- Sea Mates (1916, also screenwriter)[25]
Screenwriter
- The Arrow Maiden (1915, also director)[17][18]
- The Crest of Van Endheim (1915)[26]
- The Ever-Living Isles (1915)[27]
- Father (1915, also director)[20]
- The Lady of Duty (1915, also director)[21]
- A Daughter of the Nile (1916)[28]
- Good and Evil (1916, also director)[24]
- The Lady from the Sea (1916)[29]
- Sea Mates (1916, also director)[25]
- Shadows of Conscience (1921)[30]
- The First Born (1921)[31]
References
- ^ Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Frank Leslie. 1897.
- ^ ""THE FIRST BORN" A HIT; Chinese Life in San Francisco Vividly Shown in Drama at the Manhattan Theatre". The New York Times. October 6, 1897. p. 7.
- ^ "Francis Jackson Powers". The Long Beach Sun. May 11, 1940. p. 3.
- ^ "Rites for Pioneer Film Man Today". Evening Vanguard. May 11, 1940. p. 1.
- ^ Lentz III 1996, p. 1300.
- ^ Lentz III 1996, p. 1496.
- ^ "The Love Trap". Moving Picture World: 263. September 15, 1923.
- ^ "Rouged Lips". Moving Picture World: 154–155. September 8, 1923.
- ^ Lentz III 1996, p. 1320.
- ^ Reinhart 1999, p. 104.
- ^ Winchester 2018, p. 334.
- ^ "This One's a Fight Fillum: Booze and Fist". Chicago Daily Tribune. November 30, 1925. p. 23.
- ^ Roberts 2003, p. 253.
- ^ Goble 1999, p. 345.
- ^ Goble 1999, p. 52.
- ^ Goble 1999, p. 372.
- ^ a b c Lentz III 1996, p. 1023.
- ^ a b Braff 2002, p. 21.
- ^ Braff 2002, p. 99.
- ^ a b Braff 2002, p. 149.
- ^ a b Braff 2002, p. 279.
- ^ Braff 2002, pp. 363–364.
- ^ Braff 2002, p. 370.
- ^ a b Braff 2002, p. 188.
- ^ a b Braff 2002, p. 440.
- ^ Braff 2002, p. 57.
- ^ Braff 2002, p. 138.
- ^ Braff 2002, p. 109.
- ^ Braff 2002, p. 276.
- ^ Lentz III 1996, p. 1386.
- ^ Goble 1999, p. 763.
Bibliography
- Braff, Richard E. (2002). "Under Two Flags". The Braff Silent Short Film Working Papers: Over 25,000 Films, 1903-1929, Alphabetized and Indexed. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786410316.
- Goble, Alan (1999). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Bowker Saur. ISBN 9783111816142.
- Lentz III, Harris M. (1996). Western and frontier film and television credits 1903-1995. Vol. II. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786402182.
- Reinhart, Mark S. (1999). Abraham Lincoln on Screen: A Filmography of Dramas and Documentaries, Including Television, 1903-1998. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786406029.
- Roberts, Jerry (2003). The Great American Playwrights on the Screen. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. ISBN 9781557835123.
- Winchester, Clarence, ed. (2018). The World Film Encyclopedia: A Universal Screen Guide. Forgotten Books (originally published by The Amalgamated Press in 1933). ISBN 9780365213130.
External links
- Francis Powers at the Internet Broadway Database
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