George MacFarlane

George MacFarlane (November 17, 1878 – February 22, 1932) was a Canadian-born actor and recording artist who worked in stage, film, and music throughout a career spanning roughly three decades. Born in Kingston, Ontario, he was the youngest of seven children and the son of Alice Gentle, herself a musical theatrical performer. He began his stage work in Montreal at the turn of the century, and by 1902 had been cast as Captain Corcoran in the Gilbert and Sullivan light opera HMS Pinafore. The following year he relocated to New York City, where he took a starring role in the musical comedy The Fisher Maiden at the Victoria Theater.

Between 1903 and 1928, MacFarlane appeared in more than two dozen Broadway productions encompassing musical comedies, operettas, and straight plays. He returned to the role of Captain Corcoran in HMS Pinafore on multiple occasions during that period. In 1907 he appeared in The Girl and the Bandit, where he met Viola Gillette, who would become his second wife; the two married on April 10, 1920, and performed together in several productions. Among their shared credits was the 1909 musical The Beauty Spot, which marked MacFarlane's first significant Broadway success. He played the title role in The Mikado in both 1912 and 1913, and in 1913 also appeared in the operetta Miss Caprice, an Americanized adaptation of the German piece Lieber Augustin. His Broadway credits additionally include the straight plays Salvation, Revelry, and A Lucky Break, as well as a starring role in Patience.

MacFarlane's recording career began in 1913 with Victor Records, a relationship that continued until 1917. His appearance in Miss Caprice led to his first recording hit, the Jerome Kern song "Look in Her Eyes." His next Broadway production, the Lee Shubert and Jacob Shubert musical The Midnight Girl, adapted from the German book Das Mitternacht Madel, yielded a duet with Margaret Romaine on "Oh Gustave." That same year he recorded two additional hits, "Can't You Hear Me Calling, Caroline" and "Your Eyes," with the former ranking among the biggest hits of 1914. In 1915 he recorded "A Little Bit of Heaven," which reached number one on the charts. MacFarlane also appeared in the Klaw and Erlanger production of Miss Springtime, which ran from 1916 into 1917, and recorded the Kern song "My Castles in the Air" for Victor that year, generating another chart hit despite not having performed the song in the show itself. In 1918 he moved to Columbia Records, recording four titles before eventually returning to Victor in the early 1920s for additional recordings. His popularity as a singer earned him the nickname "America's Favorite Baritone."

His first involvement with film came in 1917 through Webb Singing Pictures, a silent film in which on-screen performers mimed to pre-recorded songs; MacFarlane contributed as one of the recording artists alongside Enrique Caruso and others. He did not appear on camera in that project. MacFarlane returned to film in 1929, taking supporting roles in five pictures that year, and went on to appear in twelve additional films over the following three years, also in supporting capacities.

On February 22, 1932, MacFarlane was struck and killed by an automobile as he crossed the street after mailing a letter, while on his way to a preview of one of the films in which he had appeared. Two of his completed films, The Famous Ferguson Case and The Heart of New York, were released posthumously. His Broadway career had originated in Frontenac, Ontario, Canada, according to verified production records, and his stage work in New York had extended from 1903 through 1928.