James K. Hackett

James Keteltas Hackett (September 6, 1869 – November 8, 1926) was an American actor and manager whose Broadway career spanned from 1895 to 1924. Born on Wolfe Island, Ontario, Canada, he was the son of Clara C. and James Henry Hackett, a comedian widely celebrated for his portrayal of Falstaff. His father died at age 71 when Hackett was only two years old. Recorder John K. Hackett (1821–1879) was his half-brother.

Hackett received his education in New York, attending Grammar School 69 before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of the City of New York in 1891. He made his professional acting debut in Philadelphia in 1892, taking the role of Francois in The Broken Seal. Later that same year he performed in New York opposite Mrs. Potter. During the latter part of the decade, he played Romeo to Olga Nethersole's Juliet and Mercutio to Maude Adams's Juliet.

Following a year on tour, Hackett opened at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City on April 10, 1899, in a theatrical adaptation of Rupert of Hentzau, playing the dual roles of King Rudolf and his lookalike Rudolf Rassendyll. The following year he portrayed Captain Basil Jennico in the 1900 production of The Pride of Jennico alongside Bertha Galland in her New York stage debut. Among his other Broadway productions were The Walls of Jericho, Out There, Macbeth, The Grain of Dust, and additional stagings.

In 1913, producer Adolph Zukor recruited Hackett to star in director Edwin Porter's film The Prisoner of Zenda, a role Hackett had performed on stage numerous times. Hackett was initially reluctant to appear in a feature film, as the medium was still in its early stages. Zukor persuaded him in person, and the resulting production was made under Zukor's Famous Players company. Hackett's second wife, Beatrice Mary Beckley, whom he married in 1911, appeared alongside him in that film.

Hackett's first marriage was to actress Mary Mannering on May 2, 1897. The couple had a daughter, Elise (1904–1974), before divorcing in 1908. In 1914, Hackett inherited the larger portion of the estate of his niece Minnie (Hackett) Trowbridge (1850–1914), the only child of his half-brother John, with the estate valued at $1,389,049. The following year, in 1915, he acquired a large farm property in Clayton, New York, which he named after his role in The Prisoner of Zenda. Since 1997, that property has been conserved under the name Zenda Farms Preserve by the Thousand Islands Land Trust.

Hackett died at his home in Paris on November 8, 1926. He was cremated there, and his ashes were subsequently interred in the family vault at Woodlawn Cemetery in New York.