José Ruben

José Ruben (December 8, 1884 – April 28, 1969) was a French-born actor, stage director, and book writer whose professional life in the United States spanned more than four decades. Born in Paris, France, to a prosperous family, he studied law for two years at the Sorbonne before abandoning that path to enroll at the Conservatoire de Paris as a dramatics student. He completed the two-year conservatory program in 1904 and subsequently apprenticed at the Théâtre l'Louvre, then joined the Théâtre de l'Odéon the following year. In 1906 he entered Sarah Bernhardt's troupe, with which he performed a large French-language repertoire across France, England, and other parts of Europe for the next four years. Before entering the conservatory, Ruben had spent six months in London to develop fluency in spoken English, having studied the language in secondary school but found native speakers difficult to understand.

Ruben arrived in the United States as a member of Bernhardt's touring company in 1910. The tour opened with L'Aiglon by Edmond Rostand in Chicago on October 31, 1910, and cycled through a repertoire of twenty plays before concluding with Camille in New York City on June 21, 1911. When Bernhardt and the rest of the troupe sailed for France the following day, Ruben remained in America. Through Bernhardt's American business manager he was introduced to producer George C. Tyler, who in turn connected him with Robert Hichens and Mary Anderson. The three cast him as Batouch in their stage adaptation of Hichens's The Garden of Allah, produced by Liebler and Company. That production opened at the Century Theatre on October 21, 1911, marking both his first verifiable Broadway credit and his first English-language role. Described at the time as the largest spectacle ever mounted on an American stage, the production ran until May 18, 1912, drawing an audience of 375,000. Ruben was among only two supporting players singled out for praise by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and also received commendation from the New York World. The Liebler Company subsequently cast him in the national tour of the same production, which began in Chicago on August 31, 1912, and traveled through Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Boston before closing in May 1913. While on tour in Boston, Ruben filed a Petition for Naturalization.

In December 1913 Ruben joined the French Drama Society in Manhattan, a company headed by Madame Yorska, herself a former pupil of Bernhardt. He played all leading male roles opposite Yorska, first in matinee programs at the Harris Theatre and then on tour, with the season concluding in Ottawa, Canada, in May 1914. The troupe continued into the fall of 1914 on a vaudeville circuit performing a one-act play called Days of War, with Ruben as the male lead. He remained with Yorska's company through the first half of 1915, performing French-language works in Manhattan and nearby cities and taking part in benefits for French war relief.

Ruben separated from Yorska's troupe in the summer of 1915 and began working at the Biograph Company, where he appeared as a lead in twenty-three films before the studio ceased production in late spring 1916. His Biograph work included the short A Daughter of Earth, the three-reeler His Hand and Seal adapted from a story by Carolyn Wells, and several other shorts in which he played central roles. He had also appeared in an independently produced short called Lord Chumley in 1913–1914, though details of his role in that film remain unverified.

Returning to stage work, Ruben joined the Washington Square Players at the start of their third season in 1916. The company specialized in one-act plays and, while critically respected, could not offer professional Broadway salaries. Ruben debuted with the group in Lover's Luck, drawing immediate critical praise. Critic Alexander Woollcott wrote that Ruben was "by far the best actor the group has known." On the company's second bill, opening November 13, 1916, he appeared in three separate playlets: Another Way Out, a satire of Greenwich Village social mores by Lawrence Langner; Bushido, translated from an eighteenth-century Japanese play by Takeda Izumo; and Altruism, a satirical farce by Karl Ettlinger. Of his performance in Bushido, Heywood Broun wrote that Ruben "gives an extraordinarily impressive performance as the father who sacrifices his son. It is the best bit of acting in the evening." The New York Times critic concurred and also praised his work in the other two plays. That bill ran more than 100 performances through February 1917 and became the most successful program in the Washington Square Players' history. His work with the group from 1916 to 1917 marked the period in which he first rose to broad prominence, and for the following decade he was regarded as a leading stage performer.

Ruben's Broadway career extended from 1911 to 1956 and encompassed work both as a performer and as a director. His credits included the musical The Vagabond King, Alice Takat, Madame Capet, Matrimony Pfd., and The Great Sebastians, among other productions. He also worked as a book writer for the stage. Beyond performing and directing, Ruben taught drama at Barnard College and served as a stage director for the New York City Opera.