Paul Gilmore

Paul Howard Gilmore, born July 14, 1873, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was a stage actor whose career spanned the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He appeared on Broadway between 1898 and 1901, accumulated credits in silent film, and later owned and managed the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City. He died on December 29, 1962, in Palm Springs, Florida, at the age of 89, and is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Key West, Iowa.

Gilmore's parents intended him to study law, but his interest in acting took hold during his teenage years when he performed in amateur productions at Milwaukee's Grand Opera House, a venue owned by his father, a publisher. Theatrical producer Jacob Litt witnessed one of these performances and in 1891 offered Gilmore a role in his traveling production of The Ensign. Gilmore accepted with the intention of returning home after a few weeks to pursue his legal studies, but he remained with Litt's company and went on to perform in productions including Uncle Tom's Cabin and In Old Kentucky. By 1896 he had departed Litt's Players and joined Charles Frohman, appearing in plays such as The Wife, Americans Abroad, and Sweet Lavender. His physical appearance — described as clean-cut, with expressive brown eyes and dark, wavy hair — and his reputation for fine dress earned him the informal distinction of being called the youngest, best-dressed leading man on the American stage.

Beginning in 1897, Gilmore contributed to the early development of motion pictures in the United States. He performed short character studies for the American Mutuoscope Company, which later became the Biograph Company, and worked with Thomas Edison's company on short films including A Pillow Fight, The Vanishing Lady, The Miser, Herman the Great, and Caught in the Act. He went on to star or take major roles in nine feature films by 1920, among them Rosemary (1915), The Penitentes (1915), The Shrine of Happiness (1916), The Mad Woman (1919), and The Isle of Destiny (1920).

On June 17, 1897, Gilmore married Regina Cooper, the daughter of millionaire wagon maker A. A. Cooper of Dubuque, Iowa. On September 9, 1899, Regina Cooper Gilmore gave birth to twins — a boy and a girl — and died of heart failure two days later. Gilmore allowed his father-in-law to assume custody of both children, who were given the Cooper surname and raised by A. A. Cooper. Three months after his wife's death, Gilmore was nearly killed during a production of The Musketeers in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 16, 1899, when live rounds were accidentally loaded into a stage pistol. He sustained six wounds, the most serious to his legs, and was initially not expected to survive. A bullet was removed from his knee in March 1900, and by October of that year he had returned to performing, appearing in Under the Red Robe. Actor Lewis Monroe, who had also been shot in the incident, died of lockjaw one month after the accident from a bullet wound to the hand.

Gilmore reached full star status in late 1900 with his performance in The Dawn of Freedom at the Fourteenth Street Theatre in New York City, one of his verified Broadway credits. He also appeared on Broadway in Mistress Nell. He continued to perform across the United States in productions including Captain Debonnaire, The Mummy and the Hummingbird, and The Boys of Company B. Gilmore married Mary A. Goodwin in 1901 and was divorced from her in January 1909. In November of that year he married actress Ethel Elizabeth Cauley while on tour in Staunton, Virginia.

By 1920, Gilmore had accumulated more than $225,000 in cash and tangible assets, including 40 acres of land on Anna Maria Island in Florida, where he planned to establish a film production colony he called Paul Gilmore's Oriental Film City. He and his fourth wife, Pickett Gilmore, were principal officers in the venture. In the spring of 1920, he partnered with Albert Plummer of Character Pictures to film The Isle of Destiny on Anna Maria Island, financing the transport by boat of cars, horses, and approximately 200 actors to the island, which had no serviceable road or bridge. The film, a six-reeler, performed well upon its New York premiere, but subsequent real estate speculation resulted in the loss of Gilmore's assets and most of his cash. He returned to New York City and settled in Greenwich Village, where he converted a space above a tobacco warehouse into the Paul Gilmore Cherry Lane Theatre. His daughter, who had been raised by A. A. Cooper under the name Regina Cooper and later adopted the stage name Virginia, joined him in New York, and together they ran the theater and performed in many of its productions. Gilmore also gave early employment at the Cherry Lane Theatre to future stars including Robert Walker Sr., Jennifer Jones, and Carl Reiner.

In 1948, Gilmore and his daughter relocated to Duluth, Minnesota, where they constructed a 40-by-80-foot Quonset hut along Lake Superior and established the Gilmore Comedy Theatre. The theater opened on July 14, 1949, with a production of This Thing Called Love. Gilmore operated the venue until declining health compelled him to sell it in 1955. He and his daughter subsequently retired to Dubuque, Iowa, residing at 418 Raymond Place. Gilmore died while wintering in Palm Springs, Florida, on December 29, 1962. His daughter, Regina Cooper Gilmore, died in Dubuque on September 22, 1981, and her estate, valued in excess of one million dollars, was distributed among relatives and Catholic charitable organizations including Saint Raphael's Cathedral.