Ebenezer Young Backus (1851-1914) was born in Connecticut, son of Thomas Backus and Sarah A. Young. Named for his maternal grandfather, his mother’s sister Harriet Young married Charles Lewis Tiffany, who founded Tiffany & Co. in 1837 with Backus’s uncle, John B. Young. Backus’s first cousin Louis Comfort Tiffany (famous for his stained glass creations) partnered with Thomas Edison in 1885 to provide the first electric footlights in a Broadway theatre, the old Lyceum Theatre on 4th Avenue.
E. Y. Backus made his stage debut in the Boston Theatre in the late 1870s. He came to New York and joined the Empire Theatre stock company, serving as a stage manager as well as appearing in many of its productions. His first Broadway production appears to have been Lord and Lady Algy in 1899. He performed steadily on Broadway through the years, with his last Broadway appearance coming in 1914, a production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It at the Hudson Theatre.
E. Y. Backus married British actress Lillian Thurgate about 1892. She appeared with Lillian Russell at the Casino Theatre in 1894, also appearing in Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines with Ethel Barrymore. E. Y. Backus and his wife appeared together on the stage numerous times. She left the stage after her husband’s death and died in Katonah, New York in 1960. It does not appear the couple had children.
Actor Jim Backus (voice of Mr. Magoo, Thurston Howell III on Gilligan’s Island) was a fifth cousin, twice-removed. Jim Backus, born in Cleveland, Ohio, was less than two years old when E. Y. Backus died in November of 1914, and it is unlikely Jim Backus was aware of the role his distant cousin played in the early life of Actors’ Equity.
info from Stars of Yesterday
E. Y. Backus made his stage debut in the Boston Theatre in the late 1870s. He came to New York and joined the Empire Theatre stock company, serving as a stage manager as well as appearing in many of its productions. His first Broadway production appears to have been Lord and Lady Algy in 1899. He performed steadily on Broadway through the years, with his last Broadway appearance coming in 1914, a production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It at the Hudson Theatre.
E. Y. Backus married British actress Lillian Thurgate about 1892. She appeared with Lillian Russell at the Casino Theatre in 1894, also appearing in Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines with Ethel Barrymore. E. Y. Backus and his wife appeared together on the stage numerous times. She left the stage after her husband’s death and died in Katonah, New York in 1960. It does not appear the couple had children.
Actor Jim Backus (voice of Mr. Magoo, Thurston Howell III on Gilligan’s Island) was a fifth cousin, twice-removed. Jim Backus, born in Cleveland, Ohio, was less than two years old when E. Y. Backus died in November of 1914, and it is unlikely Jim Backus was aware of the role his distant cousin played in the early life of Actors’ Equity.
info from Stars of Yesterday
Ebenezer Young Backus (1851-1914) was born in Connecticut, son of Thomas Backus and Sarah A. Young. Named for his maternal grandfather, his mother’s sister Harriet Young married Charles Lewis Tiffany, who founded Tiffany & Co. in 1837 with Backus’s uncle, John B. Young. Backus’s first cousin Louis Comfort Tiffany (famous for his stained glass creations) partnered with Thomas Edison in 1885 to provide the first electric footlights in a Broadway theatre, the old Lyceum Theatre on 4th Avenue.
E. Y. Backus made his stage debut in the Boston Theatre in the late 1870s. He came to New York and joined the Empire Theatre stock company, serving as a stage manager as well as appearing in many of its productions. His first Broadway production appears to have been Lord and Lady Algy in 1899. He performed steadily on Broadway through the years, with his last Broadway appearance coming in 1914, a production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It at the Hudson Theatre.
E. Y. Backus married British actress Lillian Thurgate about 1892. She appeared with Lillian Russell at the Casino Theatre in 1894, also appearing in Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines with Ethel Barrymore. E. Y. Backus and his wife appeared together on the stage numerous times. She left the stage after her husband’s death and died in Katonah, New York in 1960. It does not appear the couple had children.
Actor Jim Backus (voice of Mr. Magoo, Thurston Howell III on Gilligan’s Island) was a fifth cousin, twice-removed. Jim Backus, born in Cleveland, Ohio, was less than two years old when E. Y. Backus died in November of 1914, and it is unlikely Jim Backus was aware of the role his distant cousin played in the early life of Actors’ Equity.
info from Stars of Yesterday
E. Y. Backus made his stage debut in the Boston Theatre in the late 1870s. He came to New York and joined the Empire Theatre stock company, serving as a stage manager as well as appearing in many of its productions. His first Broadway production appears to have been Lord and Lady Algy in 1899. He performed steadily on Broadway through the years, with his last Broadway appearance coming in 1914, a production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It at the Hudson Theatre.
E. Y. Backus married British actress Lillian Thurgate about 1892. She appeared with Lillian Russell at the Casino Theatre in 1894, also appearing in Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines with Ethel Barrymore. E. Y. Backus and his wife appeared together on the stage numerous times. She left the stage after her husband’s death and died in Katonah, New York in 1960. It does not appear the couple had children.
Actor Jim Backus (voice of Mr. Magoo, Thurston Howell III on Gilligan’s Island) was a fifth cousin, twice-removed. Jim Backus, born in Cleveland, Ohio, was less than two years old when E. Y. Backus died in November of 1914, and it is unlikely Jim Backus was aware of the role his distant cousin played in the early life of Actors’ Equity.
info from Stars of Yesterday
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