- Harold Chapin
Harold Chapin (1886-1915) was an English actor and playwright.
Chapin was born in
Brooklyn ,New York , in 1886. Although “technically an American citizen, he was an English actor, and English playwright and died as a British soldier”. A true man of the theatre, he worked as an actor (appearing extensively in the West End and in the original productions ofWhat Every Woman Knows byJ.M. Barrie andStrife byJohn Galsworthy ), director and stage manager, and was closely associated withHarley Granville Barker .His plays were produced throughout the
UK and inNew York [ [http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=6071 Internet Broadway Database: Harold Chapin Credits on Broadway ] ]Regarded as one of the greatest potential dramatic talents to be lost in the
First World War , his work has often been compared with that of Edwardian playwrightSt John Hankin . Although largely unperformed today, his best known three act work, "The New Morality" was performed at theFinborough Theatre , London, in 2005.Enlisting in the
Royal Army Medical Corps of theBritish Army in September 1914,lance corporal Chapin was killed in action at the age of 29 at theBattle of Loos in 1915 [ [http://www.cwgc.org/search/SearchResults.aspx?surname=Chapin&initials=h&war=0&yearfrom=1900&yearto=2000&force=&nationality=&send.x=39&send.y=13 CWGC entry] ] , leaving a wife and five year old son.Bibliography
*Augustus in Search of a Father. One Act.
*The Marriage of Columbine. Four Acts.
*Muddle Annie One Act.
*The Autocrat of the Coffee Stall. One Act
*Innocent and Annabel. One Act.
*The Dumb and the Blind. One Act.
*The Threshold. One Act.
*Elaine. Three Acts.
*Art & Opportunity. Three Acts.
*Wonderful Grandmama. Two parts.
*The New Morality. Three Acts.
*It's the Poor that 'Elps the Poor. One Act.
*Every Man for His Own. One Act.
*Dropping the Baby. One Act
*The Philosopher of Butterbiggins. One Act
*The Well Made Dress Coat. Four ActsReferences
External links
* [http://www.vlib.us/medical/Chapin/Chapinbio.htm Online Text of Harold Chapin's Life and Letters]
* [http://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/archive/archive_newmorality.htm Infromation from the 2005 Finborough Theatre production of "The New Morality"]
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