Erskine Sanford

Erskine Sanford (November 19, 1885 – July 7, 1969) was an American actor on the stage, radio and motion pictures. Long associated with the Theatre Guild, he later joined Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre company and appeared in several of Welles's films, including Citizen Kane (1941), in which he played Herbert Carter, the bumbling, perspiring newspaper editor.^[3]

Erskine Sanford
Erskine Sanford in Porgy (1928–1930)
Born	(1885-11-19)November 19, 1885 Trinidad, Colorado, U.S.
Died	July 7, 1969(1969-07-07) (aged 83) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1904–1952
Spouse(s)	Fanny Reynolds Howe (m. 1918; 19??) [1]
Children	2[2]

Biography

Erskine Sanford was born in Trinidad, Colorado, and was educated at the Horace Mann School in New York City.^[4] Beginning his acting career with Minnie Maddern Fiske's company,^[5] he made his professional debut in Leah Kleschna.^[6] He appeared in The Blue Bird and The Piper (1910–11) at the New Theatre in New York City, and in Shakespearean repertory with Ben Greet.^[5]: 16

For some 15 years, he was associated with the Theatre Guild, playing roles on Broadway and on tour, including performances of Porgy and Strange Interlude on the London stage.^[7]

In Kenosha, Wisconsin, Sanford first met Orson Welles in 1922, when the seven-year-old boy came backstage to meet him after a touring performance of Mr. Pim Passes By. Years later, Sanford left the Theatre Guild to join Welles's Mercury Theatre company,^[8] and made his Mercury debut in the 1938 stage production of Heartbreak House. Appearing as Mazzini Dunn, Sanford reprised the role he had created 18 years before in the Theatre Guild's world premiere production.^[9]: 351

In 1941, Sanford married psychiatric nursing pioneer Adele Poston,^[10][11] but the marriage lasted only a short time.

Theatre credits

Erskine Sanford, Dudley Digges and Laura Hope Crews in the Theatre Guild production of A.A. Milne's Mr. Pim Passes By (1921)

Howard Smith, Mary Wickes, Orson Welles, Virginia Nicolson, William Herz, Erskine Sanford, Eustace Wyatt and Joseph Cotten during the two-week run of the Mercury Theatre stage production of Too Much Johnson (1938)

Date	Title	Role	Notes
February 11, 1916	Playlets		Belasco Theatre, New York City[12]
November 14 – December 30, 1916	Gertrude Kingston and a Visiting Company		Neighborhood Playhouse and Maxine Elliott Theatre, New York City[13]
October 13, 1919 – January 1920	The Faithful	Hara, Honzo	Garrick Theatre, New York City[14] Theatre Guild production[15]
November 25, 1919 – February 1920	The Rise of Silas Lapham	Mr. Sewell	Garrick Theatre, New York City[16]
January 15 – March 1920	The Power of Darkness	Mitrich	Garrick Theatre, New York City[17]
February 23 – September 1920	Jane Clegg	Mr. Morrison	Garrick Theatre, New York City[18]
September 4 – October 1920	The Treasure	The President of the Community	Garrick Theatre, New York City[19]
November 10, 1920 – February 26, 1921	Heartbreak House	Mazzini Dunn	Garrick Theatre, New York City[20]
February 28 – June 1921	Mr. Pim Passes By	Carraway Pim	Garrick Theatre, New York City[21]
April 20 – June 1921	Liliom	Captain, First Policeman of the Beyond	Garrick Theatre, New York City[22]
December 20, 1922 – February 1923	Johannes Kreisler	Theodor	Apollo Theatre, New York City[23]
March 26 – April 1923	Sandro Botticelli	Fra Filippo Lippi	Provincetown Playhouse, New York City[24]
November 19, 1923 – January 1924	The Failures	The Musician	Garrick Theatre, New York City[25]
April 14 – June 1924	Man and the Masses	Third Banker, A Priest	Garrick Theatre, New York City[26]
October 19 – December 1925	The Glass Slipper	Captain Gal, Police Sergeant	Guild Theatre, New York City[27]
January 25 – March 1926	The Goat Song	Starsina, Priest	Guild Theatre, New York City[28]
March 23 – April 1926	What's the Big Idea	Peter Clausen	Bijou Theatre, New York City[29]
October 11 – November 1926	Juarez and Maximilian	Lawyer Siliceo, Jose Rincon Gallardo	Guild Theatre, New York City[30]
November 18 – December 1926	The Witch	Master Laurentius	Greenwich Village Theatre, New York City[31]
February 24 – March 1927	Puppets of Passion	Attendant	Theatre Masque, New York City[32]
April 18 – August 1927	Mr. Pim Passes By	Carraway Pim	Garrick Theatre, New York City[33]
1928 – August 1928	Porgy	Alan Archdale	Republic Theatre, New York City[34]
1928–29	Porgy	Alan Archdale	Tour including nine weeks in Chicago, six weeks in London, and performances in Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Washington, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and cities in the northwestern United States and Canada[35]
September 13 – October 1929	Porgy	Alan Archdale	Martin Beck Theatre, New York City[36]
October 14, 1929 – January 1930	Porgy	Alan Archdale	National tour[37][38]
October 27 – December 1930	Roar China	Mr. Tourist	Martin Beck Theatre, New York City[39]
October 26, 1931 – March 1932	Mourning Becomes Electra	Dr. Joseph Blake, Abner Small	Guild Theatre, New York City[40]
February 21 – March 1933	American Dream	Murdoch	Guild Theatre, New York City[41]
February 21 – April 1934	They Shall Not Die	Sheriff Nelson	Royale Theatre, New York City[42]
December 10, 1934 – January 1935	Valley Forge	Mr. Folsom	Guild Theatre, New York City[43]
October 11 – October 1935	Sweet Mystery of Life	Doctor Warren	Shubert Theatre, New York City[44]
April 29 – June 11, 1938	Heartbreak House	Mazzini Dunn	Mercury Theatre, New York City[45][46]: 47
August 16–29, 1938	Too Much Johnson	Frederic	Stony Creek Theatre, Stony Creek, Connecticut[46]: 50
February 27 – March 1939	Five Kings (Part One)	Lord Chief Justice	Colonial Theatre, Boston[46]: 54 [47]: 350–351
March 13 – March 1939	Five Kings (Part One)	Lord Chief Justice	National Theatre, Washington, D.C.[47]: 351
March 20–25, 1939	Five Kings (Part One)	Lord Chief Justice	Chestnut Street Opera House, Philadelphia[9]: 428 [47]: 351
March 24 – June 28, 1941	Native Son	Mr. Dalton	St. James Theatre, New York City[48]
May 28–31, 1947	Macbeth	Duncan	Kingsbury Hall, University of Utah, Salt Lake City Six performances staged in preparation for the film version shot in June 1947 with the same principal cast[46]: 52–53 [47]: 401

Filmography

Erskine Sanford in the Citizen Kane trailer (1940)

Erskine Sanford as Herbert Carter in the Citizen Kane trailer (1940)

Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane and Erskine Sanford in Citizen Kane (1941)

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1938	Too Much Johnson	Frederic	[49]
1940	Pop Always Pays	Hayes	[50]
1940	Citizen Kane trailer	Himself, Herbert Carter	Short[51]
1941	Andy Hardy's Private Secretary	Mr. Bossiny	Uncredited[50]
1941	Citizen Kane	Herbert Carter / Screening Room Reporter	[50]
1941	Appointment for Love	Hastings's butler	Uncredited[50]
1942	The Wife Takes a Flyer	Jan	[50]
1942	The Magnificent Ambersons	Roger Bronson	[50]
1943	Jane Eyre	Mr. Briggs	Uncredited[50]
1944	Uncertain Glory	Drover	Uncredited[50]
1944	Mr. Skeffington	Dr. Fawcette	[50]
1944	Enemy of Women	Levine	Uncredited
1944	Ministry of Fear	George Rennit	[50]
1945	A Tree Grows in Brooklyn	Undertaker	Uncredited[50]
1945	Spellbound	Dr. Galt	Uncredited[50]
1945	Girls of the Big House	Professor O'Neill	[50]
1946	From This Day Forward	Higgler	[50]
1946	Without Reservations	Timothy Helgelander	Uncredited[50]
1946	The Stranger	Party guest	Uncredited[46]: 197
1946	Crack-Up	Barton	[50]
1946	Angel on My Shoulder	Minister	[50]
1946	The Best Years of Our Lives	Bullard	[50]
1947	Possessed	Dr. Max Sherman	[50]
1947	Mourning Becomes Electra	Josiah Borden	[50]
1947	The Lady from Shanghai	Judge	[50]
1948	The Voice of the Turtle	Storekeeper	[50]
1948	You Were Meant for Me	Dr. Frank R. Smith	Uncredited[50]
1948	Letter from an Unknown Woman	Porter	[50]
1948	Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven	Dr. Danson	Uncredited[50]
1948	They Live by Night	Doctor	Uncredited
1948	Macbeth	Duncan	[50]
1948	Kidnapped	Rankeillor	[50]
1948	Wake of the Red Witch	Dokter Van Arken	[50]
1949	Your Show Time (TV)		"The Invisible Wound"[52][53]
1949	Impact	Dr. Henry Bender	[50]
1949	Night Unto Night	Dr. Gallen Altheim	[50]
1949	The Woman on Pier 13	Desk Clerk at Christine's Apartment	Uncredited
1950	Sierra	Judge Prentiss	[50]
1951	The Company She Keeps	Planetarium Guide	Uncredited[50]
1952	My Son John	Professor	(scenes deleted)[50]

Radio credits

Date	Title	Role	Notes
July 25, 1938	The Mercury Theatre on the Air	The President	"A Tale of Two Cities"[47]: 344 [54]: 51
September 5, 1938	The Mercury Theatre on the Air	Secretary	"The Man Who Was Thursday"[47]: 345 [54]: 51
December 24, 1939	The Campbell Playhouse		"A Christmas Carol"[47]: 356
March 17, 1940	The Campbell Playhouse		"Huckleberry Finn"[47]: 359
April 6, 1941	The Free Company	Colonel Egenhorn	"His Honor, the Mayor"[46]: 113–115 [55][56]
October 6, 1941	The Orson Welles Show		[47]: 367
October 20, 1941	The Orson Welles Show		[47]: 367
December 22, 1941	The Orson Welles Show		[47]: 368

References

1. Social Register, Summer 1918. New York City: Social Register Association. 1918. p. 479. OCLC 145379781. Fanny Reynolds Howe Sanford.
2. Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
3. Welles, Orson; Estrin, Mark W. (2002). Orson Welles: interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 1. ISBN 1-57806-209-8.
4. "Who's Who in 'Mr. Pim Passes By' at Majestic". The Journal Gazette. Fort Wayne, Indiana. April 16, 1922. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
5. "Who's Who in the Cast". Playbill for Native Son. April 13, 1941. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
6. Staff (December 29, 1929). "'Porgy' Lead Has Played Very Often for Theater Guild". The Capital Times. p. 6.
7. "Who's Who in the Cast". Heartbreak House. Playbill. May 2, 1938. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
8. "Ten Little Winged Mercuries". The New York Times. May 4, 1941. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
9. Houseman, John (1972). Run-Through: A Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-21034-3.
10. Hollywood's Movie Radio Guide, December 6–12, 1941
11. Marriage License, November 4, 1941 County of Coconino, Flagstaff, Arizona (Houston Family Archives).
12. "Theatrical Notes". The New York Times. February 10, 1916. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
13. "Gertrude Kingston and a Visiting Company". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
14. "The Faithful". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
15. "Theatre Guild to Give 'The Faithful'". The New York Times. September 30, 1919. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
16. "The Rise of Silas Lapham". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
17. "The Power of Darkness". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
18. "Jane Clegg". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
19. "The Treasure". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
20. "Heartbreak House". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
21. "Mr. Pim Passes By". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
22. "Liliom". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
23. "Johannes Kreisler". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
24. "Sandro Botticelli". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
25. "The Failures". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
26. "Man and the Masses". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
27. "The Glass Slipper". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
28. "The Goat Song". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
29. "What's the Big Idea". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
30. "Juarez and Maximilian". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
31. "The Witch". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
32. "Puppets of Passion". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
33. "Mr. Pim Passes By". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
34. Republic Theatre, The New York Magazine Program. Porgy, week beginning July 2, 1928.
35. "Rose McClendon Scrapbooks". Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
36. "Porgy". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
37. "'Porgy' Returns to Fords, Baltimore, After Scoring Triumph in London". Denton Journal. Denton, Maryland. October 12, 1929. p. 4.
38. "Players in 'Porgy', Which Comes to Garrick Monday". The Capital Times. January 5, 1930. p. 6.
39. "Roar China". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
40. "Mourning Becomes Electra". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
41. "American Dream". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
42. "They Shall Not Die". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
43. "Valley Forge". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
44. "Sweet Mystery of Life". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
45. "Heartbreak House". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
46. Wood, Bret (1990). Orson Welles: A Bio-Bibliography. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-26538-0.
47. Welles, Orson; Bogdanovich, Peter; Rosenbaum, Jonathan (1992). This is Orson Welles. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-016616-9.
48. "Native Son". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
49. "Too Much Johnson Work Print". National Film Preservation Foundation. Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
50. "Erkine Sanford". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
51. Salmon, Paul (Autumn 2006). "'The People Will Think … What I Tell Them to Think': Orson Welles and the Trailer for Citizen Kane". Canadian Journal of Film Studies. 15 (2). Carleton University: 96–113. doi:10.3138/cjfs.15.2.96. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
52. "Your Show Time". Classic TV Archive. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
53. Vernon, Terry (May 16, 1953). "Tele-Vues". The Independent. Long Beach, California. … in 'The Invisible Wound', KTLA at 9 p.m. with Reginald Denny, Maria Palmer and Erskine Sanford.
54. Orson Welles on the Air: The Radio Years. New York: The Museum of Broadcasting, catalogue for exhibition October 28–December 3, 1988.
55. Welles, Orson (1941). His Honor, The Mayor. New York: The Free Company. p. 7. OCLC 5435074.
56. "His Honor, the Mayor". Internet Archive. April 6, 1941. Retrieved March 30, 2016.

External links

• Erskine Sanford at IMDb
• Erskine Sanford at the Internet Broadway Database
• Photograph of Erskine Sanford as Alan Archdale in Porgy (1927) — New York Public Library