JAMES O'NEILL - AUTOGRAPH SENTIMENT SIGNED 1896 - HFSID 40134

JAMES O'NEILL
The popular Count of Monte Cristo actor signs his name in black ink
Autograph sentiment signed: "Truly Yours/ James O'Neill/ 1896" in black ink. 5x2½. James O'Neill (1847-1920) was a famed theatre actor, best known for his originating role as Edmond Dantes in Charles Fechter's The Count of Monte Cristo (1882). O'Neill made his stage debut as a supernumerary in a Cincinnati production of The Colleen Bawn (1867) before moving to Chicago, New York and San Francisco working for various stock acting companies, although often opposite of some of the day's great stars and earning a reputation as one of the most promising young actors of his time. He made national headlines when he played Christ in a San Francisco production of The Passion Play in 1879, for which he was arrested by local authorities forbidding the impersonation of the Deity. His famed role in The Count of Monte Cristo earned him nearly $1,000,000 for more than 6,000 performances throughout the United States over a thirty-year period. O'Neill was also known for his great Shakespearean acting, including Hamlet, Othello and MacDuff, and other classic roles in plays such as The Two Orphans, The Three Musketeers and A Celebrated Case. His son Eugene O'Neill became an accomplished playwright and Nobel laureate. Toned. Top edge slightly frayed. Corners rounded. Otherwise, fine condition.