31 Facts About Joseph Jefferson

Joseph Jefferson III, often known as Joe Jefferson, was an American actor.

Joseph Jefferson was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous 19th century American comedians.

Joseph Jefferson appeared onstage early in life, often being used when a play called for "a babe in arms".

Joseph Jefferson's first recorded appearance was at the Washington Theatre in Washington, DC, where he appeared in a benefit performance for the minstrel Thomas D Rice.

Joseph Jefferson was married twice: at the age of 21 in 1850, to actress Margaret Clements Lockyer, who died young after bearing their four children.

Joseph Jefferson was the niece of British-American actor William Warren.

In 1833, at the age of four years, Jefferson was carried on stage at the Washington theatre in a bag by an actor named Thomas D Rice.

Joseph Jefferson put Jefferson alongside him in black face and dress with Rice performing his well-known character "Jim Crow" and little Joseph as Little Joe.

In 1837, at age eight, Joseph Jefferson performed at the Franklin theatre in New York City with his parents as a pirate.

Joseph Jefferson sang comic songs, played bit parts, and performed the role of the Duke of York.

Joseph Jefferson's father died when he was 13, and young Jefferson continued acting and helping to support the family.

Joseph Jefferson learned to perform in a variety of space, for instance in the dining rooms of country hotels, without any stage or scenery.

Joseph Jefferson put together makeshift footlights by mounting tallow candles on a strip board nailed to the floor.

Joseph Jefferson was one of the seven founding members of the Actors' Order of Friendship, a benevolent society founded in Philadelphia in 1849.

Joseph Jefferson revealed a new spirit in comedy, at a time when actors were long used to a more artificial convention.

In 1859, Joseph Jefferson made a dramatic adaptation of Washington Irving's story of "Rip Van Winkle", drawing from older plays.

Joseph Jefferson acted it with success in Washington, DC, with Sophie Gimber Kuhn playing the role of Lowenna.

Joseph Jefferson arrived at Sydney in the beginning of November 1861, and played a successful season.

Joseph Jefferson performed in and produced Rip Van Winkle, Our American Cousin, The Octoroon, and other plays.

Joseph Jefferson opened in Melbourne on March 31,1862, and had a most successful season extending over about six months.

Joseph Jefferson started writing while he was abroad in Australia, and on his way back to America in 1865 he heard news of the end of the war and Abraham Lincoln's assassination by John Wilkes Booth.

Joseph Jefferson, who was generally known for being just as fun loving and alive as he was on stage as one of the most brilliant comedic actors of the nineteenth century, did not show any visible reaction to the news.

Joseph Jefferson continued acting in Rip Van Winkle for 40 years, creating no new character except for minor ones.

Joseph Jefferson was known for this single character, and admired for his success in London and Australia.

Joseph Jefferson was elected to The Lambs Theatre Club as an Honorary Lifetime member in 1890, and was one of the first to establish the traveling troupes who superseded the old system of local stock companies.

Joseph Jefferson starred in a number of films as the Van Winkle character, starting in the 1896 Awakening of Rip.

Joseph Jefferson made several recordings, all of material from Rip Van Winkle.

Joseph Jefferson essentially created no new character after 1865, except for minor parts.

In 1869, Joseph Jefferson bought a place called Orange Island in New Iberia, Louisiana.

Joseph Jefferson died from pneumonia on April 23,1905, at his home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Joseph Jefferson occasionally played the Rip Van Winkle character, including in some silent feature films.