1. Charles Templeton Crocker was an American philanthropist, art patron and yachtsman.
33 Facts About Templeton Crocker
2.
Templeton Crocker was a past president of the California Historical Society and a member of the board of directors for over twenty years.
3.
Templeton Crocker wrote the libretto to the first American opera that was produced in Europe; helped popularize French Art Deco in America; and funded and headed expeditions with the California Academy of Sciences and other academic institutions aboard his personal yacht Zaca.
4.
Templeton Crocker survived significant injuries and illnesses when he was younger, including a grave fever when he was six, an accident involving a stair bannister a few months later, and fracturing both legs after being thrown by his horse when he was seventeen.
5.
Templeton Crocker attended the Westminster School, graduating in 1903, and went on to attend Yale ; Cole Porter was among his friends there.
6.
Shortly after they were married, Templeton Crocker hired noted architect Willis Polk to design a new mansion for the site as a wedding present for his wife.
7.
Irwin and Crocker announced their intention to divorce in 1927, with Irwin alleging cruelty, long absences from home, and neglect; the divorce was finalized in 1928 and Crocker decamped to his new San Francisco apartment, selling the mansion in 1942 to Romie C Jacks, the son of David Jacks, who popularized Monterey Jack cheese.
8.
On December 12,1948, Templeton Crocker died in his suite at the St Francis Hotel in San Francisco after a long illness.
9.
Templeton Crocker's uncles were banker and investor William H Crocker, president of the Crocker Bank and George Crocker, second vice-president of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
10.
In 1910, when the Town of Hillsborough was considering articles of incorporation, Templeton Crocker was advanced as a candidate for its first mayor.
11.
Templeton Crocker wrote the lyrics for an opera entitled The Land of Happiness, a Chinese fantasy-extravaganza set to music by composer Joseph Redding which premiered on August 4,1917, at the Bohemian Grove.
12.
In February 1925, Templeton Crocker and Redding traveled to Monte Carlo where their opera had its European premiere at the Opera de Monte Carlo.
13.
Templeton Crocker brought it back to Monte Carlo in 1932 with Balanchine and Stowitts and danseuse Tamara Toumanova in the principal role.
14.
Templeton Crocker collected rare books and in 1922 refounded the California Historical Society; at the time there were few collectors of books relating to California history and he amassed what was considered "the best in private hands" by 1923.
15.
Templeton Crocker convened a luncheon on February 13,1922, for a small group who agreed to restart the Society, which had, until then, an intermittent history since it was first mentioned in 1852.
16.
Templeton Crocker served as the Society's first president and provided generous financial support over its first twenty years until its membership had grown sufficiently to cover its costs.
17.
Templeton Crocker was one of the millions of fair-goers who became enamored with the geometrical motifs of Art Deco at the Paris Exposition of 1925.
18.
Templeton Crocker hired none other than Jean-Michel Frank, Pierre Legrain, Jean Dunand and Madame Lipska to execute the decor for his modernist apartment.
19.
Dunand, still widely considered the most important designer of French Art Deco, was charged with finishing Templeton Crocker's bedroom, dining room, and breakfast room.
20.
Templeton Crocker made a sizeable mark in art history as an early innovator in bringing the French Art Deco movement to the US.
21.
Templeton devoted himself intermittently to the management of the St Francis Hotel on Union Square, which the Crocker family financed and built just before the Earthquake.
22.
Crocker and his sister Jennie deeded the land for the new north wing in 1912; Templeton himself was credited with redesigning the double-width north wing in 1909 after the original extension was criticized strongly.
23.
Templeton Crocker was equipped with two small 120 horsepower diesel engines when off sail and four 5-kW electric generators to power accessories, including a refrigerator and a distiller capable of generating 50 US gallons of freshwater per day.
24.
In 1933, Templeton Crocker wrote a narrative of his one-year journey cruising around the world in his grand yacht under the title The Cruise of the Zaca.
25.
Templeton Crocker crisscrossed the Pacific Ocean from California to Asia and from the Arctic to Antarctica contributing much to the world of science.
26.
Templeton Crocker went on two oceanic adventures along the Pacific Coast from Baja California to Columbia with William Beebe, renowned naturalist, marine biologist and world deep sea record holder.
27.
Scholars accompanying Templeton Crocker determined that the Commodore was troubled with an eccentric and compulsive personality.
28.
Templeton Crocker had a scenic town in California's wine county named after him at aged two.
29.
Templeton Crocker suffered the loss of both parents by aged ten and thereafter struggled to feel worthy of his great fortune.
30.
The victim of intense mood swings and prone to alcoholic binges, Templeton Crocker could be both a generous and entertaining host and a demanding Captain Bligh.
31.
Templeton Crocker sold Zaca to the United States Navy on June 12,1942, after World War II broke out; she was again converted, this time for military use.
32.
Templeton Crocker is featured prominently in the 1947 Orson Welles film The Lady from Shanghai.
33.
Templeton Crocker eventually sank in 1988 while berthed in Beaulieu-sur-Mer.