Actor. He was one of America's most popular stage actors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He also helped pioneer the development of motion pictures in the United States, appearing in at least a dozen Edison shorts and ten silent features. His last film was "Isle of Destiny," produced by him in 1920. With his daughter, Virginia (real name: Regina Cooper Gilmore), Gilmore operated for many years the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City, giving work to such future stars as Robert Walker Sr., Jennifer Jones and Carl Reiner. The Gilmores left New York in the late 1940s to start a summer stock theater in Duluth, Minn., which they operated until Gilmore's semi-retirement in 1955. Gilmore and his daughter lived in Dubuque, Iowa (her place of birth), where Gilmore had performed many times during his heyday. He died on Dec. 29, 1962, in Palm Springs, Florida, where he was wintering. Most of Gilmore's films are considered lost, with the exception of "Isle of Destiny," one copy of which has recently been discovered.
Actor. He was one of America's most popular stage actors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He also helped pioneer the development of motion pictures in the United States, appearing in at least a dozen Edison shorts and ten silent features. His last film was "Isle of Destiny," produced by him in 1920. With his daughter, Virginia (real name: Regina Cooper Gilmore), Gilmore operated for many years the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City, giving work to such future stars as Robert Walker Sr., Jennifer Jones and Carl Reiner. The Gilmores left New York in the late 1940s to start a summer stock theater in Duluth, Minn., which they operated until Gilmore's semi-retirement in 1955. Gilmore and his daughter lived in Dubuque, Iowa (her place of birth), where Gilmore had performed many times during his heyday. He died on Dec. 29, 1962, in Palm Springs, Florida, where he was wintering. Most of Gilmore's films are considered lost, with the exception of "Isle of Destiny," one copy of which has recently been discovered.
Bio by: Charles Culbertson
Family Members
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See more Gilmore memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
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