Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley

1. Actress and Son

Actress and Son 4 In the northeast corner of New York State, on the western banks of Lake Champlain, lies the formidable town of Plattsburgh. On September 11, 1814, the Battle of Plattsburgh proved a crucial victory for the United States in the War of 1812. The fledgling U.S. Navy, under the command of Brig. Gen. Alexander Macomb, fought back an invasion from England, which, after defeating Napoleon, had turned its attention to retaking the northern states and possessing all navigation rights over Lake Champlain. The defeat of the British against overwhelming odds boosted national morale and was a chief catalyst in ending the war. The town, named after the Continental Congress member Zephaniah Platt, was incorporated in 1815. The indigenous Iroquois had been driven from the area by Quebecers and other Canadians who journeyed south to settle there during the booming days of the fur trade. In the nineteenth century, the town welcomed a new breed of citizenry in the form of families from England, Ireland, and Scotland. Robert Barclay of Stirling, Scotland, settled in nearby New Hampshire with his wife, Rhoda Way, when they started a family in the late 1700s. By that time, Robert had adopted a new and similar-sounding surname, Berkeley, an Americanization perhaps of a family name dating back to the 1600s. He and Rhoda welcomed a son, Robert, on September 1, 1798. When Robert was in his twenties, he married a New Hampshire girl, Susan Woodbury, and together they had seven children. On December 5, 1848, their second-oldest child, Arthur Tysdale Berkeley (b. 1823) married Mary Jane Hooey of New York and moved to Black Brook, New York, in Clinton County, thirty miles southwest of Plattsburgh. Over the course of twenty-four years, Arthur and Mary raised a brood of twelve, corresponding, almost exactly, to one newborn every two years. There was Susan Elizabeth (1850), George (1852), Edgar Eugene (1854), Susan Ella (1856), Alpheretta (1858), Billie May (1860), 1 Actress and Son 5 Frank (1862), Nellie Gertrude (1864), Althea (1866), Mary (1870), Wales Oscar (1872), and Harry (1874). Records of the first six births indicate their locale as Black Brook. Beyond that, only the county (Clinton) is listed. Other documents claim that the eighth child, Nellie Gertrude, was born in the stronghold of Plattsburgh. For Nellie, life must have been confusing at first with seven brothers and sisters, two of them having the same name. Children from large families often find ways to overcome their early anonymity. For some, the pursuit of scholarly endeavors, or the engagement in the law or medical professions, distinguishes them from their siblings. For others, a talent and love for the dramatic arts can cause wallflowers to blossom. The life records of her eleven brothers and sisters are sketchy at best; it was Nellie Gertrude who distinguished herself with a passion for acting. The Berkeleys sent Nellie one hundred miles east to the Potsdam Normal School (formerly the St. Lawrence Academy), a facility known for sending its graduates out into the world as teachers for public schools. Training music teachers was the school’s specialty. Nellie found interest not in music instruction, but in the thespian arts classes. There was an overall maturity in Nellie’s appearance and speech, and she stood tall and walked assuredly through the hallways of Potsdam. Tellingly, at the age of seventeen, she was cast in the role of Mrs. Cregan, the mother, in a local production of Dion Boucicault’s The Colleen Bawn. The highly melodramatic play of murders and marriages featured roles more in line with Nellie’s age, but she was cast as the matriarch for her commanding presence. Nellie followed her passion, auditioning and winning roles in local repertory companies. She honed her skills in all types of roles including Shakespearian, where, quite convincingly, she played the bard’s greatest harpy, Lady Macbeth. Nellie dropped the “Nellie” around this time and henceforth appeared on the stage from the east coast to the west as Gertrude Berkeley. In San Francisco, circa 1890, she found regular acting work with the prestigious Tim Frawley Repertory Company. Francis Enos, an up-and-coming actor and director from the small town of Mansfield, Ohio, was working out comedy routines in nearby Van Wert for his “Enos and Wall’s Model Comedy Company.” Professionally , he adopted a number of names including M. Frank Enos, M. Francis Enos, Melzar F. Enos, and Wilson Enos. He settled on Wilson for the stage, while...