Danforth Marble (April 27, 1810 – May 13, 1849) was an American comedic actor who gained great popularity playing "Yankee" roles in the 1830s and 1840s. Marble was born in

East Windsor, Connecticut East Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. The population was 11,190 at the 2020 United States census ...

and made his stage debut in 1831 at

Chatham Garden Theatre The Chatham Garden Theatre or Chatham Theatre was a playhouse in the Chatham Gardens of New York City. It was located on the north side of Chatham Street on Park Row between Pearl and Duane streets in lower Manhattan. The grounds ran through to ...

in New York, playing the role of Rollin Roughhead in ''Fortune's Frolic'' by John Till Allingham. Dan Marble was famous for his portrayal of the character " Sam Patch", the famous daredevil jumper. He developed the role starting in 1836, and first played Sam Patch at the Eighth Street Theatre in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, where Patch's successful jump at nearby

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

in 1829 had made him a local legend. Marble went on to star in a number of "Sam Patch" plays throughout the United States. In his role as Sam Patch he would leap forty feet over a simulated Niagara Falls into a mock raging river. In 1845, he went to England, where he performed on the

Strand Strand or The Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * ...

as the classic Yankee 'Deuteronomy Dutiful'. He returned to America in 1845. Marble died of

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

on May 13, 1849. Humorist

Jonathan Falconbridge Kelly Jonathan Falconbridge Kelley (August 14, 1817 - July 21, 1855?) was an American journalist and humorist. He published under a number of pseudonyms, including "Falconbridge", "Jack Humphries", "O.K.", "Cerro Gordo", and "J.F.K." Kelley was born i ...

wrote a biography of Marble which was published in 1851. Marble married Anna Warren (1815–1872) of Philadelphia, an actress and daughter of actor William Warren (1767-1832), on November 13, 1836.''A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800: W. West to Zwingman...''
p. 76 (1993) Their son

Edward Marble Edward Stevenson Marble (September 3, 1846 – January 3, 1900) was a 19th-century American actor and songwriter. Among other works, he wrote ''Tuxedo Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British ...

was an actor and songwriter.(September 21, 1900)
Edward Marble (obituary)
''The Lafayette'', Vol. 27, No. 1, p. 8 Their daughter, Mary Marble, married the actor Samuel Meyers in Chicago in 1855, and acted for many years at McVicker's Theater in that city.Sherman, Robert L. (1947) ''The Chicago Stage, its records and achievements'', Chicago: Robert L. Sherman, page 391.
/ref> Dan and Anna are buried at

Rosehill Cemetery Rosehill Cemetery (founded 1859) is a historic rural cemetery on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. At , it is the largest cemetery in the city of Chicago and its first private cemetery. The Entrance Gate and Administration ...

in Chicago.

Selected performances

*''Sam Patch the Yankee Jumper''(1836, New York debut in 1837) *''Sam Patch at Home'' *''Sam Patch in France'' *''Sam Patch the Jumper'' (1844) *''Vermont Wool Dealer'' (1838) (play by Cornelius Ambrosius Logan) (Marble played the Yankee role of "Deuteronomy Dutiful") *''Yankee Land'' (1842) (play by Logan) *''The Game Cock of the Wilderness'' (1845) (by

William Leman Rede William Leman Rede (31 January 1802 – 3 April 1847), often referred to as simply Leman Rede, was one of the many prolific and successful playwrights who composed farces, melodramas, burlettas (light musical and comedies) and Victorian burlesque ...

) *''Family Ties'' (1846) (play by

Joseph M. Field Joseph M. Field (1810 – January 28, 1856) was an English-born American actor and dramatist. Biography He was born in London, came to America when very young, and for several years traveled through the country writing plays and acting them witho ...

, debuted at the Park Theatre in New York on June 19, 1846)(July 1879)
The American on the Stage
''

Scribner's Monthly ''Scribner's Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People'' was an illustrated American literary periodical published from 1870 until 1881. Following a change in ownership in 1881 of the company that had produced it, the magazine was relaunc ...

'', pp. 324-35. *''The Stage Struck Yankee'' (1849) (by O.E. Durivage)Jortner, Maura L
Playing "American" On Nineteenth-Century Stages; Or, Jonathan in England and Jonathan at Home
(2005 Ph.D. Thesis, University of Pittsburgh) (Chapter 5 of thesis includes great detail about Marble's career with reference to additional sources for research)

References

External links

* * Kelly, Jonathan Falconbridge
Dan. Marble: A Biographical Sketch of that Famous and Diverting Humorist, with Reminiscences, Comicalities, Anecdotes, Etc., Etc.
(Dewitt & Davenport, 1851) (235 pgs.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Marble, Dan American male stage actors 1810 births 1849 deaths People from East Windsor, Connecticut Deaths from cholera in the United States 19th-century American male actors Burials at Rosehill Cemetery