Daniel J. Quinlan (born Daniel Cullinan; April 21, 1863July 12, 1940), known on the stage as Dan Quinlan, was an American actor and

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

and

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of Afr ...

performer. He had an active career on the American stage from 1883 until his retirement in 1932. He began his career in minstrel shows and then transitioned into vaudeville where he performed as one half of the duo Quinlan & Mack from 1905 to 1910. In his latter career he worked in

legitimate theatre Legitimate theatre is live performance that relies almost entirely on diegetic elements, with actors performing through speech and natural movement.Joyce M. Hawkins and Robert Allen, eds. "Legitimate" entry. ''The Oxford Encyclopedic English Dicti ...

; starring in several

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

musicals in the 1910s and 1920s.

Life and career

Dan Quinlan was born with name Daniel Cullinan on April 21, 1863, in

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. ...

. He was the son of Irish immigrants John and Margaret Cullinan. Before working as an actor he worked in the

rolling Rolling is a Motion (physics)#Types of motion, type of motion that combines rotation (commonly, of an Axial symmetry, axially symmetric object) and Translation (geometry), translation of that object with respect to a surface (either one or the ot ...

factory of the Elmira Iron Rolling Mill Company. Quinlan began his career on the stage in 1883 as a member of Barlow, Wilson and Co.'s Mammoth Minstrels. He worked for a variety of minstrel shows, including ones operated by Al G. Field and McIntyre &

Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

. From 1905 to 1910 he performed with Keller Mack in the

duo Quinlan and Mack. He later worked in the

, notably starring is multiple musicals on

. His Broadway credits include the roles of Hiram J. Kidder in Harry B. Smith and Carl Woess's '' Molly O''' (1916,

Cort Theatre The James Earl Jones Theatre, originally the Cort Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 138 48th Street (Manhattan), West 48th Street, between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater ...

), multiple roles in

Harold Atteridge Harold Richard Atteridge (July 9, 1886 – January 15, 1938) was an American composer, librettist and lyricist primarily for musicals and revues. He wrote the book and lyrics for over 20 musicals and revues for the Shubert family, including sever ...

and

Sigmund Romberg Sigmund Romberg (July 29, 1887 – November 9, 1951) was a Hungarian-born American composer. He is best known for his Musical theatre, musicals and operettas, particularly ''The Student Prince'' (1924), ''The Desert Song'' (1926) and ''The New Moo ...

's '' The Show of Wonders'' (1916–1917,

Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Originally designed by architect William Albert Swasey, it opened in 1911. The Winter Garden's current des ...

), Col. Winslow in

Jean Schwartz Jean Schwartz (November 4, 1878 – November 30, 1956) was a Hungarian-born Jewish American composer and pianist. He is best known for his work writing the scores for more than 30 Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals, and for his creation of more t ...

and Alfred Bryan's '' Hello, Alexander'' (1919, 44th Street Theatre), and Col. Shelby Bright in '' Red Pepper'' (1922, Shubert Theatre). Quinlan retired from the stage in 1932, and returned to his native town of Elmira where he lived for the rest of his life. He worked as an acting coach in his final years and also directed amateur stage productions. Quinlan died during surgery at a hospital in Elmira, New York, on 12 July 1940 at the age of 77. At the time of his death, his wife was the head of the drama department at

Elmira College Elmira College is a private college in Elmira, New York, United States. Founded as a Timeline of women's colleges in the United States#First and oldest, college for women in 1855, it is the oldest existing college granting degrees to women that ...

. Daniel and his wife had six daughters together.

Bibliography

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quinlan, Dan 1863 births 1940 deaths American musical theatre actors American vaudeville performers Blackface minstrel performers People from Elmira, New York