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John McCabe (November 14, 1920 – September 27, 2005), born John Charles McCabe III, was an American
Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
scholar and author, whose first book was the authorized biography of the comedy team known as
Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...
. This joint biography, as well as his separate books on each man, has been reprinted.


Early life and education

John Charles McCabe III (always called Jack)"John McCabe"
''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', October 17, 2005, accessed October 9, 2013.
was born in
Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
. His father was an engineer; the son loved acting from an early age, and at seven started to perform professionally with the
Jessie Bonstelle Jessie Bonstelle (born Laura Justine Bonesteel; November 18, 1871 – October 14, 1932) was an American theater director, actress, and drama company manager. Encouraged by her mother, she sang and performed in the theater from a young age; she w ...
Stock Company in the city. After attending the University of Detroit High School, he served in Europe, from 1943 to 1945, as a sergeant with the United States Army Air Forces. After returning to Detroit, he completed his undergraduate degree at the
University of Detroit The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catho ...
, graduating in 1947. The following year he was awarded a Master's from Fordham University, after which he began teaching at Wayne University (now
Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...
) in Detroit. In the 1940s, he was active in the Catholic Theater of Detroit. He earned a Master's in Theatre from
Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...
in New York, and a doctorate from the Shakespeare Institute of the
University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
in England.


Career

Early in his career Dr. McCabe taught acting at Detroit's
Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...
,
City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...
,
Interlochen Arts Academy Interlochen Center for the Arts ( '; also known as I.C.A. or Inty) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit corporation which operates Visual arts education, arts education institutions and Music venue, performance venues. Established in 1928 b ...
, and
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
where, as professor of dramatic art, he headed the Educational Theatre Department for many years.
The St. Ignace News The ''St. Ignace News'' is a weekly newspaper that covers events in and around St. Ignace and Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The newspaper's coverage area includes a substantial portion of the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan, ...
br>“John McCabe”
Retrieved 2017-08-30
He also had a strong interest in popular culture: movies, Broadway plays and musicals, and comedies. His ''Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy'' first published in 1961, is credited with helping to establish the critical reputation of the 20th-century comedy duo. He also wrote separate books about each man: ''The Comedy World of Stan Laurel'' (1974) and ''Babe: The Life of Oliver Hardy'' (1989). Having become a show-business biographer, McCabe also wrote ''
George M. Cohan George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer. Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...
: The Man Who Owned
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 ...
'' (1973); ''Cagney by Cagney'' (the ghostwritten autobiography of
James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor and dancer. On stage and in film, he was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He won acclaim and maj ...
, 1976); ''Cagney'' (1997); ''Charlie Chaplin'' (1978 and 1992); ''Grand Hotel'' (1987 and 1993); and ''Laurel & Hardy'' ith Al Kilgore & Richard W. Bann(1984). He also contributed to ''The Laurel and Hardy Encyclopedia'' by Glenn Mitchell (1995). In 1964, Dr. McCabe established the international Laurel and Hardy society,
The Sons of the Desert The Sons of the Desert is an international fraternal organization devoted to the lives and films of comedians Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The group takes its name from a fictional lodge that Laurel and Hardy belonged to in the 1933 film ''Son ...
, named after one of the team's films. The founding members were McCabe, actors
Orson Bean Orson Bean (born Dallas Frederick Burrows; July 22, 1928 – February 7, 2020) was an American film, television, and stage actor and comedian. He was a game show and talk show host and a "mainstay of Los Angeles’ small theater scene." He ...
and
Chuck McCann Charles John Thomas McCann (September 2, 1934 – April 8, 2018) was an American actor, comedian, puppeteer, commercial presenter and television host. His career spanned over 70 years. He was best known for his work in presenting children's televi ...
, cartoonist
Al Kilgore Alfred R. Kilgore (December 19, 1927 - August 15, 1983), who signed his work Al Kilgore, was an American artist who worked as a cartoonist and filmmaker. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Kilgore attended Andrew Jackson High School where he played ba ...
, and John Municino. After the group had grown to dozens of chapters around the world, McCabe took the title "Exhausted Ruler" (a quotation from the ''Sons of the Desert'' film). He told a reporter that he modeled the group on
The Baker Street Irregulars The Baker Street Irregulars is an organization of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts founded in 1934 by Christopher Morley. As of 2015, the nonprofit organization had about 300 members worldwide. The group has published ''The Baker Street Journal,'' ...
, a fan organization for Sherlock Holmes, of which he had been a member."John McCabe, 84; Professor Championed Laurel and Hardy"
''Los Angeles Times'', September 30, 2005; accessed October 9, 2013.
McCabe was one of the chief contributors to the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's
Omnibus Omnibus may refer to: Film and television * ''Omnibus'' (film), a 1992 French short comedy film * Omnibus (broadcast), a compilation of Radio or TV episodes * ''Omnibus'' (British TV programme), an arts-based documentary programme * ''Omnibu ...
arts strand tribute to the comedy duo, ''Cuckoo: A Celebration of Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy'', in 1974. Appearing alongside
Dick Van Dyke Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. Dick Van Dyke on screen and stage, His work spans screen and stage, and List of awards and nominations received by Dick Van Dyke, his awards includ ...
,
Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...
,
Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...
,
Hal Roach Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter, ...
,
Marvin Hatley Thomas Marvin Hatley (April 3, 1905 – August 26, 1986), professionally known simply as Marvin Hatley, was an American film composer and musical director, best known for his work for the Hal Roach studio from 1929 until 1940. Hatley wrote man ...
and
Marcel Marceau Marcel Marceau (; born Marcel Mangel; 22 March 1923 – 22 September 2007) was a French mime artist and actor most famous for his stage persona, "Bip the Clown". He referred to mime as the "art of silence", performing professionally worldwide ...
, McCabe spoke about the Sons of the Desert. From 1967 to 1970, Dr. McCabe chaired the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts at
Mackinac College Mackinac College was a private liberal arts college which opened on Mackinac Island, Michigan, in the fall of 1966 and closed four years later in 1970. The college taught courses in biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, modern languages, thea ...
on
Mackinac Island Mackinac Island ( , ; ; ; ) is an island and resort area, covering in land area, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the island in Odawa is Michilimackinac and "Mitchimakinak" in Ojibwemowin, meaning "Great Turtle". It is located in ...
. There he oversaw theater productions by students and staff, their many performances including
The Glass Menagerie ''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his histrionic mo ...
, John Brown's Body,
The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde, the last of his four drawing-room plays, following ''Lady Windermere's Fan'' (1892), ''A Woman of No Importance'' (1893) and ''An Ideal Husban ...
,
The Old Lady Shows Her Medals ''The Old Lady Shows Her Medals'' is a play by J. M. Barrie. It was first published in his collection ''Echoes of the War'' in 1918, which also included the stories ''The New Word'', ''Barbara's Wedding'' and ''A Well-Remembered Voice''. It is set ...
, Everyman, Salad Days, and
The Zoo Story ''The Zoo Story'' is a one-act play by American playwright Edward Albee. His first play, it was written in 1958 and completed in just three weeks. Productions Rejected by New York producers, the play premiered in West Berlin at the Schiller ...
. In 1968, John Brown's Body was entered in the Regionals of the American College Theater Festival. When Mackinac College closed in 1970, he taught Speech, Shakespeare, and Drama at Lake Superior State College (now
Lake Superior State University Lake Superior State University (colloquially Lake State, Soo Tech, and LSSU) is a public college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States. It enrolls approximately 1,600 students. Due to its proximity to the Canada–United States border, ...
) (
Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie may refer to: People * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a Native American tribe in Michigan Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie (federal electoral district), a Canadian federal electora ...
)) for 16 years while maintaining his home on Mackinac Island. As a professor, McCabe pushed his students in writing and speech. He and two other professors established the Unicorn Hunters, and annually published a word to be banned from use on campus - one year it was "awesome".


Marriage and family

McCabe married four times, and was widowed three times. He met his first wife, Peggy Richards, while they were both involved in the Catholic Theater of Detroit in the 1940s. They continued with their interest in theatre and together they produced, directed and acted in numerous summer stock productions in
Milford, Pennsylvania Milford is a borough that is located in Pike County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat. Its population was 1,103 at the time of the 2020 census. Situated near the upper Delaware River, Milford is part of the New York metropo ...
. A widower, McCabe married his second wife, Vija Valda Zarina (May 30, 1929 – March 1, 1984), a
Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
n-American ballet dancer/choreographer in 1958. "You can have kids," she told him, "or a clean house. But not both." They had three children. When McCabe worked at Mackinac College, Vija taught ballet. She died in 1984, aged 54. In 1987, Dr. McCabe married Rosina Marchisio, an actress and singer of the 1930s who had played the teacher in the
Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also pr ...
films, and was featured in a Laurel & Hardy film, '' Way Out West''. The McCabes divided their time between British Landing, Mackinac Island and New York. She died in 1997 of cancer, age 84. On April 16, 1998, John McCabe married Karen Lee Jackson.Banker, Mar
“Help Pay the Final expenses for Karen Lee Jackson McCabe”
Retrieved 2017-08-30
They had known each other since the 1960s, when both worked for Mackinac College. Karen was age 65 when they married. They lived at British Landing on Mackinac Island and she shared his love of both the Island and involvement in theater. She cared for her elderly husband and was with him in Petoskey the night he died. Karen Lee Jackson McCabe died on February 22, 2015, in Petoskey, Michigan.


Death

McCabe died of congestive heart failure at Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey. He was survived by his fourth wife, Karen, and his children. He had lived the remainder of his years full-time on Mackinac Island, where he had gone for the summers for 27 years. He was given the title locally of "Shakespearean in Residence" and gave readings annually at the Grand Hotel.


Bibliography

*''Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy: An Affectionate Biography''. Doubleday, 1961; reprint edition, Robson Books, Ltd., 1976; revised edition, New American Library, 1985. *''The Comedy World of Stan Laurel''. Doubleday, 1974; reprint edition, Past Times, 1990. *''Babe: The Life of Oliver Hardy''. Citadel Press, 1990; reprint edition, Robson Books, 2004. *''Cagney''. Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.


References


Sources

*Nelson, Valerie J. (September 30, 2005)
"John McCabe, 84; Professor Championed Laurel and Hardy"
''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''; accessed November 9, 2016.
John McCabe obituary
''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', October 17, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:McCabe, John 1920 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American biographers 20th-century American educators Writers from Detroit Place of death missing Shakespearean scholars University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy alumni University of Detroit Mercy alumni Fordham University alumni Alumni of the University of Birmingham Wayne State University faculty American expatriates in the United Kingdom New York University faculty Lake Superior State University faculty United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces non-commissioned officers