Napier Lothian Jr. (1855 – January 3, 1903) was an American theatre manager,

talent manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager, or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of Entertainer, artists within the entertainment industry. The responsibility of a talent manager is to ove ...

, actor, and theatre director. He should not be confused with his father, the actor, conductor,

flageolet __NOTOC__ The flageolet is a woodwind instrument and a member of the family of fipple, duct flutes that includes Recorder (musical instrument), recorders and tin whistles. There are two basic forms of the instrument: the French, having four fing ...

ist, and violinist Napier Lothian Sr. (1836–1916).

Life and career

Born in San Francisco, California in 1855, Napier Lothian Jr. was the son of Napier Lothian Sr.; an unsuccessful

gold miner Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from Alluvium, alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to mor ...

who had participated in the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

. His mother was the British dancer Clara Chapman Rivers who married his father in San Francisco. In 1856 Lothian Sr. became an actor in the San Francisco Minstrels. In 1859 both of Lothian Jr.'s parents were engaged in

Christy's Minstrels Christy's Minstrels, sometimes referred to as the Christy Minstrels, were a blackface group formed by Edwin Pearce Christy, a well-known ballad singer, in 1843, in Buffalo, New York. They were instrumental in the solidification of the minstrel ...

, and the family traveled with that company to New York City where Lothian Sr. became a celebrated flageoletist on the New York stage. In 1862, the entire Lothian family, including the seven-year old Lothian Jr., were engaged by the Morris Brothers minstrels from Boston. The family moved from New York City to Boston upon taking this engagement. Lothian Jr. made his professional stage debut at Ordway Hall (then known as the Morris Brothers Opera House) in May 1862 and continued to be active on the stage throughout his youth. His father went on to have a highly successful career as a music director in Boston and Broadway at several theaters, including posts at The Boston Theatre and

Niblo's Garden Niblo's Garden was a theater on Broadway and Crosby Street, near Prince Street, in SoHo, Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1823 as "Columbia Garden" which in 1828 gained the name of the ''Sans Souci'' and was later the property ...

. As an adult, Lothian Jr. became a successful theatre manager, theatre director, and talent manager. He served posts as the manager of two theatre's in Boston: the Continental Theatre and The Boston Theatre; serving at the latter theatre while his father was music director for over two decades. For several years he was the manager of the touring acting troupe, the Quincy Adams Sawyer Company. As a talent manager, he managed the careers of actresses Mary Anderson,

Julia Arthur Julia Arthur (May 3, 1869 – March 28, 1950)Although 1868 is accepted as the year of her birth, both ''The National Cyclopaedia of National Biography'' and ''Who Was Who in America'' give 1869 as the year. was a Canadian-born stage and film ac ...

, and

Henrietta Crosman Henrietta Foster Crosman (September 2, 1861 – October 31, 1944) was an American stage and film actress. Early years Crosman was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, Wheeling, Virginia, to George Crosman Jr. a Civil War Major, and Mary B. Wick, ...

. In 1895 he directed ''

The Wizard of the Nile ''The Wizard of the Nile'' is a comic opera in three acts with music by composer Victor Herbert and a libretto by Harry B. Smith. This was Herbert's second comic opera after ''Prince Ananias'', and was his first real success. Synopsis Egypt suf ...

'' at

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 ...

's Casino Theatre. He died in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts on January 3, 1903; thirteen years before the death of his father.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lothian Jr, Napier 1855 births 1903 deaths Actors from San Francisco American child actors American theatre directors American theatre managers and producers Talent managers