Jerome Sykes
Sykes as pictured in The Players Blue Book (1901)
Born
Jerome H. Sykes

(1868-06-24)June 24, 1868
Washington, D. C., US[1]
DiedDecember 29, 1903(1903-12-29) (aged 35)
Chicago, Illinois, US
Resting placeGreen-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York
Occupation(s)Actor, comedian
Spouses
  • Agnes Sherwood
  • Jessie Wood
Edna Wallace Hopper and Sykes in Chris and the Wonderful Lamp.

Jerome Sykes (June 24, 1868 - December 29, 1903)[2][3] was an American stage actor, singer and comedian. He was perhaps best known for his performances as Foxy Quiller in two theatrical productions. His brother Albert S Sykes was also an actor.

Sykes was born in Washington, D.C.,[3] under the name of Henry Karl August Seitz and grew up in a house where part of the Library of Congress now stands.[4] He "was a member of a famous family of actors ..."[5]

Sykes' professional debut came in the 1884-1885 season[6] in a performance of The Mikado with the Ford Opera Company in Baltimore.[3] His biggest Broadway success was The Billionaire (1902-03) which had in its cast May Robson and Sallie Fisher and was the New York debut of Marie Doro.[7] His other Broadway credits included Foxy Quiller (In Corsica) (1900), Chris and the Wonderful Lamp (1900), and The Three Dragoons (1899).[8]

Sykes portrayed Constable Foxy Quiller in The Highwayman, which became popular enough that it resulted in a sequel, Foxy Quiller.[9]

During a party feted for Sykes and The Billionaire in Chicago, Sykes caught pneumonia, while wearing too few clothes in the dead of winter, and died at 35.[10] After his body was temporarily stored in a receiving tomb at Greenwood Cemetery, he was buried at St. James Episcopal Cemetery in St. James, New York, where his family had a summer residence for many years.[5]

Sykes was married twice, to Agnes Sherwood, who died in 1896 and to actress Jessie Wood.[11]

References

  1. ↑ The Washington Times; Sunday February 28 1904; STAGELAND FAVORITES WHO ARE NATIVES OF WASHINGTON
  2. ↑ American and British Theatrical Biography p.895 c.1979 by J. P. Wearing ISBN 0-8108-1201-0
  3. 1 2 3 "Dead Actor a Favorite Here". Sioux City Journal. Iowa, Sioux City. December 31, 1903. p. 6. Retrieved October 18, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ↑ ...see The Hatching Cat
  5. 1 2 Fleming, Geoffrey K. (2006). St. James. Arcadia Publishing. p. 75. ISBN 9780738546100. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  6. ↑ Strang, Lewis Clinton (1900). Famous Stars of Light Opera. L.C. Page. pp. 154-167. Retrieved 18 October 2018. Jerome Sykes.
  7. ↑ Pictorial History of the American Theater: 1860-1985, p.69 c.1985 by Daniel Blum ISBN 0-517-562588
  8. ↑ "Jerome Sykes". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  9. ↑ Franceschina, John (2004). Harry B. Smith: Dean of American Librettists. Routledge. p. 130. ISBN 9781135949082. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  10. ↑ The Topeka State Journal December 30, 1903; JEROME SYKES IS DEAD, Comic Opera Star a Victim of Pneumonia
  11. ↑ THE HATCHING CAT, True and Unusual Animal Tales of Old New York...[Sir Oliver the Parrot, the Mascot of the Lambs]
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