Ferris Hartman
1861
August 31, 1931
Gender
Male
Ferris Hartman was known as the "Ziegfield of the West." He took his troupe, the Ferris Hartman Musical Comedy and Opera Company, to Hawaii, China, and Japan. Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle was in his company at the time. The Company performed for the Queen of Hawaii and for the Royal Family of China. Despite many successes, Hartman was found alone and hungry in a hotel in San Francisco in 1931. Friends planned a benefit to raise funds to assist him, but Hartman died the night before the benefit took place. Hartman's son, Paul, was a successful actor who played the character Emmett in the television show Mayberry R.F.D.
Sources
"Fred Hartman; Dead on Eve of His Benefit." New York Times, 9 September 1931
Slide, Anthony. "Encyclopedia of Vaudeville." Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. 231
Yallop, David A. "The Day the Laughter Stopped." New York : St. Martin's Press; 1976
"Hartman Enjoys Good, Easy Life."Chicago Tribune, 4 August 1969 Sec. 1A, p. 11
Slide, Anthony. "Encyclopedia of Vaudeville." Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. 231
Yallop, David A. "The Day the Laughter Stopped." New York : St. Martin's Press; 1976
"Hartman Enjoys Good, Easy Life."Chicago Tribune, 4 August 1969 Sec. 1A, p. 11
