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Al. H. Wilson (né Alphonse or Alfonso H. Wilson; 3 March 1868 Buffalo, New York – 6 Mar 1936 Manhattan, New York) was an American stage actor, comedian, singer, monologist, songwriter, theater stock company director, and playwright. For a long period, he was a German dialect comedian.[1]
Career
[edit]After several stints in the 1890s as an apprentice for a printer in Buffalo, Wilson engaged the managerial services of Sidney R. Ellis (né Sidney Robert Ellis; 1857–1924) and launched his stage career, full-time. In 1906, he became known is "Metz Wilson," from his performances in Metz in the Alps, which featured Wilson singing and yodeling. Critics lauded him in that role, with his German accent, as a worth successor to J.K. Emmett (né Joseph Kline Emmet; 1841–1891),[2] an acclaimed and wealthy vaudevillian actor from Albany, New York, known for his yodeling[3] and stage roles as a German immigrant.
Ellis, for more than ten years, wrote plays for Wilson, produced them, and traveled with the shows. The plays included:
- A Prince of Tatters
- Metz in Ireland
- When Old New York Was Dutch
- The Watch on the Rhine
Productions
[edit]- Glorianna
- (musical comedy)
- Starring Fritzi Scheff
- Catherine Chisholm Cushing (it) (libretto)
- Rudolf Friml (music)
- February 17, 1920, Jefferson Theater, Coffeyville, Kansas
- Al. H. Wilson is in the supporting cast
Selected discography
[edit]- "In Tyrol"
- Recorded January 26, 1906 (unconfirmed)
- Al. H. Wilson (composer)
- Sidney R. Ellis (lyricist)
- Al. H. Wilson (vocalist, tenor)
- Label 16096
- Label 4620
- Victor 16096, B-3047/1 (1906)
- Reissue: Pearl GEMM CD 9052[4]
- OCLC 122900219
- OCLC 64550543
- OCLC 478027372
- OCLC 874925544
- "Whispering Breezes"
Family
[edit]Wilson was the brother of actress Lizzie Wilson, who traveled for a season with her brother in the celebrated production of Metz of the Alps. Like her brother, she became knows as a German dialect comedienne.
References
[edit]- Notes
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- Inline citations
- ^ Who's who in Music and Drama (entry: "Wilson, Al. H."), Dixie Hines (né George Wilmer Hines, Jr.; 1872–1928), Harry Prescott Hanaford (1863–1925) (eds.), H.P. Hanaford (publisher) (1914), pg. 325; OCLC 5345361, 21786350
- ^ "Metz In The Alps," The Courier (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), August 24, 1906, pg. 3
- ^ Yodeling and Meaning in American Music, by Timothy Elbert Wise, PhD (born 1953) (of the University of Salford), University Press of Mississippi (2007); OCLC 939911227
- ^ "Discography of American Historical Recordings," s.v. "Victor matrix B-3047. In Tyrol / Al H. Wilson" (retrieved December 9, 2016)