Eddie Dowling

Dowling, Eddie [né Joseph Nelson Goucher] (1894–1976), actor, director, producer, and playwright. Born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, he made his acting debut in nearby Providence in 1909 in Quo Vadis? After spending some time in England, Dowling returned to America to join the Ziegfeld Follies of 1918 on tour. His first New York appearance was as a policeman in Victor Herbert's The Velvet Lady (1919), after which he performed as a song and dance man in the 1919 and 1920 editions of the Ziegfeld Follies. He co‐wrote and starred in Sally, Irene and Mary (1922) for three seasons, co‐authored another starring vehicle for himself, the successful Honeymoon Lane (1926), then repeated the same chores for Sidewalks of New York (1927) with his wife, Ray Dooley. For several seasons the couple toured in vaudeville, then made a final musical appearance (except to replace a star in later years) in Thumbs Up! (1934), which he also produced. Thereafter, his career took an unusual turn for a performer until then identified with the most frivolous musicals. He was acclaimed for his work in a number of distinguished straight plays, although his triumphs were interspersed with several dismaying dry spells. In 1938 he produced and appeared in Philip Barry's curious religious fantasy Here Come the Clowns, then directed and played in The Time of Your Life. Another major success was Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie (1945), which he directed and co‐produced and in which he created the role of Tom. In 1946 Dowling directed The Iceman Cometh. John Mason Brown wrote of his direction, “His groupings are fluid; his modulations of pace admirable; and his eye for the pictorial unflagging. He never fails to heighten and interpret the meanness of life, so that they cease to be photography and emerge as art.” He won further praise when he directed and acted in a bill of one‐act plays, the best of which was Hope Is the Thing with Feathers (1948). Except for his stint as James Barton's replacement in Paint Your Wagon (1952), all his subsequent endeavors were short‐lived.

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