James Keteltas Hackett

Hackett, James K[eteltas] (1869–1926), actor. The Canadian‐born son of J. H. Hackett, like his father he studied law before electing to become an actor. He made his debut early in 1892 and later the same year joined Augustin Daly's ensemble, in which his assignments ranged from Master Wilford in The Hunchback to Jacques in As You Like It. From 1895 to 1899 he worked with Daniel Frohman at the Lyceum, playing in a series of romantic comedies and dramas. His most famous role there was the one with which he was afterwards always identified, Rudolf in The Prisoner of Zenda. Hackett was a tall, slim, dark‐haired, handsome man but a relatively wooden actor whose career was largely confined to similar, if less memorable roles. Typical of his later characterizations were the swashbuckling Basil Jennico in The Pride of Jennico (1900) and the righteous Jack Frobisher in The Walls of Jericho (1905). Late in his career he attempted a number of Shakespearean revivals, which met with only modest success, and his last Broadway appearance was in 1924 as Macbeth. For a short time, Hackett also ran the theatre originally built as the Lew Fields', renaming it for himself during his tenure.

James Keteltas Hackett
Born	September 6, 1869 Ontario, Canada
Died	November 1926
Occupation	Stage actor
Spouse(s)	Mary Mannering, Beatrice Mary Beckley

James Keteltas Hackett (1869 – 1926) was an American actor and manager, son of James Henry Hackett, a comedian and celebrated Falstaff. He was born in Ontario, Canada, and graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1891.

Hackett made his professional debut in Philadelphia in 1892 as Francois in The Broken Seal. In New York later that year, he played opposite Mrs. Potter. Later in the decade, he played Romeo to Olga Nethersole's Juliet, and Mercutio to Maude Adams's Juliet.^[1]

In 1913, Adolph Zukor lured Hackett from the stage to star in director Edwin Porter's film The Prisoner of Zenda (1913), for a role which Hackett had played in the theater numerous times. Since feature films were in their infancy (indeed The Prisoner of Zenda is considered the first five-reel American film) Hackett was at first reluctant to take the part. Zukor tried to convince Hackett in person, and as Neal Gabler writes, "When Hackett came to visit Zukor, he was the very picture of the faded matinee idol. He wore a fur-collared coat with frayed sleeves and carried a gold-headed cane". ^[2]

In 1897, he married the actress Mary Mannering and in 1911 Beatrice Mary Beckley. He and Mannering had a daughter Elise together.

References

1. ^ Eaton, Walter Prichard (1910). The American Stage of Today. New York, NY: P.F. Collier & Son. 
2. ^ Gabler, Neal (1988). An Empire of Their Own. New York, NY: Doubleday. p. 31. 

Publications

• Strang, Famous Actors of the Day in America, (Boston, 1900)
• William Winter, The Wallet of Time, (two volumes, New York, 1913)

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