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Robert J. O'Donnell (1891–1959) was an American businessman and philanthropist who, with partner Karl Hoblitzelle, managed the Interstate Theater chain as vice president and general manager from 1925 until his death from lung cancer in 1959.〔 O’Donnell is best known for helping facilitate the growth of the "Majestic" chain of theaters during the "classical Hollywood narrative" and later for his philanthropic work both with the Variety Club Children’s Charity and the Robert J. O'Donnell Film Series Endowment Fund for the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. American comedian and actor Bob Hope credits O'Donnell as the person who gave him his "big break into show business" in Hope’s autobiography ''Have Tux, Will Travel''. O'Donnell was also instrumental in beginning the acting career of Audie Murphy.〔Miers, Virgil. "Audie as Audie. Reliving a Past". Dallas Times Herald. August 14, 1955 Sec. 8-1 http://www.audiemurphy.com/newspaper/news024/dth_08-14-55.pdf〕 While working as a theater usher at the age of twelve in his hometown of Chicago, O’Donnell survived the infamous Iroquois Theatre fire, the deadliest theater fire and the deadliest single-building fire in United States history; it killed 605 people.〔Brandt, Nat (2003). Chicago Death Trap: The Iroquois Theatre Fire of 1903. Southern Illinois University Press. pp. 11–13. ISBN 0-8093-2490-3.〕 == Early life == R.J. O'Donnell was born in Chicago Ward 25, Cook County, Illinois on October 6, 1891 to Robert Emmett O'Donnell and Emma Megler O'Donnell, themselves children of Irish immigrants from Donegal, Ireland.〔United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls. http://www.census.gov/#〕 O'Donnell was the second born of five children. His siblings were Margaurette (b. July 1889), Maria (b. January 1894), Gerold (b. May 1896) and William (b. October 1898). As a child, O’Donnell attended the Fuller School on 41st Street in Chicago. However, at age twelve he began his career in show business as an usher at both the Old Chicago Opera House and the Iroquois Theatre.〔“Biography of R.J. O’Donnell”, Breckenridge American (Breckenridge, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 161, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 24, 1941 http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth131437/m1/4/zoom/〕 The act headlining on the day of the tragic Iroquois Theater fire on December 30, 1903 was Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys, the First Family of American Vaudeville Theater.〔 Future Warner Bros. producer Bryan Foy became one of O’Donnell’s closest friends during his time at the Interstate Theater Circuit.〔Hatch, Anthony P. (2003). Tinder Box: The Iroquois Theatre Disaster, 1903. Chicago: Academy Chicago Publishers. pp. 7–12. ISBN 0-89733-514-7.〕 The death of his father in 1910 pushed R.J. into seeking greater roles of responsibility.〔 As a result of the immediate financial strain, his family began taking on boarders from Pennsylvania to help with expenses.〔Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.〕 It was his Chicago theater contacts that would secure him a position on Broadway in New York City. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「R.J. O'Donnell」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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