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William Jermyn Conlin (July 26, 1831 – November 19, 1891)〔 〕 better known by his stage name William J. Florence, was a US actor, songwriter, and playwright. Florence was one of a select number of Americans to win the ribbon of the French Societe Histoire Dramatique.〔''Britannica'', Micropædia Ready Reference, University of Chicago, Vol 4, p 839, 1988〕 He was also co-founder with Walter M. Fleming of the Shriners, a Masonic Order. ==Biography== Born of Irish parents and raised in New York City, Florence worked at various jobs before becoming a call boy at the Old Bowery Theater. While working to support his widowed mother and her seven younger children, he rehearsed plays at night, and in 1850 he began to do dialect impersonations. In 1853 he married Malvina Pray,〔Note. Sister of actress Maria Pray, wife of actor Barney Williams - Derby, George, White, James Terry - The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 5, 1897, p. 440 - Mrs. Barney Williams Dead-The New York Times, May 7, 1911, p. 11〕 and thereafter the two generally appeared together on the stage — he usually as an Irishman and she as a Yankee. From Malvina's observation of wealthy American on vacation abroad, Florence asked Benjamin Edward Woolf to write ''The Mighty Dollar'', that the couple would perform in over 2,500 times during the mid-1870s and well into the 1880s.〔The Mighty Dollar.- The Indiana Democrat; February 18, 1886; pg. 4〕 Conlin was fond of Florence, Italy, where he had an apartment for his trips abroad, and adopted the city for his stage name.〔Gaylor Bronson Conlin, Sr., b. 1913, d. 10-17-2004 〕 At some point after he became famous under this name, he secured the legal right to it.〔 Florence's first success was in ''A Row at the Lyceum'' (1851); following this, he established his reputation as Captain Cuttle in ''Dombey and Son'', Bob Brierly in ''The Ticket-of-Leave Man'', and Sir Lucius O’Trigger in ''The Rivals''. His last appearance was as Zekiel Homespun in a production of ''Heir-at-Law''.〔 Florence is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York 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「William J. Florence」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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