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The PlayersA BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PLAYERS
The Players, frequently referred to as the Players Club, is a social club founded in New York City by the noted 19th-century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth, who purchased an 1847 mansion located at 16 Gramercy Park. During his lifetime, he reserved an upper floor for his home, turning the rest of the building over to the Clubhouse. Its interior and part of its exterior was designed by architect Stanford White. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1962. In 1989, women were invited to become fully participating members. The Players still maintains its entryway gaslights, among the few remaining examples in New York City. |
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FOUNDING On April 14, 1865, Edwin’s younger brother John Wilkes, a popular actor, assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, after which the life of his family changed. In 1888 Edwin Booth purchased the former residence of Valentine G. Hall in Gramercy Square and, perhaps inspired by London’s Garrick Club, established a social club which would bring actors into contact with men of different professions such as industrialists, writers and other creative artists. The building Booth had purchased was completely redesigned, furnished, equipped and decorated with Booth’s personal possessions. When ready, a series of meetings was held, and a small group of founding fathers turned the Clubhouse over to newly invited members in a grand ceremony on December 31, 1888. In the title papers, it is stated that Edwin Booth should retain a furnished apartment for his own use where he could be left undisturbed as he wished. Booth made his home at The Players, where he died June 7, 1893, at the age of 59. MEMBERSHIP Members of the Players included the local pillars of society of the day, prominent bankers, lawyers and businessmen, as well as those identified with other arts – writers, journalists, sculptors, architects and painters. Presidents of the club have included Joseph Jefferson, who succeeded Booth as president after his death, John Drew Jr, Walter Hampden, Howard Lindsay, Dennis King, Alfred Drake, Roland Winters, Jose Ferrer, Robert Lansing, John Bartholomew Tucker pro tem, Michael Allinson and Lynn Redgrave. President Timothy Hutton resigned on June 5, 2008, due to work keeping him on the West Coast. New York producer and longtime member Herb Blodgett took his place, and in June 2010, it was announced that theatrical manager Johnnie Planco would replace him. Some past and present notable members include: Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), George M. Cohan, Stanford White, Nikola Tesla, John Barrymore, Eugene O’Neill, James Cagney, Gregory Peck, Alfred Lunt, Robert M. McBride, Walter Cronkite, Alexander Woollcott, Kevin Spacey, Judy Collins, Rue McClanahan, George S. Kaufman, Angela Lansbury, Sidney Poitier, Tony Bennett, Tony Roberts, Carol Burnett, Liza Minnelli, Dick Cavett, Billy Connolly, Vartan Gregorian, Hal Holbrook, George Innes, Eli Wallach, Robert Vaughn, Ben Gazzara, Christopher Plummer, Budd Schulberg, Ethan Hawke, Jimmy Fallon, Marian Seldes, Peter O’Toole, Rosemary Harris, Roger Moore, Russell Miller, and Sidney Zion. The longtime syndicated columnist Earl Wilson said in 1964: “Long ago a New Yorker asked the difference between the Lambs, Friars, and Players, since the membership was, at the time, predominantly from Broadway. … [A] wit believed to have been George S. Kaufman drew the distinction: ” The Players are gentlemen trying to be actors, the Lambs are actors trying to be gentlemen, and the Friars are neither trying to be both.” Beginning in the 1970s, widows of club member were afforded limited privileges to the club, but in September 1987, the club voted to allow women to be full members for the first time. One benefit to the club of doing so was that once women were admitted, the Players could then rent out its facilities for outside functions, which it had not been allowed to do before under New York City law. ACTIVITIES The Players serves as a social club but is also a repository of American and British theatre history, memorabilia, and theatrical artifacts. Today, it still holds “Pipe Nights” honoring theatrical notables, and maintains a kitchen and wine cellar and a billiard table in its usually busy Grill room. In the Dining Room, filled with portraits of theatre and film notables and rare playbills from the 19th and 20th centuries, a small stage has been built where members and people of the theatre can be honored; staged readings can take place and new works tried out. The Players also gives the prestigious “Edwin Booth Life Achievement Award” to actors who have had a long, important body of theatre and film work. Past recipients include Helen Hayes, Jose Ferrer, Garson Kanin, Christopher Plummer, Jason Robards, Jack Lemmon, and Marian Seldes. In June 2007, Angela Lansbury was the recipient, and Edward Albee received it on September 30, 2007. |
Edwin Booth
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NTC AND THE PLAYERS
The National Theatre Conference has long considered the Players its New York City home, and the membership has benefited from its theatrical and historical ambiance, a most fitting location for our awards and programs. The Players Club is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 12 midnight. |