We all return to Clay. And by that I mean Clay M. Greene (1850-1933), playwright, critic, journalist, film-maker, and man of business. The phrase also happens to apply to Greene’s life. A contemporary of the likes of Augustin Daly, Bronson Howard, and Steele Mackaye, he’s not even as well remembered as those guys, who have all been forgotten by everyone except nerds like me. But his life contains many points worth sharing here. (The fact that he has Rhode Island roots interests me but likely won’t anybody else.)
A native San Franciscan, he often made the unproveable (and undisproveable) claim that he was the first white to be born in the city. He was hatched at the time of the city’s founding during the Gold Rush. He loved the theatre since childhood (many playhouses and variety theatres were built during that booming time), but to placate his parents he attended Santa Clara University and became a stock broker. With his brother Harry Ashland Greene, he founded the firm Greene & Co. His brother was to become instrumental in the development of the nearby town of Monterey.
From the beginning however, Clay Greene pursued his writing on the side, penning articles for local newspapers as early as 1870. His 1874 play Struck Oil became a hit and by 1878 he had made his way to New York. He resided in Bayside, Queens, then considered a fashionable Long Island enclave, until 1911.
Greene’s most notable plays include M’Liss (1877), an adaptation of a Bret Harte story that starred Kate Mayhew, and was later made into three movies, in 1915 (with Barbara Tennant), in 1918 (with Mary Pickford), and in 1936 (with Anne Shirley); several pantomimes for the Hanlon Brothers; an 1888 adaptation of Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Blue Beard Jr (1889) starring Eddie Foy; and On Broadway (1896) with Maggie Cline. He wrote dozens of works for the stage, produced by the likes of Charles Frohman and David Belasco. His 1900 show The Regatta Girl was produced at Koster and Bial’s Music Hall. Greene also wrote dozens of vaudeville playlets that were performed on the circuits.
Greene was an active member of the Lambs’ Club, serving as its Shepherd from 1891 to 1898 and 1902 to 1906. For his services to the club he was the first person to be named an “Immortal Lamb” upon his death.
In 1911, Greene moved back to San Francisco with his second wife Laura Robinson, with whom he had co-written numerous plays. From 1913 to 1916 he was employed by the Lubin Manufacturing Company as a scenario writer, director and actor. A substantial portion of his scripts were “Patsy” comedies starring Clarence Elmer, and some Billie Reeves comedies as well.
Greene lost sight in one of his eyes in 1918 following a hemorrhage, which slowed down his activity thenceforth. One of his last plays was a club entertainment called John of Nepomuk: Patron Saint of Bohemia in 1921. His last book was In Memoriam: A Pageant of Friendship in 1923. His 1901 Passion Play Nazareth was performed at Santa Clara University every three years until 1933.
His stepdaughter Helen Greene (1896-1947) became an actress, appearing in 41 silent films between 1914 and 1928. I have not ascertained if Harrison Greene is related.
For more on show business history, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous.