Alfred Hanlon

Note: An Alfred Hanlon and his brothers were part of a vaudeville act known in the 1860s as The Champion Gymnasts of America. In 1865 General Sherman and the citizens of St. Louis presented the group with a gold medal in recognition of their prowess. Although there were originally six Hanlon brothers—Thomas, William, Alfred, George, Edward, and Frederick—by 1911 two had died. At that time two others were in England, and only two remained in the United States: William and George. Of British birth, the brothers toured the world as early as the 1840s. Their first appearance in America was with The Bailey Circus (which later became part of Barnum and Bailey). One of the brothers, George, had six children: George, Jr., William, Fred, Alfred, Blanche, and Mrs. Walter J. Kingsley. In January 1911, George, Jr. was stage manager for Hanlon’s Superba company, which was then performing in Akron, Ohio, while Fred, William, and Alfred Hanlon were on stage at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. Could the Alfred Hanlon who was the 1911 San Francisco player have been an actor with Thanhouser the year before?