Volume III: Biographies

MC NISH, Frank *

Actor (1915-1916)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Frank McNish appeared in Thanhouser films in 1915 and 1916. At one time, he and Claude Cooper were designated by Lloyd F. Lonergan, Thanhouser scriptwriter, as the "Oscar and Conrad" team. Under this name, as well as his own name alone, he appeared in many Falstaff films.

Biographical Notes: Frank S. McNish was born on December 14, 1853 in Camden, New York and spent his youth in Rochester. As a child one of his favorite tricks was to shout names at a locomotive engineer, who would then throw coal at him - enough coal for an evening's warm fire, he was fond of recalling. Later, he incorporated this youthful prank into a vaudeville sketch. His stage career began around 1870, when he toured in variety acts. Later he was in New York City in Tony Pastor's theatre on 14th Street, after which he went on tour in McNish, Johnson & Slavin's Minstrels.

In 1889 and 1890 Frank S. McNish was in London. In an interview published in The New York Dramatic Mirror, August 2, 1890, the actor was asked what he thought of the variety acts on the London stage, to which he replied: "Pretty poor. I was considerably startled by the poverty of real humor in these so-called humorists. The English music hall artists are either really funny - and these can be counted twice over on the fingers of one hand - or else they make up for their deficiency in humor in using equivocal language and singing songs that are off color."

Further in the same interview: "In France I had a very pleasant time. Unfortunately, at first I had a heap of trouble with the language, and this, one time when I was playing in Lyons, made me look foolish. I had been giving the natives my sand dance. They watched me in impassive silence, and I began to think the Gauls didn't appreciate it. When I let up and made my bow, a regular volley of yells greeted me, and the only word I could catch in the din was 'bum.' They evidently thought me intoxicated, so I beat a hasty retreat. The yells, however, went on, and I began to get nervous. I summoned up courage and went forward. Again the yells of 'bum' were fired at me, and this time they called out what I thought I recognized as 'beast! beast!' I was now thoroughly scared, and turned to fly. Happily, up came the interpreter, and he explained everything. They were only shouting c'est bon, c'est bon (good! good!), and bis, bis (encore, encore). I began to study my French grammar after that."

By 1912 he had been in vaudeville for many years, and to a reporter of the Minneapolis Journal, as related in the issue of February 21, 1912, he expressed the hope that after two more seasons on the stage, he would "spend the evening of his life at his home on Long Island Sound, at his favorite sport - deep-sea fishing." At the time he was on stage in Minneapolis in the McNish & McNish father and son vaudeville sketch, Bonehead Frolics. In 1914 he toured the country with his son in a vaudeville skit, The Family Cut-Ups. When he arrived in a given town he gave the local paper a description of his act, a photograph, and his poem, What's the Use?, which told of some of the highlights and low spots of his life in show business. (Refer to the February 9, 1914 issue of The Dayton News, for example.) In 1915 he was still in vaudeville, and in January of that year was seen at the Family Theatre in Rochester, New York. An article in The Cincinnati Tribune, January 2, 1916, quoted McNish: "After 40 years on the stage, I have retired for good, and want to say it was 40 years well spent. I have played it both ways from the middle, and every bet was a winning smile. I did not wait to be handed any notice on account of the age limit, but quit with colors flying at the top of the mast."

On the Screen: Frank S. McNish joined Thanhouser in his "retirement" and appeared in many Falstaff comedy films in 1915 and 1916. He was extensively featured in Thanhouser publicity and at one time was part of the so-called "Oscar & Conrad Company" with Claude Cooper. With another production company he played the part of a vice crusader in Margaret Sanger's 1917 film, Birth Control. In September 1916, he announced that he was coming out of retirement from the stage, and with his son and daughter-in-law he was soon before the footlights in a playlet, Huckster Bill. In February 1918, he was on stage in St. Paul, Minnesota at the Orpheum Theatre in the production of In the Dark. Frank S. McNish died of a stroke on December 27, 1924 in Chicago, Illinois.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1915: The Postmaster of Pineapple Plains (Falstaff 11-22-1915), The Conductor's Classy Champion (Falstaff 12-13-1915)

1916: The Optimistic Oriental Occults (Falstaff 1-3-1916), Booming the Boxing Business (Falstaff 2-8-1916), Silas Marner (2-19-1916), Rustie Reggie's Record (Falstaff 2-29-1916), Oscar, the Oyster Opener (Falstaff 3-7-1916), Theodore's Terrible Thirst (Falstaff 3-14-1916), Rupert's Rube Relation (Falstaff 3-16-1916), Sapville's Stalwart Son (Falstaff 4-10-1916), The Overworked Oversea Overseer (Falstaff 4-15-1916), Simple Simon's Schooling (Falstaff 4-22-1916), The Skilful Sleigher's Strategy ( Falstaff 5-6-1916), Deteckters (Falstaff 5-15-1916), Politickers (Falstaff 5-22-1916), Disguisers (Falstaff 5-29-1916), Advertisementers (Falstaff 6-5-1916), Real Estaters (Falstaff 6-12-1916), Romeoers (Falstaff 6-15-1916, ready but not issued), Guiders (Falstaff 8-15-1916), Musickers (Falstaff 9-5-1916)

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