Davenport, (Benjamin) Butler

Davenport, [Benjamin] Butler (1871–1958), actor, playwright, and manager. A versatile but mildly eccentric figure, the New York–born Davenport began his career playing walk‐ons and serving as understudy in Augustin Daly's company. He later played small parts opposite Richard Mansfield, John Drew, Eleanora Duse, and Sarah Bernhardt, and worked with David Belasco. In 1910 the Shuberts produced his play, Keeping Up Appearances, centering on a family dominated by a cruel father. The play failed, and Davenport decided to strike out on his own. He opened several little theatres at which he produced, directed, and starred in his own plays. To encourage patronage he charged no admission, merely passing the hat after each performance. Bearing titles such as The Importance of Coming and Going, The Depths of Purity, and The Comforts of Ignorance, they attracted small audiences. Only his 1916 revival of Keeping Up Appearances enjoyed an appreciable run, and that one was apparently somewhat forced. His Davenport Free Theatre continued to offer his own plays and those of others in intermittent seasons as late as 1944.