Daniels, Frank [Albert] (1860–1935), comic actor and singer. Although born in Dayton, Ohio, the genial, bantam, imp‐faced Daniels grew up in Boston, where he attended business school before studying singing at the New England Conservatory of Music. He made his professional stage debut as the Sheriff in
The Chimes of Normandy in 1879, then served a second apprenticeship with several light opera companies. Daniels first won major recognition in New York as Old Sport, the boxing fan drugstore clerk, in
A Rag Baby (1884). Other successes included the transformed father in
Little Puck (1888), the loyal (if comic) lighthouse man Shrimps in
Princess Bonnie (1895), and the title role in Victor
Herbert's
The Wizard of the Nile (1895). His success in the latter musical was so pronounced that Herbert immediately wrote two more vehicles especially for him:
The Idol's Eye (1897) and
The Ameer (1899).
Miss Simplicity (1902),
The Office Boy (1903), and
Sergeant Bruce (1905) all depended on his antics for their popularity. Among his later credits were the tailor‐made vehicle
The Tattooed Man (1907) by Herbert,
The Belle of Brittany (1909), and a touring company of
The Pink Lady (1911). He retired after performing in Joe
Weber and Lew
Fields's last double bill,
Roly Poly and
Without the Law (1912). A broad comedian, Daniels was famous for his vividly expressive eyebrows, which were often put to best use in his equally celebrated curtain speeches. Describing one of these, a critic noted, “He rambled about in a mock effort at forensic eloquence that brought tears to the eyes of a good many people out front.”
