Saturday Morning, April 18, 2026
See the Man with the Stage Fright...
The stagehand, no sleight of a sleuth himself, listened. Footsteps above his head guided his actions. Closer and closer they approached. Within four steps he lit the torch. Hydrogen and oxygen combined shooting out a nozzle, straight into his lighter. A glow lit his face. He glanced up when the footsteps stopped. A creaking board always signaled the spot. He hesitated. One, two, three... A moment of darkness on stage, for effect, at the actor's request.
Saturday we enter the world of entertainment with multiple autographs collected through the 1960's and later.
Promotion brochure signed by Angela Lansbury et al., 1973.
Theater prop for a organ grinder mechanical monkey, with tin cup.
At five he aimed the torch into a container containing lime. A flash. He reeled back. His favorite part. White light exploded from the concoction within the footlight box, intensified through a mirror, the beam projecting onto stage. Brilliance bathed the actor who appeared before an unsuspecting audience. The attendees reared back in their seats. A wave of oohs and aahs swept across the room. Surprise soon turned to pleasure as the actor stood stoic, his timing bar none. Brilliant called out several. Outstanding echoed more. Act One. Our play has begun.
Papillon
In the latter nineteenth century, one actor stole the limelight for this portrayal of A. Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Such was the popularity of this fictional detective, it was only a matter of demand until the written page metamorphized onto the stage. And there stood William Gillette, a known and charismatic performer, seasoned and sharp. His sense of timing and stage trickery mesmerized his audiences, manipulating them into subjugation.
Dolores Izzie Barth (1931-2022), watercolor on paper, 17½" x 13½"
Series of artwork featuring Henry Mercer's Fonthill, Bucks County home built within ten years of William Gillette's stone castle.
Gillette's characterization of Sherlock, so successful, we still recognize this image today. Donning a deerstalker hat (one familiar to Scottish hunting trips), smoking a curved stem briarwood pipe, and wearing an Inverness cape, our super sleuth solved complex cases within two hours, fifteen minutes. Intermission included. Gillette's brilliant appearance foreshadowed Holmes's future. Even though A. Conan Doyle killed him at Reichenbach Falls in a tussle with his arch enemy Professor Moriarty, reader demand forced Doyle to resurrect him. Weary from writing these stories, and battered byu his fans for not writing enough, the stage stepped in, immortalizing the moment.
A Gilded Thespian
William Gillette's life was the stage. Connecticut born, his home at Nook Farm in Hartford, neighbors included Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark & Livia Twain's daughters. Childhood friends, they acted out plays in the Clemens's conservatory. At age 20, William joined stock theater. Upon Mark Twain's recommendation in 1875, William was cast in the stage adaptation of Twain's The Gilded Age. The stage lights glistened. Moving from one role to another, it was in 1890's, the true breakthrough occurred.
Playbills signed by Katherine Hepburn.
18k yellow gold diamond ring.
When the Sherlock Holmes production was proposed, English actors were approached. Not one pleased Doyle so the search continued in America. The solution was, well, Elementary, my dear Watson. William Gillette was Liam Neeson's doppelganger. His presence and use of his devised sound effects and lighting exemplified the character, chalking up 1,300 worldwide performances. The curved pipe, Gillette's choice, was deliberate. A straight stem would hinder his enunciation. Better, the curved pipe allowed a full view of his face. Clever as clever can be.
All the World was his Stage
Upon the death of his wife Helen, after only six years of marriage, Gillette would never marry again, choosing the stage instead. Ten years after her passing, he met a Japanese immigrant, Yukitaka Osaki, who joined his house staff and, in time, became his confidant. Their personal relationship would be serendipitous mirroring a future stage detective, Inspector Clouseau, played by Peter Sellers, and Cato, his house man. The difference was Gillette need not fend off karate chops and Taekwondo kicks.
Even Gillette's construction of his stone castle along the Connecticut River in East Haddam rose to a greater meaning. He chose the site, selecting and naming his home from Connecticut's topography. In a series of hills, he named his castle Seventh Sister, the final one in the chain. It was a perfect choice, mirroring the Seven Hills of Ancient Rome, from which many plays were written and produced, Shakespeare included. A valiant and meaningful man and stage character, his persona echoes along the footlights forever.
Saturday our stage is set. A call to central casting will insure nothing but perfect attendance. All the world may be a stage, but here, it is a veritable Verdi Triumphal March.
Doors open at 8 AM. Auction starts at 9 AM. PA AU 1265L [bb]