Theatre Register

William Gaxton

Shows · William Gaxton

Actor 1893–1963 On stage 19221946

William Gaxton (né Arthur Anthony Gaxiola; December 2, 1893 – February 2, 1963) was an American actor of vaudeville, film, and theatre. For many years Gaxton was president of The Lambs Club, a theatrical organization in New York City. He and Victor Moore became a popular theatre duo in the 1930s and 1940s; they also appeared in a film together.

On stage 12 productions, 24 years

1922 Music Box Revue [1922-23] Music Box Theatre · Original · directed by Hassard Short 330 perf.
1927 A Connecticut Yankee Vanderbilt Theatre · Original · directed by Alexander Leftwich 418 perf.
1929 Fifty Million Frenchmen Lyric Theatre · Original · directed by Monty Woolley 254 perf.
1931 Of Thee I Sing Music Box · Original · directed by George S. Kaufman 441 perf.
1933 Let ‘Em Eat Cake Imperial Theatre · Original · directed by George S. Kaufman 90 perf.
1934 Anything Goes Alvin Theatre · Original · directed by Howard Lindsay 420 perf.
1936 White Horse Inn Center Theatre · Original · directed by Max Rivers 223 perf.
1938 Leave It to Me! Imperial Theatre · Original · directed by Samuel Spewack 291 perf.
1940 Louisiana Purchase Imperial Theatre · Original · directed by Edgar MacGregor 444 perf.
1942 Keep 'em Laughing 44th Street Theatre · Original · directed by Clifford Fischer 77 perf.
1945 Hollywood Pinafore Alvin Theatre · Original · directed by Douglas Coudy 52 perf.
1946 Nellie Bly Adelphi Theatre · Original · directed by Edward Caton 16 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once12 names

Victor Moore 8 productions
George E. Mack 5 productions
Edward H. Robins 5 productions
Ralph Riggs 3 productions
John Walsh 3 productions
Drucilla Strain 3 productions
Zynaid Spencer 2 productions
Yvonne Gray 2 productions
Walter Armin 2 productions
Vivian Barry 2 productions
Veva Selwood 2 productions
Tom Curley 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 8 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

In the literature8 passages

  • Reno Sweeney (Ethel Merman), an evangelist turned bar hostess, gets such a kick out of Billy Crocker (William Gaxton) that she boards a Europe-bound liner to dissuade him from pursuing Hope Harcourt (Bettina Hall). Although Billy dreams of Hope all through the night, Hope is determined to marry an English peer. Crocker has boarded without…ebooks/Block, Geoffrey/Enchanted Evenings_The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber - Geoffrey Block.txt
  • 4 . Brooks Atkinson, “The Play: ‘Anything Goes’ as Long as Victor Moore, Ethel Merman and William Gaxton Are Present,” New York Times , November 22, 1934, 26.ebooks/Block, Geoffrey/Enchanted Evenings_The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber - Geoffrey Block.txt
  • 40 . “Easy to Love,” Billy’s love song to Hope, dropped because of its difficulty for William Gaxton, also retains Reno’s half-note triplet in the midst of a chromatic line.ebooks/Block, Geoffrey/Enchanted Evenings_The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber - Geoffrey Block.txt
  • The original production starred William Gaxton (Wintergreen), Victor Moore (Throttlebottom), Lois Moran (Mary), Grace Brinkley (Diana), and Florenz Ames (The French Ambassador); the latter re-created his role for the 1952 revival. Gaxton and Moore reprised their roles for a brief return engagement at the Imperial Theatre on May 15, 1933,…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Cast: William Gaxton, Constance Carpenter, Nana Bryant, June Cochrane, William Norris, Jack Thompsonebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • The curtain rises on a hotel room in modern-day Hartford, where Martin (William Gaxton), about to be married, gets bopped on the head by his intended spouse. He dreams of being a stranger at the court of King Arthur, where he sings “Thou Swell” and “My Heart Stood Still” with Dame Alisande (Constance Carpenter), and becomes a confidant of…ebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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