Cartoon by Charles Bell, published in the Philadelphia Inquirer on April 5, 1927, showing the "All-Star Company" of Trelawny of the "Wells."
Below, photographs of John Drew, Jr., and Peggy Wood, taken during the 1920s.
(Both from the online collection of the New York Public Library)
And here is the much-beloved "Whiffie" - Blanche Galton Whiffen (1845-1936) - who at the age of 83, played Mrs. Mossop in the touring production of "Trelawny" described in the book. I found photos both from her youth, and her final years:
From 1898, a printed edition of the script of Trelawny of the 'Wells'. Note that both Mrs. Whiffen and her husband Thomas Whiffen were in the original New York cast:
Also from the printed script, the final lines of the play. This scene is what Peggy Wood is describing in her memoir, as John Drew made his final exit from the stage.
The death of John Drew in July of 1927 was national news! Here is a clipping from the Telegraph of Macon, Georgia:
His ashes were brought back to Philadelphia, and interred at Mount Vernon Cemetery, in the grave of his wife Josephine, who had died in 1918.
He lies next to the graves of his sister, Georgie, and also those of his mother and father. Mount Vernon is now terribly neglected and overgrown, but a group of volunteers manage to keep this famous family's plot clear.
I took this photo during a tour that was being offered by the Friends of Mount Vernon Cemetery in the fall of 2023:
Selected Bibliography:
Drew, John, My Years Upon the Stage, E.P. Dutton & Co., 1922.
Marcosson, Isaac F., and Daniel Frohman, Charles Frohman: Manager and Man. Harper & Brothers, New York, 1916.
Pinero, Arthur W., Trelawny of the "Wells," a comedietta in Four Acts. R.H. Russell, New York, 1899. https://ia903406.us.archive.org/15/items/trelawnyofwellsc00pineuoft/trelawnyofwellsc00pineuoft.pdf
Wood, Peggy, A Splendid Gypsy: John Drew. E.P. Dutton & Company, New York, 1928.
