Background
Louis Aldrich was born Salma Lyon on October 1, 1843 in Ohio, United States. After his father’s death and his mother’s subsequent remarriage, he was adopted by a Cincinnati, Ohio, family, which then moved to Cleveland.
Louis Aldrich was born Salma Lyon on October 1, 1843 in Ohio, United States. After his father’s death and his mother’s subsequent remarriage, he was adopted by a Cincinnati, Ohio, family, which then moved to Cleveland.
In 1857 Aldrich entered White Water College, Wayne County, Indiana.
Aldrich's youth, spent in Cleveland, was beset with hardship, but having some talent for recitation, he early took to the stage as a boy actor, appearing as Richard III with such success that he afterward toured the country as the "Ohio Roscius. " Later, under the various names of Master Moses, Master McCarthy, Master Kean, he appeared as a boy star in such roles as Richard III, Macbeth, Shylock, Claude Melnotte, Young Norval, and Jack Sheppard.
In 1857 he left the stage to study. The following year he returned to the boards as a star, using for the first time the name Aldrich. Becoming a member of the juvenile Marsh players in St. Louis, he remained with that organization five years. In 1863, the Marsh players having disbanded, he proceeded to San Francisco and joined the company at Maguire's Opera House, where he remained until 1866. The following year he was in Boston playing in Leah the Forsaken, in support of Kate Bateman. Later, he was seen in New York acting with Charles Kean during that player's farewell to America. Returning to Boston, he resumed his position at the Museum, where he remained seven seasons.
During the season 1873-1874 he was leading man in Mrs. John Drew's company at the Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia. In 1877 he played the Parson in McKee Rankin's production of Joaquin Miller's play The Danites, and two years later, September 16, 1879, he was first seen as Joe Saunders in Bartley Campbell's My Partner, one of the most popular American plays ever written. Aldrich continued to play this piece for six years and it brought him an independent fortune. His later ventures, In His Power (1877), The Kaffir Diamond, and The Editor (1890), were less successful.
In June 1897 he was elected president of the Actors' Fund of America, a position he held for four years. Noted for his charities to his fellow actors, he was the first to suggest the building and endowment of a home for destitute aged players, a suggestion realized later in the present Actors' Home on Staten Island, New York.
He died at Kennebunkport, Maine, United States.
Aldrich was married to Clara Shropshire.