Marcus Smith was an American actor, manager, better known as Mark Smith.
Background
He was born on January 7, 1829 in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He was the son of the well-known comedian and theatre manager, Solomon Franklin Smith, and his first wife, Martha (Mathews) Smith.
As a child he was sometimes seen on the stage of the Ludlow and Smith Theatre in St. Louis, playing Tom Thumb in Henry Fielding's burlesque, Tom Thumb, as early as 1836. But his father was opposed to his adopting the stage as a profession, and sought to train him first as a printer, then as a navigator, and later as a mechanic.
Education
Marcus was educated chiefly in schools in and near St. Louis, Missouri, the family home.
Career
In 1848 he went to New York, where he secured a position in the Chatham Theatre. A year later he joined his father's company at the St. Charles in New Orleans, making his debut as Diggory in Family Jars. He continued at this theatre under the management of Ben De Bar after the dissolution of the firm of Ludlow and Smith in 1853.
After a season under Joseph M. Field in Mobile he became a member of the stock company of William Evans Burton in New York. He remained with Burton until the closing of his theatre in 1858. After this he at different times supported such stars as Laura Keene, Edwin Forrest, and Edward Loomis Davenport .
In March 1862 he first appeared with the company of Lester Wallack, playing Sir William Fondlove in J. S. Knowles's comedy of The Love Chase. During the summer of 1863 he managed with Emily Thorne a brief season at the Winter Garden. After another year with Wallack he again tried his hand at management, becoming in 1866 joint-manager with Lewis Baker of the New York Theatre. February 1869 found him stagemanager for Edwin Booth at the latter's theatre, and the following year, after supporting Mme. Franziska Janauschek and Mrs. Scott-Siddons, he went abroad, there to play at the St. James's Theatre, London, under Mrs. John Wood.
He returned to the United States and, for a time, to Booth's Theatre in New York. The season of 1872-73 he spent under Albert Marshman Palmer at the Union Square Theatre. Later he went abroad to attend the operatic debut of his daughter, and died after a stroke in Paris, August 11, 1874.
Achievements
Marcus Smith has been listed as a noteworthy known as Mark Smith), comedian by Marquis Who's Who.
Connections
He married Elizabeth McKenney, who survived him. He had a daughter Kate (who as Catarina Marco became a successful opera singer), and two sons, Mark and Percival.
