Kate Claxton, Fire Jinx: The aftermath of the Brooklyn Theatre fire

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Notes

¹ In the case of a small fire not visible to the audience, it would have been habitual for actors to carry on with a performance with the expectation that crew members backstage would extinguish the flames.

² Claxton, attempting to capitalize on the attention, produced and toured several plays, including The Double Marriage, Bootle's Baby and The World Against Her, but she regularly reverted to her old money maker, The Two Orphans. Recognizing the audience demand for this piece, Claxton acquired the performance rights from A. M. Palmer. She vigorously defended the rights, for example, printing cards warning theatre proprietors against allowing unauthorized productions and obtaining injunctions to stop any such performances. In the mid-1880s the rights to the play were transferred to Claxton's daughter, Maud, apparently to keep them out of the reach of creditors. Years later, after Maud had died in childbirth, Claxton paid her son-in-law to transfer the rights back to her. Claxton also arranged to have Francis Jackson, the translator's widow, renew the copyright for The Two Orphans in 1903 and then transfer all rights to Claxton.

Ever vigilant, Claxton initially tried to block a proposed all-star revival of The Two Orphans rather than let another actress take the role of Louise, but eventually an agreement was reached to allow the production in March 1904. On opening night Claxton sat in a box as an honored guest, although at age 55 she continued to perform the role of the 16 year-old orphan with her own company. Later that year the suicide of her last surviving son prompted her retirement from the stage, but until her death in 1924 Claxton continued to guard her interest in The Two Orphans. She sued for royalties due her from stage and unauthorized film versions of the play, won a suit brought against her by Hart Jackson's widow and reached an agreement with D. W. Griffith so that his 1922 movie Orphans of the Storm was advertised as ‘by arrangement with Kate Claxton’. (‘Orphans’, 1922).