Morton Selten
Morton Selten (left) and E. H. Sothern in the Broadway comedy Captain Lettarblair (1891)
Born
Morton Richard Stubbs

(1860-01-06)6 January 1860
Marlborough, England, UK
Died27 July 1939(1939-07-27) (aged 79)
London, England, UK
NationalityBritish
Other namesMorton Selton
Occupation(s)film and stage actor
Years active1878–1939
Notable workOur Flat (1889), Shenandoah (1889), Captain Lettarblair (1891), Branded (1920), The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

Morton Selten (6 January 1860 – 27 July 1939) was a British stage and film actor. He was occasionally credited as Morton Selton.

Biography

Selten was born 6 January 1860.[1] At birth, Selten was given the name Morton Richard Stubbs[2] and was the son of Morton Stubbs, a lawyer who died in 1877. It is said that Selten was widely believed to be an illegitimate son of the then Prince of Wales (and future King Edward VII).[3] However, the prince's first sexual experience was as a 19-year-old in September 1861 with an Irish actress named Nellie Clifden, as he noted in his diary.[4]

Selten began acting on the stage in 1878, mainly in America. In 1889, he played Clarence Vane in Mrs. Hargrove's Our Flat at the Lyceum Theatre and Captain Heartsease in Shenandoah, Bronson Howard's American Civil War epic. Selten would go on to play in some twenty-five Broadway productions over the following three decades.[5][6] His film career began with his portrayal of the Marquis of Shelford in Branded (1920). His last film role was as the King of the Land of Legend in The Thief of Bagdad (1940).

Selten suffered from ill health in his final year of life. He underwent two operations in the first few months of 1939, which left him weak and wheelchair-bound.[7] Selten died of a heart attack on 27 July 1939 during the production of The Thief of Bagdad.[8]

Stage work

Filmography

See also

References

  1. ^ Who's Who in the Theatre. London: Pitman. 1936. p. 1304. OCLC 1604876.
  2. ^ "Morton Selten's £12,000". The Daily Telegraph. 29 August 1939. p. 13.
  3. ^ Bruce Eder. "Morton Selten Biography". Allmovie. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
  4. ^ Arnold, Catharine (2017). Edward VII: The Prince of Wales and the Women He Loved. St. Martin's Publishing Group. pp. 15, 17. ISBN 9781466877948.
  5. ^ A History of the New York Stage, Volume 3 Thomas Allston Brown - 1903 - Page 433 (Google Books)
  6. ^ Morton Selten Internet Broadway Database
  7. ^ Dixon, Campbell (28 July 1939). "Mr Morton Selten". The Daily Telegraph. p. 17.
  8. ^ "Veteran Film Actor Dies". Birmingham Evening Mail. 27 July 1939. p. 11.

External links

Authority control databases
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