The Show Must Go On and On

In Vineyard Haven at 54 Spring Street, a vibrant, well-loved, venerable institution on the Vineyard presides over the Island's cultural life. The Katharine Cornell Theatre has been the hub of so many quality public presentations, from the recent Willy Mason homecoming show that played to a packed house, to the beloved Martha's Vineyard Film Society series, to traditional Irish music revues, to name a few. But if not for the theater named after her, would we have known who Katharine Cornell was?

The answer is "yes" for fervent theater enthusiasts and (dare I say it) members of the "Great Generation." Otherwise, those of us who grew up in the world of movies and television would probably never even glimpse her, as she was of another world entirely—the world of the "legitimate" stage. Her performances were not filmed.

Katharine Cornell was born on February 16, 1898 in Berlin, Germany, but was raised in Buffalo, New York in an affluent household. Her grandfather was Samuel Garretson Cornell, the founder of Cornell Leadworks. (The Cornells were also relatives of Ezra Cornell, who founded Cornell University at Ithaca, New York in 1865.) 

Cornell's grandfather was much enamored of theater, even turning his home attic into one of United States' first "little theaters" and producing plays for the public as a hobby. Cornell's physician father, Peter, gave up his medical practice in 1906 to become a theater manager in Buffalo. Given this family predisposition to theater, is it any wonder that Katharine Cornell turned out to be "the First Lady of the American Theater," as she was dubbed by Alexander Woolcott?

Cornell graduated from the Oaksmere School for Girls on Long Island, where she began performing in school theatrical productions. Later, she moved to New York City, hoping to be noticed by Washington Square Players director Edward Goodman, who had produced one of her school plays. When Cornell finally got her chance, she failed miserably. Cornell then engaged Florence Enwright, a New York actress, to coach her.

Thanks to a "connection" she made in childhood with the producer Jessie Bonstelle, whose stock company had played in Buffalo at Cornell's father's theater, Cornell was able to get a foot in the door. Bonstelle, truly her mentor, would later give her the role on the English stage of Jo in "Little Women." Prior to this, and even beyond, she would live  the life of the starving actor," sometimes going for five, six or seven months without landing a role.

Her Broadway debut was in a play entitled "Nice People." She was cast in the role of Sydney by director Guthrie McClintic, who at the time was working as a casting director. Cornell went on to marry McClintic in 1921; it was a marriage that lasted for 40 years. Together the two of them formed a production company, C & MC Productions, that changed the world of theater. It was through their efforts and the artistic freedom they saw fit to express that the plays of William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw became popularized, so as to be "staples" in our own theatrical diets.

Known mostly as a great tragedienne, Cornell’s long-standing role was that of Elizabeth Barrett Browning in "The Baretts of Wimpole Street." She was also renowned as  Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" (1934). In fact, if anyone ever was said to own the role of Juliet, it was Cornell.

Other notable plays Cornell acted in/produced include "Candida” (1924), "Wingless Victory"(1936), “St. Joan” (1936), “Three Sisters” (1943), “Anthony and Cleopatra”(1947) and “The Constant Wife” (1951), to name a few. Her productions were springboards to the careers of countless actors, including Orson Welles, Tyrone Power, Laurence Olivier, Gene Kelly, Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck, Christopher Plummer and Marlon Brando, who got their start thanks to Cornell.

"Kit," as Cornell was known, was also an activist when it came to the World War II effort. One of the only movies she ever appeared in (she was not interested in a film career) was "Stage Door Canteen," in which she is depicted serving food to troops. In real life she took “The Barrett’s of Wimpole Street” overseas for a six-month tour to entertain troops in Italy and France at the request of General George C. Marshall. A popular song of the day included the lines: "Gee, I wish I were back in the Army/The shows we got civilians couldn't see/How we would yell for Dietrich and Cornell/Jolson, Hope and Benny all for free"!

Cornell was an actress par excellence and able to captivate an audience with her presence. She was described as magnetic and mesmerizing in her ability to bring life to a role. Her friend, the modern dancer Martha Graham, once said, “Katharine Cornell can strip a stage leaving the audience forlorn and eager for her return.”

In the midst of all the frenetic touring associated with mid-century theater ("The Barretts of Wimpole Street" spent a year on Broadway and then toured 77 cities in a 20,800 mile tour), Cornell and her husband established several residences. In New York, they lived at Beekman Place. But they also bought land in Tisbury and had a summer home built by architect Eric Gugler in 1937. Katharine named the property “Chip Chop.”

Cornell and McClintic would come to the Vineyard year after year for respite from the crazy world of the theater and indulge in simple pursuits: raising chickens, going marketing and gardening. She enjoyed refinishing furniture with her friend and neighbor James Cagney, and entertained many famous theater folk at Chip Chop. The wonderful actor Clifton Webb (of "Mr. Belvedere" fame) reminisced in his memoirs about being at Chip Chop while McClintic was auditioning a young actor who had been in summer stock in Falmouth. That actor turned out to be Gregory Peck.

After the death of her beloved husband and muse in 1961, Cornell was no longer inspired to act. She retreated more and more to the Vineyard. In keeping with her generous spirit, she participated in Vineyard life and volunteered for the Martha's Vineyard hospital fundraiser and the yearly Cavalcade. She also helped to restore Association Hall, which houses Tisbury Town Hall and now the Katharine Cornell Theatre upstairs.

Theater was never far from her mind and she was determined that the Island would have a good one. A donation from her estate provided for the electrical, structural and plumbing renovations to the building. It also set aside funds to install an elevator and hire the acclaimed Vineyard artist Stan Murphy to paint murals.

Kit Cornell died of pneumonia on the Island on June 9, 1974, and is buried in the graveyard beside the Katharine Cornell Theatre. A bust of her installed within the theater's interior.

In her heyday, Cornell was a tastemaker and a cultural trendsetter whose contributions are still felt today. How fitting, then, that her spirit, her vivacity and her joie de vivre lives on and on. How so? Just visit the Katharine Cornell Theatre anytime in the summer or on an off-season weekend night and you’ll see what I mean.