LibGuides: Theatre 373: Actors: Overview

Timeline Tools

There are a number of tools you can use to create a timeline. Here are a few suggestions.

TimelineJS an open-source tool that enables anyone to build visually rich, interactive timelines. You create a timeline using a Google spreadsheet to imbed text and media.
View the video on how to create at timeline.See the student project on the development of African American Studies example.
Timetoast another open source tool to create a timeline with images.
See the History of Graphic Design example.
Word - You can make a timeline in Word. There are numerous "how to" videos on YouTube.
Powerpoint - Use SmartArt in PowerPoint to create a timeline.

Get creative and make your own timeline in the Makerspace on the lower level of the library.

Try making an accordion book. See this great example.
Turn your timeline into a scroll.
Create a fan timeline.

Timelines

Note: Survey books about theatre history often include timelines, such as the Cambridge Companion to British Theatre and the Cambridge History of American Theatre.

Calendar of Creative Man by John Paxton; Sheila Fairfield
Call Number: Reference (NX447.5 .P38 )
ISBN: 9780333181577
Publication Date: 1980
Lists what was happening in any or all of the arts at a given time and place from 500 AD to 1980.
The Wilson Chronology of the Arts by George Ochoa; Melinda Corey
Call Number: N5306 .O26 1998
ISBN: 9780824209346
Publication Date: 1998-01-01
A record of human creativity from ancient times to the present.

History of Theatre Timeline
Website covering 10,000 years of theatre history

Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century by Paul Finkelman (Editor)
Call Number: E169.1 .E626 2001 Reference (first floor of library)
Publication Date: 2001
Covers all aspects of 19th-century history including: population, politics and government, economy and work, society and culture, religion, social problems and reform, everyday life and foreign policy.
Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History by Mary Kupiec (Editor); Peter W. Williams (Editor); Mary K. Cayton (Editor)
Call Number: E169.1 .E624 2001 v. 1-3, Print reference (first floor)
ISBN: 9780684805610
Publication Date: 2001
The Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History surveys the richly layered dimensions of American life in a format that clarifies the many issues, ideas, movements and places that constitute the American experience.

Images for Timeline Assignment

ARTstor
Useful source for paintings and photographs of actors and theatres

See also the images tab in this guide for documentaries about actors and context.

Background Sources: Online

Start with a broad overview of your actor using background sources, like scholarly encyclopedias. They can also be helpful for contextual information.

Oxford Reference
Provides brief information about actors, including the roles for which they were famous
Sources include: Oxford Companion to American Theatre, Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre & Performance, Oxford Companion to Shakespeare, and more!
Actors:
Alexander, George
Bernhardt, Sarah
Booth, Edwin
Bellamy, George Ann
Harrigan, Edward
Holland, George
Jefferson, Joseph
Keene, Laura
Lane, William Henry (Master Juba)
Menken, Adah Isaacs
Montague, Henry James
Oldfield, Anne
Rice, Thomas Dartmouth (T.D.)
Russell, Annie
Siddons, Sarah
Thompson, Lydia
Wallack, James William
Wallack, John Lester

A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800
Provides biographical information for over 8500 individuals who were members of theatrical companies or occasional performers in London from 1660-1800. Note: This book is also available in print. The call number is Reference (PN2597 .H5 ).
Actors:
Abington, Frances
Barry, Elizabeth
Bellamy, George Anne
Betterton, Thomas
Bracegirdle, Anne
Cibber, Colley
Cooke, Frederick George
Garrick, David
Grimaldi, Joseph
Kean, Edmund
Kemble, John Philip
Kemble, Charles
Kemble, Fanny
Oldfield, Anne
Quin, James
Siddons, Sarah
Oxford African American Studies Center
Online collection of several subject encyclopedias related to the African American experience.
Actors:
Lane, William Henry (Master Juba)

Arts & Humanities Through the Eras
Profiling milestones and movements in the arts, literature, music and religion from a specific period, each volume in this five-volume set helps students and researchers understand the various disciplines of the humanities in relation to each other, as well as to history and culture. Of special interest to this class is the age of the Baroque and Enlightenment, 1600-1800. It's also useful for identifying important events in theatre and an overview of theatre during a given time period.

Background Sources: Print

International Dictionary of Theatre by David Pickering (Editor)
Call Number: Reference (PN2035 .I49 1992 )
ISBN: 9781558620971
Publication Date: 1995
The International Dictionary of Theatre is a three-volume work, international and historical in scope, covering the theatre from the festivals of ancient Greece to the productions, plays, players, directors and designers of the modern stage. See volume three for actor information.. Photographs and illustrations are included.

Actors:
Alexander, George
Barry, Elizabeth
Bellamy, George Anne
Bernhardt, Sarah
Betterton, Thomas
Booth, Edwin
Boutet, Anne-François-Hippolyte (Mlle. Mars)
Campbell, Mrs. Patrick
Cooke, George Frederick
Deburau, Jean-Baptiste Gaspard
Dorval, Marie
Duse, Eleonora
Felix, Rachel (Eliza Rachel)
Grimaldi, Joseph
Irving, Henry
Jefferson, Joseph
Kemble, John Philip
Kemble, Charles
Kemble, Fanny
Macklin, Charles
Mathews, Charles
Mathews, Charles James
Modjeska, Helena (Modrzejewska)
Oldfield, Anne
Quin, James
Shchepkin, Mikhail Semenovich
Siddons, Sarah
Talma, François-Joseph
Terry, Ellen
Woffington, Peg
History of the Theatre by Oscar Gross Brockett; Franklin J. Hildy
Call Number: PN2101 .B68 2003
ISBN: 9780205358786
Publication Date: 2002
The Ninth Edition retains all of the traditional features that have made History of the Theatre a classic for over thirty years, including over 530 photos and illustrations, useful maps, and the expertise of Oscar Brockett, one of the most widely respected theatre historians in the field.
The Cambridge Companion to British Theatre, 1730-1830 by Jane Moody (Editor); Daniel O'Quinn
Call Number: PN2593 .C36 2007
ISBN: 9780521852371
Publication Date: 2007
The scope of the volume extends from the age of Garrick to the Romantic transformation of acting inaugurated by Edmund Kean. It brings together cutting-edge scholarship from leading international scholars in the long eighteenth century, offering lively and original insights into the world of the stage, its most influential playwrights and the professional lives of celebrated performers such as:
Abington, Fanny
Bellamy, George Anne
Jordan, Dora
Kemble, John Philip
Quin, James
Siddons, Sarah

*Note: Used in class
Dictionary of American biography
Call Number: Reference (E176 .D562 )
Biographies of Americans who have been remarkable, or prominently connected with the arts, sciences, literature, politics, or history, of the American continent.
Actors:
Aldridge, Ira (Frederick)
Barrymore, Maurice
Booth, Edwin
Chanfrau, Frank
Crabtree, Charlotte (Lotta)
Cushman, Charlotte (Saunders)
Forrest, Edwin
Fox, George L.
Harrigan, Edward
Holland, George
Jefferson, Joseph
Keene, Laura
Lane, William Henry (Master Juba)
Menken, Adah Isaac
Montague, Henry James
Rice, Thomas Darthmouth (T.D.)
Thompson, Lydia
Wallack, James William
Wallack, John Lester
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography by H. C. G. Matthew (Editor); Brian Harrison (Editor)
Call Number: Reference (DA28 .O95 2004 )
ISBN: 9780198614111
Publication Date: 2004
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is a collection of 50,000 specially written biographies of men and women who have shaped all aspects of the British past.

Actors:
Abington, Frances
Siddons, Sarah
Famous Actors and Actresses on the American Stage by William C. Young
Call Number: Reference PN2285.Y6 v.1-v.2
ISBN: 9780835208215
Publication Date: 1975
Actors:
Barrymore, Maurice
Bernhardt, Sarah
Booth, Junius Brutus
Campbell, Mrs. Patrick
Chanfrau, Frank
Cooke, Frederick George
Crabtree, Charlotte (Lotta)
Cushman, Charlotte (Saunders)
Duse, Eleonora
Fiske, Minnie Maddern
Forrest, Edwin
Harrigan, Edward
Holland, George
Irving, Henry
Keene, Laura
Kemble, Charles
Mathews, Charles James
Menken, Adah Isaacs
Modjeska, Helena (Modrzejewska)
Rice, Thomas Dartmouth (T.D.)
Russell, Annie
Terry, Ellen
Thompson, Lydia
Wallack, James William
Wallack, John Lester
Vaudeville, Old and New by Frank Cullen; Florence Hackman; Donald P. McNeilly
Call Number: Reference (PN1968.U5 C85 2007)
ISBN: 9780415938532
Publication Date: 2006-10-16
This is a one-of-a-kind reference work to the history of vaudeville, performance art, burlesque, revue, and comic opera. Most of these artists are not profiled in other reference books and the author has done deep research, including archival work and personal interviews, to uncover the rich history of this American artform. This will be a must-have for students of theater history and performance art, but it is also essential for anyone insterested in the cultural history of America.
Actors:
Lane, William Henry (Master Juba)
Thompson, Lydia