Jerome Sykes
American actor and singer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jerome Sykes (June 24, 1868 – December 29, 1903)[2][3] was an American stage actor, singer and comedian. He was perhaps best known for his performances as Foxy Quiller in two theatrical productions. His brother Albert S Sykes was also an actor.[citation needed]
June 24, 1868
Jerome Sykes | |
|---|---|
Sykes as pictured in The Players Blue Book in 1901 | |
| Born | Jerome H. Sykes June 24, 1868 Washington, D. C., U.S.[1] |
| Died | December 29, 1903 (aged 35) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Resting place | Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. |
| Occupations | Actor, comedian |
| Spouses |
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Early life
Sykes was born in Washington, D.C.,[3] under the name of Henry Karl August Seitz and grew up in a house where part of the Library of Congress now stands.[4] He "was a member of a famous family of actors ..."[5]
Career
Sykes' professional debut came in the 1884-1885 season[6] in a performance of The Mikado with the Ford Opera Company in Baltimore.[3] His biggest Broadway success was The Billionaire (1902-03) which had in its cast May Robson and Sallie Fisher and was the New York debut of Marie Doro.[7] His other Broadway credits included Foxy Quiller (In Corsica) (1900), Chris and the Wonderful Lamp (1900), and The Three Dragoons (1899).[8]
Sykes portrayed Constable Foxy Quiller in The Highwayman, which became popular enough that it resulted in a sequel, Foxy Quiller.[9]
Death
During a party feted for Sykes and The Billionaire in Chicago, Sykes caught pneumonia while wearing too few clothes in the dead of winter, and died at 35.[10] After his body was temporarily stored in a receiving tomb at Greenwood Cemetery, he was buried at St. James Episcopal Cemetery in St. James, New York, where his family had a summer residence for many years.[5]
Sykes was married twice, to Agnes Sherwood, who died in 1896 and to actress Jessie Wood.[11][unreliable source?]
