Ursula’s Teachers: The Best in the West

Ursula, age 11

At age 11, Ursula was a student at the Egan School of Drama in Los Angeles

I couldn’t contain my curiousity any longer, and finally paged through the entire album to get a sneak peek of the clues to come. While I didn’t read all the newsclippings or the penciled photo captions, I became even more intrigued and eager to keep going on this historical adventure.

In the last post, we learned about Frank C. Ego (I mean, Egan), the director of Ursula’s drama school. In this post, we meet Ursula’s other esteemed instructors, starting with dramatic teacher Florence A. Dobinson, the “best Shakespeare coach on [the] Pac[ific] coast,” according to the inscription on the back of the Russian dancer photo.

Described in the LA Times as “a pioneer in the study of drama and its allied arts,” Mrs. Dobinson joined the Egan School faculty in 1911. Prior to that, she taught at the Dobinson School of Expression, established by her husband, George A. Dobinson, probably around 1908. Mr. Dobinson, LA’s “dean of local dramatic critics” and a real estate pioneer, died after a short illness in 1910. The Dobinson school sebsequently closed, and Mrs. Dobinson then taught at the Egan School, possibly until 1915, when she established a school for training of the speaking voice, called the Florence Dobinson Studios of Expression and Dramatic Arts. Apparently, Mrs. Dobinson taught Ursula well. From the inscription, we learn that Ursula played Ophelia in the “mad scene from Hamlet…on every dramatic program of the Egan Dramatic sch[ool] at 11 yrs [old].” (What I would give to have seen that; guess I’ll have to settle for YouTube snippets of modern performances like this one by Maria Gale on BBC.)

Ursula also sang in Thomas Taylor Drill’s Children’s Choir. Head of the school’s music department and Ursula’s opera coach, Drill was born in England and grew up in New York City, where he was an accomplished young choral singer. When he was a young man living in Minneapolis, according to a book published in 1895, he was “known better than any other vocalist west of Chicago [where he later resided], and being but a young man, his many admirers anticipate for him a career of unusual success and renown.” They were not wrong. By 1911, when he moved to Los Angeles to head the vocal department of the Egan School, he was described by the press as “the foremost American vocal authority” and “one of the most interesting additions to the Los Angeles music colony this year.”

Senora Matildita in 1906, San Francisco

Senora Matildita in 1906, San Francisco

Ursula learned dancing under the tutelage of Spanish dancer Senora Matildita. In 1895, publicity for a burlesque piece called “The Black Crook-Up-to-Date,” in which Matildita performed the headline act, noted that she was “actually the premiere danseuse to the Court of Spain.” In 1904, Matildita was teaching dance in San Francisco at Paul Gerson’s School of Acting. In 1907, The San Francisco Call newspaper published a hilarious article about Matildita teaching Spanish dance to “society girls.” As of 1913, she had joined the Egan School. I found a 1940 article in the Las Cruces Sun-News mentioning Matildita as having “trained many movie stars.”

“Herr Müller from Heidleburg,” who taught Ursula fencing, remains a mystery; I was not able to find any information about him.

Until next time…

A Jackpot of Clues, Part 2

Ursula as Russian Dancer

Ursula at age 11 the day she performed a Russian dance at the Hotel Virginia in Long Beach, CA

So, what more does this photo—or, more precisely, the back of this photo—of Ursula as Russian dancer reveal about her life? Interestingly, the author of the inscription calls her “Mama Ursula,” and, a few lines later, “Ursula Mama.” Was the writer her daughter or son, or a stepchild or grandchild? Or was that simply an affectionate moniker that many people called her? I don’t know yet if she married or had children, but will try to find out. In the meantime, I want to tell you more about Ursula’s creative pursuits mentioned in the inscription.

Ursula was a busy girl at age 11, taking acting and dancing classes, singing in a children’s choir and learning fencing. I would guess that her family had a fair amount of money, as she attended the prominent Egan School of Drama, a private drama school in Los Angeles, for six years. There, she was taught by some of the foremost acting, vocal and dancing instructors of her day, according to the photo’s inscription.

Frank C. Egan acting, in 1903

Noted drama instructor Frank C. Egan struts his stuff on stage (or, perhaps, in a studio) in Seattle, 1903

First, there was Frank C. Egan, himself, the director of her school. He came to LA in 1909 from Seattle to assume the directorship of the Morosco-Egan Institute of Dramatic Arts, soon thereafter known as the Egan School of Drama, which was originally housed in the Majestic Theatre building. According to an ad in the Los Angeles Herald, Egan was “generally recognized as the foremost dramatic teacher in the United States…and every pupil will be under his direct personal care.”

No doubt, he wrote that description himself—which doesn’t mean it wasn’t true, mind you; I just haven’t found much to back it up. I did find an article (more like an “advertorial”) in a 1911 issue of the Arizona-Journal Miner, calling the institution “the largest dramatic school west of the Mississippi river, the largest save one in the United States, and demonstrated as the most practical and successful anywhere, without exception.” The article goes on to describe Egan as “an actor, a theatrical authority, a master of dramatic technique, and an instructor without a peer as a conveyor of ideas to earnest young students.” One thing was certain: Mr. Frank C. Egan had ego to spare, as you can see from this ad that appeared in 1911 in the Los Angeles Times:

Egan School Ad Big

According to another ad in the September-October 1913 issue of The West Coast, an illustrated monthly magazine published in Los Angeles, the Egan School was to move on November 1st of that year from the Majestic Theatre to the new “Egan Building” on Figueroa near Pico.

The Musart Theatre in 1949, which used to be known as the Egan Theatre in Ursula's time, on Figueroa St. in Los Angeles

The Musart Theatre in 1949, which used to be known as the Egan Theatre in Ursula’s time, on Figueroa St. in Los Angeles

That is the address noted in the photo’s inscription as the location of the Egan school when Ursula was a student there. This is an important clue: now we know the Russian dancer picture was taken sometime after November 1, 1913.

Stay tuned for the third part of “A Jackpot of Clues,” which will introduce you to more of Ursula’s illustrious teachers.