#88 MARRIED AND ON STAGE--the Duncans Part 1
MARGHERITA SARGENT
Margherita
Sargent was born on June 18, 1883 in Medford, Massachusetts. She was the
daughter of Rodolphus Carl Sargent (1850-1931), a part-time Harvard professor
and a well-known Boston dentist who practised for over 60 years and was still
working, aged 80, a few weeks before his death. Dr. Sargent enjoyed tennis, yachting, and canoing and "his literary tastes were well-developed." Her mother, Mary Louise Peabody
Sargent, (1856-1949) was a pioneer of the Women’s Suffrage Movement; her
participation in rallies and public events, her work as a persuasive speaker
and writer and her leadership role with the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage
Association contributed to the eventual passage of the 19th
Amendment in 1920 which gave women the right to vote.
Margherita attended Radcliffe College and was not only a good student and basketball star, she became a favourite “leading man” for the college girls’ shows.
Margherita
was class marshall of her 1904 graduating class and was selected for “her
distinguished achievement in scholarship, academic honours, student
organization involvement, leadership, collegiality, campus and community
engagement and service.” Margherita graduated cum laude and when she spoke at
Commencement, it was noted that “Perhaps the most unique feature was an
original paper entitled Sincerity on the Stage by Miss Margherita Sargent. From
her point of view, she criticized several of the most successful modern players
and made some iterating comparisons. Her plea was for sincerity in the
production of the play and sincerity on the part of the player.” (Another cum
laude graduate of that 1904 class was another of my cousins, Helen Keller,--8th
cousin, 3 x removed.)
.
Beyond her stage work, Margherita was known for her advocacy and support of theatre, which aligned with her husband’s passion for the arts. She shared his interest in experimental and progressive theatre and collaborated with him in his theatrical ventures; this included his active involvement with the Little Theater Movement that aimed to provide an alternative to commercial Broadway productions by focusing on “more intimate and innovative, and artistically-driven performances.” The Duncans’ partnership was both personal and professional and was rooted in a shared passion for modern theatre.
Margherita married Augustin Duncan in July 1914 in St. Martins in London, England.
They had two children—Andrea Sargent (Duncan) Ellis (1917-1985) and Angus Sargent Duncan (1912-2002). (From 1952 to 1972, son Angus was Executive Director of Actors’ Equity Association and played a key role advocating for actors’ rights and working conditions; he led the AEA through labour disputes and strikes that led to increased minimum salaries and was active combating the blacklisting of actors during the McCarthy era.)
Margherita died, aged 80, in Wilton Connecticut; her funeral service was held in Studio 605 of Carnegie Hall.
Margherita (Sargent) Duncan was married to Augustin for over three decades. I bet she never expected to have such accomplished, yet scandalous, dramatic and eccentric in-laws.
AUGUSTIN GRAY GUSSIE DUNCAN
Augustin Duncan was born April 17, 1873 in San Francisco and
was the eldest of four children of Joseph Charles Duncan, a banker, and Mary
Isadora Gray; he was the brother of Isadora, Elizabeth and Raymond Duncan. Augustin
was considered the anchor of this eccentric family.
Augustin made his stage debut in 1893 in San Francisco at age 20 and toured for seven years before arriving in New York. Because of his dancing ability, Augustin seemed headed for musical comedy but then he was cast in serious drama; he played heavy villains to light comedy but then decided to drop acting to devote himself exclusively to producing.
In 1898, he married actress Sadie Whitford and a daughter Temple was born three months later (a twin brother, Joseph died.) While Augustin and Sadie lived in New York with her parents, Temple, age 2, was boarded out in New Jersey. Augustin divorced his first wife some time before he left for Europe and where he then married Margherita in 1912. Before the war, she and Augustin were presenting Greek tragedies in London, Paris, Berlin, Petrograd. They returned to America in late 1914 with their new-born son, and Temple who was obviously now in her father’s custody; also accompanying them was a group of 18 refugee children who had been “adopted” by his sister, Isador, as dancing protegees.
He had read about the newly organized Art Theatre of Moscow, which stressed the “general excellence of the entire cast, rather than that of any individual star, however gifted”. (This novel idea of promoting the whole company was spreading thanks to the Little Theatre Movement.) Augustin immediately left for Moscow and studied there for a year, then to England, France and Germany to study their theatres. He returned to Moscow three more times for further study. From the Russian school, Augustin claimed to have learned to “Look into your heart and act. That is the secret of all good acting and the Russian nature merely has a greater capacity for looking into its heart.”
In 1916, when it appeared that a New York play, The Weavers, was going bankrupt and the actors would not be paid, the actors decided to take over the production and share any profits. This was a remarkable experiment in the theatrical business—a company of actors cooperating as actors and managers and it was Duncan who stepped up to deliver “the production of the year.” In 1919, Duncan again “saved” the Theatre Guild by successfully staging John Ferguson. (He did this on a $300 budget for the set and when the Guild had exactly $19.59 of working capital to operate its theatre.) By 1922, Duncan was a key voice for Actors’ Equity Players, (a labour union that represented actors and stage managers in live theatre), that negotiated contracts and working conditions such as rehearsal breaks and safety standards, that produced its own plays and stood for the non-commercialization in the theatre. Augustin served as member of the AE council for 30 years and Vice-President for 10 years.
By 1926, Duncan had an established reputation as a director-producer and was in great demand as an actor; he could pick and chose his parts, plays and financial backers. He produced numerous plays and gave private dramatic lessons. He was especially talented playing Shakespearean roles—Richard II, Hamlet—a love he got from his Irish grandmother who read him Shakespeare rather than nursery rhymes. But that summer he was readying a play for a fall production, when without warning, he lost the sight of one eye. (interestingly the blindness was partly attributed to the shock of his sister’s tragic death) Three months later, he lost sight in his other eye. “Detached retina”, the doctors said. “An unfortunate, but not irrevocable situation” Duncan said. He received treatment in Germany but by the 1930s, he was blind. He tried to fight it off by accustoming himself to objects around him so as to walk around independently. “Often this writer saw him walking about the streets with his arm linked with his wife’s arm. His eyes were open and there was nothing about their appearance to indicate they were sightless. He walked very upright and no one who met him spoke to him as though to a blind man”. “As the years went by, an expression of acceptance seemed to creep into the determined features…But still there was that upright proud walk. Even in his resignation, in his understanding that there was no hope, there was still defiance.” “Duncan had to see his career vanish. What he suffered beneath that brave exterior only he knows. To the outsider, a look at the troubled face of his wife as she walked slowly, arm in arm, with her husband, told the story.”
In 1930, Augustin joined the staff of the national radio
homemakers as director of morning programmes on the CBS network; he arranged
the special morning programmes presented by the homemakers. In 1931, he was a casting
director for WABC radio, lauded for his “unusually sensitive ears” and an
expert on tone and voice expression. Sight was not necessary for this work.
Producers were reluctant to hire him and he was only offered
limited parts.
Augustin was blind for the last 25 years of his life, yet he continued on the stage and his performances were “so convincing that many in the audience failed to realize he was sightless.” With the help of his wife Margherita, he developed a technique that made his affliction almost unnoticeable. Before a first rehearsal, Margherita would read the lines to him and he would memorize them perfectly; she would also describe to him each member of the cast, the stage props and placement of the furniture, giving him a mental picture of the complete show. Ironically, noted performances were his playing of blind characters. “I act” he said, “as though depending upon my ears and my sense of touch.” All reviews of his later limited performances were very positive, even if the plays were not the best.
His last Broadway show, Lute Song, was in 1945-1946 where he acted alongside Yul Brunner and Mary Martin, then went on tour with the show.
Augustin, age 80, died on February 19, 1954, in his home in Queens, New York.
MARGHERITA "MAGGIE" SARGENT b. June 18, 1883 in Medford, Massachusetts m. Augustin Gray Gussie Duncan (1873-1953) in 1912 in London, England d. Sept 10, 1964 in Wilton, Connecticut
my 4th cousin 3x removed (Netterfield/Farnum line)
Interesting read, a lot of work involved.
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