Bacon, Frank

(1860-1922)

   Born in Marysville, California, Bacon worked on a sheep ranch from the age of 14. He drifted successively into photography, soliciting newspaper advertising, reporting, publishing, and acting. During his 17 years as a stock company actor at San Francisco's Alcazar Theatre, Bacon played over 700 roles. The 1906 earthquake motivated him to try New York, where he performed in Stop Thief (1912), The Miracle Man and Second Thoughts on First Nights in 1914, and The Cinderella Man (1916). Bacon was over 50 when he created the role with which he became identified: Lightnin' Bill Jones in his own play Lightnin'. Bacon had been working on the script off and on from the 1880s. After a record-breaking long run at New York's Gayety Theatre from 1918 to 1921, Bacon toured the play, performing it over 2,000 times before his death from overwork in Chicago.