Erskine Sanford

Erskine Sanford
Erskine Sanford in Porgy (1928–1930)
Born November 19, 1885
Trinidad, Colorado, U.S.
Died July 7, 1969 (aged 83)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 1904–1952
Spouse(s) Fanny Reynolds Howe
(m. 1918; 19??)
Children 2

Erskine Sanford (November 19, 1885 – July 7, 1969) was an American actor on the stage, radio and motion pictures. Long associated with the Theatre Guild, he later joined Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre company and appeared in several of Welles's films, including Citizen Kane (1941), in which he played Herbert Carter, the bumbling, perspiring newspaper editor.

Biography

Erskine Sanford was born in Trinidad, Colorado, and was educated at the Horace Mann School in New York City. Beginning his acting career with Minnie Maddern Fiske's company, he made his professional debut in Leah Kleschna. He appeared in The Blue Bird and The Piper (1910–11) at the New Theatre in New York City, and in Shakespearean repertory with Ben Greet.

For some 15 years he was associated with the Theatre Guild, playing roles on Broadway and on tour, including performances of Porgy and Strange Interlude on the London stage.

In Kenosha, Wisconsin, Sanford first met Orson Welles in 1922, when the seven-year-old boy came backstage to meet him after a touring performance of Mr. Pim Passes By. Years later, Sanford left the Theatre Guild to join Welles's Mercury Theatre company, and made his Mercury debut in the 1938 stage production of Heartbreak House. Appearing as Mazzini Dunn, Sanford reprised the role he had created 18 years before in the Theatre Guild's world premiere production.

In 1941, Sanford married psychiatric nursing pioneer Adele Poston, but the marriage lasted only a short time.

Theatre credits

Erskine Sanford, Dudley Digges and Laura Hope Crews in the Theatre Guild production of A.A. Milne's Mr. Pim Passes By (1921)
Howard Smith, Mary Wickes, Orson Welles, Virginia Nicolson, William Herz, Erskine Sanford, Eustace Wyatt and Joseph Cotten during the two-week run of the Mercury Theatre stage production of Too Much Johnson (1938)
Date Title Role Notes
February 11, 1916 Playlets Belasco Theatre, New York City
November 14 – December 30, 1916 Gertrude Kingston and a Visiting Company Neighborhood Playhouse and Maxine Elliott Theatre, New York City
October 13, 1919 – January 1920 The Faithful Hara, Honzo Garrick Theatre, New York City
Theatre Guild production
November 25, 1919 – February 1920 The Rise of Silas Lapham Mr. Sewell Garrick Theatre, New York City
January 15 – March 1920 The Power of Darkness Mitrich Garrick Theatre, New York City
February 23 – September 1920 Jane Clegg Mr. Morrison Garrick Theatre, New York City
September 4 – October 1920 The Treasure The President of the Community Garrick Theatre, New York City
November 10, 1920 – February 26, 1921 Heartbreak House Mazzini Dunn Garrick Theatre, New York City
February 28 – June 1921 Mr. Pim Passes By Carraway Pim Garrick Theatre, New York City
April 20 – June 1921 Liliom Captain, First Policeman of the Beyond Garrick Theatre, New York City
December 20, 1922 – February 1923 Johannes Kreisler Theodor Apollo Theatre, New York City
March 26 – April 1923 Sandro Botticelli Fra Filippo Lippi Provincetown Playhouse, New York City
November 19, 1923 – January 1924 The Failures The Musician Garrick Theatre, New York City
April 14 – June 1924 Man and the Masses Third Banker, A Priest Garrick Theatre, New York City
October 19 – December 1925 The Glass Slipper Captain Gal, Police Sergeant Guild Theatre, New York City
January 25 – March 1926 The Goat Song Starsina, Priest Guild Theatre, New York City
March 23 – April 1926 What's the Big Idea Peter Clausen Bijou Theatre, New York City
October 11 – November 1926 Juarez and Maximilian Lawyer Siliceo, Jose Rincon Gallardo Guild Theatre, New York City
November 18 – December 1926 The Witch Master Laurentius Greenwich Village Theatre, New York City
February 24 – March 1927 Puppets of Passion Attendant Theatre Masque, New York City
April 18 – August 1927 Mr. Pim Passes By Carraway Pim Garrick Theatre, New York City
1928 – August 1928 Porgy Alan Archdale Republic Theatre, New York City
1928–29 Porgy Alan Archdale Tour including nine weeks in Chicago, six weeks in London, and performances in Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Washington, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and cities in the northwestern United States and Canada
September 13 – October 1929 Porgy Alan Archdale Martin Beck Theatre, New York City
October 14, 1929 – January 1930 Porgy Alan Archdale National tour
October 27 – December 1930 Roar China Mr. Tourist Martin Beck Theatre, New York City
October 26, 1931 – March 1932 Mourning Becomes Electra Dr. Joseph Blake, Abner Small Guild Theatre, New York City
February 21 – March 1933 American Dream Murdoch Guild Theatre, New York City
February 21 – April 1934 They Shall Not Die Sheriff Nelson Royale Theatre, New York City
December 10, 1934 – January 1935 Valley Forge Mr. Folsom Guild Theatre, New York City
October 11 – October 1935 Sweet Mystery of Life Doctor Warren Shubert Theatre, New York City
April 29 – June 11, 1938 Heartbreak House Mazzini Dunn Mercury Theatre, New York City
August 16–29, 1938 Too Much Johnson Frederic Stony Creek Theatre, Stony Creek, Connecticut
February 27 – March 1939 Five Kings (Part One) Lord Chief Justice Colonial Theatre, Boston
March 13 – March 1939 Five Kings (Part One) Lord Chief Justice National Theatre, Washington, D.C.
March 20–25, 1939 Five Kings (Part One) Lord Chief Justice Chestnut Street Opera House, Philadelphia
March 24 – June 28, 1941 Native Son Mr. Dalton St. James Theatre, New York City
May 28–31, 1947 Macbeth Duncan Kingsbury Hall, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
Six performances staged in preparation for the film version shot in June 1947 with the same principal cast

Filmography

Erskine Sanford in the Citizen Kane trailer (1940)
Erskine Sanford as Herbert Carter in the Citizen Kane trailer (1940)
Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane and Erskine Sanford in Citizen Kane (1941)
Year Title Role Notes
1938 Too Much Johnson Frederic
1940 Pop Always Pays Hayes
1940 Citizen Kane trailer Himself, Herbert Carter Short
1941 Andy Hardy's Private Secretary Mr. Bossiny Uncredited
1941 Citizen Kane Herbert Carter / Screening Room Reporter
1941 Appointment for Love Hastings's butler Uncredited
1942 The Wife Takes a Flyer Jan
1942 The Magnificent Ambersons Roger Bronson
1943 Jane Eyre Mr. Briggs Uncredited
1944 Uncertain Glory Drover Uncredited
1944 Mr. Skeffington Dr. Fawcette
1944 Enemy of Women Levine Uncredited
1944 Ministry of Fear George Rennit
1945 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Undertaker Uncredited
1945 Spellbound Dr. Galt Uncredited
1945 Girls of the Big House Professor O'Neill
1946 From This Day Forward Higgler
1946 Without Reservations Timothy Helgelander Uncredited
1946 The Stranger Party guest Uncredited
1946 Crack-Up Barton
1946 Angel on My Shoulder Minister
1946 The Best Years of Our Lives Bullard
1947 Possessed Dr. Max Sherman
1947 Mourning Becomes Electra Josiah Borden
1947 The Lady from Shanghai Judge
1948 The Voice of the Turtle Storekeeper
1948 You Were Meant for Me Dr. Frank R. Smith Uncredited
1948 Letter from an Unknown Woman Porter
1948 Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven Dr. Danson Uncredited
1948 They Live by Night Doctor Uncredited
1948 Macbeth Duncan
1948 Kidnapped Rankeillor
1948 Wake of the Red Witch Dokter Van Arken
1949 Your Show Time (TV) "The Invisible Wound"
1949 Impact Dr. Henry Bender
1949 Night Unto Night Dr. Gallen Altheim
1949 The Woman on Pier 13 Desk Clerk at Christine's Apartment Uncredited
1950 Sierra Judge Prentiss
1951 The Company She Keeps Planetarium Guide Uncredited
1952 My Son John Professor (scenes deleted)ref name="AFI"/>

Radio credits

Date Title Role Notes
July 25, 1938 The Mercury Theatre on the Air The President "A Tale of Two Cities"
September 5, 1938 The Mercury Theatre on the Air Secretary "The Man Who Was Thursday"
December 24, 1939 The Campbell Playhouse "A Christmas Carol"
March 17, 1940 The Campbell Playhouse "Huckleberry Finn"
April 6, 1941 The Free Company Colonel Egenhorn "His Honor, the Mayor"
October 6, 1941 The Orson Welles Show
October 20, 1941 The Orson Welles Show
December 22, 1941 The Orson Welles Show