"McKee Rankin burst upon the theater world in the 1860s. By the age of twenty-one, Rankin, a Canadian by birth, had become leading man at the Arch Street Theater in Philadelphia, considered to be the best theater in the country. A matinee idol and a superb character actor, he formed one of the first combination companies to tour America. He wrote successful Western dramas, in which he and his wife, the famous Kitty Blanchard, created unforgettable characters. He built a theater in New York City and one in San Francisco where, in the 1880s, he created a nationally famous repertory theater." "Students of acting, historians of the theater, and those interested in the cultural development of a continent will find this book invaluable."--BOOK JACKET.