Buffalo Bill, Actor: A Chronicle of Cody's Theatrical Career

Buffalo Bill, Actor: A Chronicle of Cody’s Theatrical Career - Sandra K. Sagala. Buffalo Bill Cody—frontiersman, buffalo hunter, U.S. army scout, showman extraordinaire—and his Wild West show are colorful and popular highlights in our nation’s history.

However, Cody’s early theatrical accomplishments have typically been overlooked—until now. From 1872 until 1886 Cody led a troupe of traveling actors, familiarly known as a "Combination," around the country playing in frontier melodramas. Not content to present audiences with merely a simulation of life in the west, he introduced marksmanship exhibitions, displays of Indian songs and dances, and live animals onstage. Cody’s experiences as a traveling actor prepared him for the great undertaking that became his world-renowned Wild West.

This carefully annotated volume sheds light on those fourteen previously undocumented years in the life of a fascinating American legend and leaves the reader with a better understanding of this remarkable man. The narrative is augmented with excerpts from Cody’s personal correspondence and from contemporary theatrical reviews that range from glowing praise to outright derision. Newly discovered newspaper accounts and interviews add details to Cody’s biography. Numerous facsimile reprints of vintage photographs including Cody, fellow actors and associates, and "Combination" advertisements further enhance the text. Character lists with program notes from Buffalo Bill’s dramas, a chronicle of appearances, brief biographical sketches of "Combination" actors, a list of newspaper sources, a bibliography, and a fullname plus subject index will delight researchers.

Did Buffalo Bill play in your town? Historians and anyone interested in Cody will want to add this informative and unique volume to their library. 2002, c394 pp., illus., append., bibl., index, paper