David Warfield

David Warfield (born Nov. 28, 1866, San Francisco—died June 27, 1951, New York City) was one of the few American pre-motion-picture actors who became a millionaire. He made his fortune and enjoyed a stellar career as a result of playing four major roles over a 25-year period: Anton von Barwig in The Music Master, Wes Bigelow in A Grand Army Man, the title role in The Return of Peter Grimm, and his most famous role, Simon Levi in The Auctioneer.

Warfield made his debut as Melter Moss in The Ticket-of-Leave Man (1888; Napa, Calif.) and worked for 10 years in the Weber and Fields burlesque company. David Belasco saw him and had The Auctioneer written for him (1901); the play ran for three years and made Warfield a dedicated Broadway actor. His one classical role was Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (1923). He turned down offers to work in films and successfully invested his earnings in real estate with Marcus Loew; their enterprises eventually developed into a nationally known entertainment corporation. He often remarked that his success as a character actor was calculated upon the fact that “people want to weep sweetly.”