An old trick of the media is to suggest an upcoming event will cause Great Offence and Controversy, without waiting to see if it actually does.
This serves two purposes: (1) It engages an audience, as in: This Shall Be Your Outrage; and (2) It expresses the organization’s opinion while pretending it is News.
Just look at the experience of Canadian actor Raymond Massey, who was hired to play Abraham Lincoln.
Massey was another actor in the long line of talented Canadians who emigrated elsewhere to ply their trade. He went to England first, in the 1920s, where he became an accomplished actor (and director and producer).
It was here he made his first movie appearances. As he noted in his memoir, A Hundred Different Lives, movies weren’t always something to which a theatre actor aspired.
“In 1930 anything to do with motion pictures was highly suspect,” Massey wrote. “Before the talkies came in the late 1920s, English actors paid no mind to the flicks…. A theatre man would turn up his coat collar, pull down his brim and look both ways before he entered one of those warehouses where English silent pictures were filmed.”¹
Raymond Massey at London’s Apollo Theatre in the late 1930s. Image: Amazon
Massey was born in Toronto in 1896 to a remarkable family. His father was head of a farm machinery company (the “Massey” of Massey Ferguson), founded by his father in 1847. His brother, Vincent, would become the 18th Governor General of Canada in 1952, the first to be born in Canada.
Raymond tried to find a niche in the family business after serving in WWI, but he and the business were Not Quite Prepared for each other. So he sailed to England and a successful career on the London stage and, later, Broadway.
Of course he went to Hollywood, first to Universal Studios, then, in 1940, to Warner Bros., where he described his roles as “a procession of tedious villainy.”²
Massey’s first love was always the theatre, even during the controversy surrounding his casting as Abraham Lincoln.
Massey as Abraham Lincoln. Image: Time
In 1938, Massey signed to play the starring role in the Broadway production Abe Lincoln in Illinois*. When he arrived in the U.S., the New York playwrights’ press representative immediately grilled him about his ancestry.
“I asked point-blank if there was resentment that a Canadian should play Abraham Lincoln,” Massey wrote. “[The press representative] admitted that some such feeling had been expressed in newspapers.”³
One newspaper was the Daily News, and it presented its views in an editorial that asked, “A Canadian as Abraham Lincoln?”
Massey wrote, “The editorial allowed I was a fine actor and looked like Lincoln; but suggested that as a Canadian, little better than an Englishman, I would soon run into prejudice. Under my photograph was the caption, ‘Raymond Massey – good but not Lincoln’.”4
Canadian media knew there was some resentment in New York’s theatre circles. Maclean’s referred to this when they interviewed Massey before a performance in 1939.
“A short time before the [Robert] Sherwood play opened,” said the magazine, “New York newspapers were asking, ‘How can a Canadian hope to portray the part of Abraham Lincoln, the most democratic and most typical of all Americans?’”5
Perhaps some in certain New York media circles were predicting Massey would fail, but they would be disappointed. The play was a such a success that, to its credit, the Daily News publicly admitted they were wrong.
“Some weeks ago we were expressing doubts in this column as to whether a Canadian actor could be expected to give an adequate rendition of the role of Abraham Lincoln,” it said. “We’ll say…[it’s] one of the greatest historical plays we’ve seen – and that Mr. Massey in our opinion measures up to every requirement of the Lincoln role…”6
Soon after, Massey received an offer from RKO to star in the film version of Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940), for which he received an Oscar nomination.
Ironically, playing Lincoln on screen and radio became something of a sideline for our Raymond. As Wikipedia says, “He once complained jokingly that he was ‘the only actor ever typecast as a president.'”7
Massey died in 1983, after a lengthy career on stage, screen, and television. He may not be as well remembered as other actors from his era, but he should be – if only as the Canadian who played Abraham Lincoln.
*Abe Lincoln in Illinois, the stage play, won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
This post is part of the O CANADA Blogathon hosted by Speakeasy and yours truly.
Sources
¹Massey, Raymond. (1979) A Hundred Different Lives. Toronto, Canada: McClelland and Stewart, p. 212.
²Ibid., p. 272
³Ibid., p. 230.
4Ibid.
5Maclean’s. (Retrieved March 2, 2020.) Raymond Massey: The Canadian Lincoln, by Merrill Denison.
6A Hundred Different Lives, p. 245.
7Wikipedia. (Retrieved March 4, 2020.) Raymond Massey.
Silver Screenings 
Not many actors can pull off Abe Lincoln. Thank goodness he didn’t get stuck playing “a procession of tedious villainy”!
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Haha! You said it!
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I’ve seen the movie and have always liked Massey as an actor, but knew little about him. Thanks for this very interesting post.
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His autobiography is a fascinating read. That branch of the Massey family was truly remarkable.
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I mean he looks so much like him! I’ve never seen the movie but I imagine Lincoln must be a daunting role!
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Agreed. I would find it so intimidating to play such an iconic and beloved character.
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Massey was a fantastic actor and he’s remembered for so much more than Lincoln. I just watched Hotel Berlin, well worth checking out.
Massey always brought gravitas to his roles. He rarely ever took a misstep acting-wise and to me was incapable of bad line-reading.
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There was so much I wanted to say about Raymond Massey, but decided to limit it to his role as Lincoln. He was an amazing actor.
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Hi. The Plymouth Theater, where he acted in Abe Lincoln In Illinois, is still there. But it is now called the Gerald Schoenberg Theater. It’s in the heart of Manhattan’s Broadway theater district.
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I just looked it up on Google and it is GORGEOUS! I wonder if I can get tickets this weekend…? 😉
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Very interesting. It appears Raymond didn’t let the negative attitude affect his building of the character. It’s funny the reporters should consider LIncoln a “typical” American. I’ve been reading about him lately and he seems to me to be an extraordinary American, and human being.
I’m glad our American friends got over their prejudice or else television would be without the perfect lawyer, the perfect rancher, and the perfect starship captain.
PS: Walter Huston
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I agree – Abraham Lincoln doesn’t seem to be “typical” at all. I love what you said about television being without the perfect lawyer, rancher, and starship captain. So true!
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Interesting post, thanks for sharing.
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If they were upset about a Canadian playing Lincoln, imagine how upset they’d be when they found out how many Canadians play for American hockey teams! Lol!
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Haha! I never thought about that.
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This was super interesting! What Raymond Massey had to say about theatre vs cinema in England reminded me that some British actors indeed had a much more prolific career on stage than on screen, the Oliviers being a good example.
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That’s an excellent point – and their film careers alone were nothing to sneeze at. Wouldn’t it have been thrilling to see them live on stage?
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He certainly was typecast as Lincoln. Recently watched 1962s How the West Was One and sure enough there was Raymond in a brief cameo as the President.
From our Canadian point of view there sure were plenty of Canucks who have made good in the movies isn’t there.
America’s Sweetheart anyone?
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Massey talks about his struggle with “presidential typecasting” in his autobiography. But he doesn’t devote a lot of time to it, because he’s got a ton of great stories.
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Reading this I couldn’t help but think of the doubt and anger that American Southerners felt at the thought of Scarlett O’Hara being played by an English girl. I love it when the actors prove them wrong! Great article, Ruth!
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Thanks! I’d forgotten about the Scarlett O’Hara business. Good point!
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Very intresting article Ruth. Thoroughly enjoyed the facts about an Canadian actor who acted as Lincoln .
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Thanks so much! The actor’s memoirs are really interesting – lots of great stories.
How is your daughter? Are her exams done?
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Apoorva is doing good. Her exams got over today and that’s a big relief with Corona virus in the air. I heard that your Prime Minister’s wife is suffering with this virus. I hope you are safe and secure.
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It was a surprise to hear about our Prime Minister’s wife, but we’re hopeful she’ll have a full recovery. As for our area, so far so good. I hope your family is safe as well.
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We are also fine here Ruth. There are a few cases in our city but all crowded places are shut down. Summer holidays are going to start and all are are in house arrest. I really hope everything goes back to normal as soon as possible.
Have a safe weekend!
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