He Was Encouraged to Become an Actor
by a Prize Which, as a Boy, He Won
for Proficiency in Declamation.
Mantell, now in Shakespeare, made his professional start as a sergeant.
This was in 1874, in the Rochdale Theater, Lancashire, England, under the
stage name of Hudson. The play was "Arrah-na Pogue." He was born in
Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, on the 7th of February, 1854, but was brought
up in Ireland, where he won a medal at school for his proficiency in
declamation. This turned his attention to the amateur stage, where his
first appearance was made as _De Mauprat_ in "Richelieu."
He came to America in the same year that he began to act professionally,
and he procured an engagement with the Museum stock company in Boston. But
he soon returned to England, where he remained for four years, acting in
the provinces, and when the States saw him again it was in 1878, when he
and Miller were with Modjeska.
His first real lift into popularity arrived when Fanny Davenport engaged
him for _Loris_ in "Fedora." In this part he was accounted one of the
best-looking men who had trod the American boards, and he established a
vogue for himself that paved the way for his stellar career of several
years in the one play "Monbars."