(1848-1902)
A native of Brunswick, Missouri, Sol Smith Russell debuted as a child, but won enduring popularity as a monologist and comedian, particularly with the Berger family of bell ringers and in the stock company of Ben DeBar. Russell joined Augustin Daly's ensemble in 1874, but achieved his greatest success as a country bumpkin in Edgewood Folks (1880), a rube role he is reported to have played more than 1,500 times. Similar roles followed in A Poor Relation (1889) and A Bachelor's Romance (1897), among others, all of which won Russell a large following on tour.
The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. James Fisher.