Thomas Yeoman Mears Sarah "Sadie" Isabelle Stannard
Benjamin Stannard Mears, also known as Ben Mears, Ben S. Mears, and Stannard Mears, (August 1871 – 27 January 1952) was an American stage actor, vaudeville performer, and playwright. He is best known for the 1918 play Seventeen; an adaptation of Booth Tarkington's 1916 novel of the same name which he co-wrote with Hugh Stanislaus Stange.[1]
Life and career
Born and raised in Cincinnati Ohio, Benjamin Stannard Mears was the son of Thomas Yeoman Mears and Sarah "Sadie" Isabelle Stannard.[2] He began his career as an actor in 1890.[3] He first achieved wide recognition as an actor when he joined the 1902 national tour of William W. Young's Ben-Hur in the role of Sanballat; a work produced by Klaw & Erlanger.[2] He remained with the production when it arrived on Broadway for the work's 1903 revival at the New York Theatre.[2] Years later, Mears returned to the long running production in the role of Simonides.[2]
In 1906 Mears created the leading role of Philadelphia lawyer Tom Wilson in composer Lee Orean Smith's musical Around the Clock.[4] A successful road musical, the cast was headed by the Scottish comedian Billie Ritchie, and toured the United States and Europe for several years.[5] The play began its tour in Syracuse, and Mears was still playing the central character of Tom Wilson when the tour reached Broadway's American Theatre in October 1906.[4]
Mears returned to Broadway in 1913 in Carina Jordan's play Rachel at the Knickerbocker Theatre.[1] With the playwright Hugh Stanislaus Stange he co-authored the 1918 play Seventeen and the book for the 1918 musical You Know Me Al!; both staged on Broadway.[1]
