The Canadian Kings of Repertoire. Michael V. Taylor

      Robert William, better known as R.W., the eldest of the seven Marks Brothers, had a “head for business” and a natural theatrical bent. It was his acumen and his imagination that initiated and established the Marks Brothers theatrical troupes as the possibly best known performers of their time. Perth Museum Collection

CHAPTER 1 HOW ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP THEM DOWN ON THE FARM? – 1876 TO 1882

      “Listen! Folks! Listen!” So went the ballyhoo of King Kennedy, magician, the Mysterious Hindu from the Bay of Bengal,” as he motioned a small and inattentive crowd to step closer and view first-hand the never-before-seen mysteries of the Orient.

      King Kennedy was a lot of things, but a Hindu from the distant shores of Pakistan, he was not. In fact, the only border he ever crossed was between Canada and the United States. He was, in reality, an itinerant showman, and not a very successful one at that, as was evidenced by the apathetic reception he was receiving from the assemblage in the small Eastern Ontario hamlet of Maberly.

      Kennedy’s banter reverberated around the village well over one hundred years ago. Like his many contemporaries, he toured the Canadian hinterland during the post-Confederation period, entertaining audiences with card and slight-of-hand tricks, ventriloquism stunts and popular songs.

      As the crowd gingerly edged its way closer to the gesticulating “Hindu” on that crisp autumn evening of 1876, a nineteen-year-old youth named Robert William Marks, purveyor of sewing machines and five-octave harmonicas, took stock of the less than enthusiastic gathering and attributed its apathy to the magician’s mediocre performance. But luckily for the “Mysterious Hindu,” Robert Marks (R.W.) recognized the native cleverness of the performer and fixed a conclusion in his mind: that King Kennedy, properly managed, could generate three times the gate receipts. According to popular belief at the conclusion of the evening’s performance, R.W. approached Kennedy with a proposition:

      “I own a team of horses and a wagon; you have a tent and a lot of clever bunco. Let’s hitch and take fifty-fifty of the profits.”¹

      Thirty-six years later, however, R.W. would give a less fictional account of this historic meeting:

      “One night, in the company of several other young men I went to the village of Maberly to an entertainment put on by a magician and ventriloquist. The show was all right but the men were evidently travelling in hard luck. After the show I asked them what they would ask for a weeks engagement. They would not sell it out for a week, but offered me half interest in the show at a low price and I took them up. I knew a number of good villages in that locality, and with my father’s democrat and horses I started on the road with the company I made money right from the start, and the next season had control of the company myself.”²

      From that day on R.W. never looked back. It was this chance meeting that formed the foundation of the famous Marks Brothers travelling theatrical companies, which, from its humble beginnings of one company in 1876, mushroomed into four independent troupes by the turn of the century. The Marks brothers, born of Irish-Canadian parents in rural Lanark County were seven in all: Robert William, generally known as R.W., Tom, John, Joseph, Alex, McIntyre (usually called Mack) and Ernie. With the exception of John, one by one they left the family farm at Christie Lake, near Perth, Ontario, and “took to the boards.” Their sisters, Nellie (Ellen Jane) and Libby (Olivia Mariah), never appeared on stage and by all accounts never aspired to do so.

      Although R.W. had no theatrical experience whatsoever when the glare of kerosene footlights captured his imagination, he did, however, have enough savvy to learn quickly how to please the entertainment-starved populace of the day. When Tom, the second oldest (b.1857) joined R.W.’s fledgling company circa 1879, history records he willingly abandoned his apprenticeship to a local cobbler. However, an article in the October 1, 1926, issue of Maclean’s magazine tells a different story. The author, James A. Cowan, had interviewed Tom at his Christie Lake home earlier that year. According to this article, the aging actor had already had considerable show business experience – experience gained while touring throughout the United States with Buffalo Bill Cody and a number of blackface minstrel shows before joining his brother. It is highly unlikely that this was the case, as extensive research on the subject has failed to uncover any factual information to substantiate this claim. Notwithstanding, Tom’s earlier exploits as recounted by Cowan make interesting reading.

      Alex (b. 1867) was the next in line to contract “stage fever.” Without hesitation, he traded his pitchfork for a silver-headed cane and joined his celebrated brothers. Joe (b. 1861) was within six months of becoming an ordained Anglican minister when the lure of the “kerosene circuit” and the charms of a pretty soubrette convinced him his future lay in a different direction. When Ernie, the youngest (b. 1879), added his name to the Marks Brothers playbill, he had already left high school and was apprenticing as a cheesemaker in a small factory on Concession 3 of Bathurst township. But it was not until after the turn of the century that Mack (b. 1871) finally capitulated and donned the top hat, tails and diamonds that distinguished the Marks Brothers from all other troupes in their out-of-door appearance. John, the third oldest (b. 1859) had very little to do with the theatrical exploits of his brothers. He, like his sisters, never appeared on the stage, but it is believed he acted as advance agent on occasion before moving to the western United States in 1886 to seek his fortune in an unrelated line of work.

      R.W. and King Kennedy were, at first, content to play the numerous town halls, hotels, fraternity houses and church halls that abounded throughout rural Eastern Ontario. But after several years of performing their mixed bill of music, magic, card tricks, jokes and ventriloquism stunts, and meeting with only limited success, they decided a change of venue might broaden their horizons. Thus, a decision was made to embark on an extended road tour which would have its beginnings in Western Canada.

      In the spring of 1879, R.W. and Kennedy began their sojourn to Winnipeg. [According to an article in the Perth Courier of August 27, 1937, Tom left for Winnipeg with R.W. and King Kennedy in 1879. There are differing accounts of when and how Tom Marks joined his brother’s theatrical company.] Getting there would prove to be a monumental task as it would still be another six years before the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway would be completed. Necessity dictated they should make their way to Northern Ontario by horse and buggy where they would catch a westbound train. This slow, but dependable mode of transportation also served an alternative purpose as it allowed the company, such as it was, to play one-night stands in the numerous communities that dotted the route. They were thereby guaranteed a consistent source of income which would enable them to bring their specialized brand of entertainment to the early settlers of the West. In later years, R.W. would recall:

      “We drove the team and buggy to Owen Sound and then boarded the ‘Northern Belle’ to Parry Sound, then it was on to Copper Cliff, Manitoulin Island and Port Arthur. I could have vaulted across Winnipeg on any clothespole. It was just a muddy, fresh-rigged town with about 1,500 inhabitants that Easterners thought was a thousand miles northwest of the North Pole and didn’t care if it moved another thousand miles closer.”³

      Winnipeg, may not have been quite as rustic as R.W. described it, for, despite his unflattering remarks, the settlement one year later was a hive of activity as the following narrative recounts:

      “We saw a broad main street boarded with high wooden sidewalks and rows of shops of every shape and size. Some were rude wooden shanties, others were fine buildings of yellow brick. High over all towered the handsome spire of Knox Church. Several saw and grist mills sent up incessant puffs of white steam into the clear air. The street was full of bustle and life. There were wagons of all descriptions standing before the stores. Long lines of Red River carts were loading with freight for the interior.

      “The sidewalks were filled with a miscellaneous crowd of people: – German peasants, French half-breeds,