Archives West Finding Aid

Joseph Williams (1882-1957) was born 23 March 1882, on a farm in Pleasant View, Utah. He received his education in Ogden. During his life, he earned his living in a number of capacities, though nearly all of them were in some way associated with theater arts. He taught school, managed a music store, ran a costume shop, and served as musical director of the Utah State Industrial School. He was more directly involved in theater as a performer in community and church productions. He was active behind the scenes also, serving as stage manager in many local theaters.

Williams toured with the Moroni Olson Players in their early years and intermittently, until 1931, doubling as both actor and stage manager. After the company disbanded in 1831, Williams became stage manager of Kingsbury Hall on the campus of the University of Utah. He built scenery and stage sets for theater productions for fifty-three years until his retirement in 1853. He died in 1957, at the age of seventy-four.

Frank Rasmussen (1886-1975) was born the son of Mormon pioneers, Hans Rasmussen and Sina Sorenson, on 21 January 1886. Rasmussen spent his childhood on a farm in Millard County, Utah. Although his childhood education was interrupted periodically by the need for his presence on his father's farm, he nevertheless obtained a high school diploma from Brigham Young University at age twenty-one. After teaching school for a short time, he attended the University of Utah where his involvement in theater began. While at the University, Rasmussen frequently appeared in the Varsity Plays and worked under the direction of Maud May Babcock. But despite his activities in drama while a student, his involvement in theater throughout the rest of his life was sporadic. Rasmussen alternated between teaching, farming, and acting. He taught in such schools as the University of Utah, Box Elder High school, and Millard High School. His later years were spent in Fillmore where he taught for several years, eventually returning to farming. His involvement in theater at this time was primarily that of working with productions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fillmore, where he wrote and directed many plays.

Rasmussen's professional career in theater began upon graduation from the University when he was hired as stage manager and actor at the Social Hall Theater in Salt Lake City. Combined with his teaching activities at the University, Rasmussen remained at the Social Hall from 1919 to 1920, at which time he became a founding member of the Moroni Olson Players. He toured with the troupe and left it periodically for other theater activities, spending time with such groups as the Ellison-White Chautaugua Company in Australia and New Zealand, and the Swarthmore Chautaugua in the East. After his association with the Moroni Olson Players, Rasmussen worked with such groups as the Weber College Little Theater, in Ogden, Utah (1927), and in California, the Major School of Acting at the Figueroa Playhouse (1929), The Pasadena Community Playhouse (1936), and the Hollywood British School of the Theater (1938). Rasmussen served in a number of capacities for these organizations: as actor, director, dramatic director, and manager. In addition to stage work, he had the opportunity to appear in three motion pictures: he played Beckstrom, a spy chief, in "The Marines Come Thru" in 1938; he played a clerk in "The Toast of New York" in 1937, and he played Detective Tucker in "They Won't Forget" in 1937.

After completing a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in North Carolina, Rasmussen returned to Fillmore in 1943 where he remained to teach and farm. Rasmussen died on 8 August 1975.

Ethel Baker Callis spent her entire life active in some aspect of theater in Utah and throughout the West. Having had theatrical training under Maud May Babcock in the early 1920s, Callis went on to tour and perform with such theatrical companies as the Ralph Cloninger Stock Company, the Henry Duffy Players, the Fulton Theater Players, the Moroni Olson Players, the Wilbur Dramatic Players, and the Wilkes Theater Players. While with these companies she traveled throughout the West, performing for longer periods in California, Honolulu, and El Paso, Texas. It was in El Paso that Ethel Baker, along with her future husband David Callis, formed the Baker-Callis Players in 1929 and 1930. During the 1930s, after her husband's death, Callis was employed by Hollywood's Central Casting Welfare Department. It was her responsibility to attempt to find work for the hundreds of actors and actresses that converged on Hollywood during the 1930s.

Callis returned to Utah in the 1940s and appeared in several University of Utah Theater Productions. In 1950 she began a Master's thesis on the Life of Maud May Babcock. Although the work was apparently never completed, this collection contains chapter one on Babcock's early life. Callis continued to appear periodically in theater productions in the Salt Lake area. During the 1960s she served with Stanley Russon and Stanley Farnsworth as executive director and performer in the melodramas at the Silver Wheel Theater in Park City, Utah.

Leora Thatcher (1894-1984) was exposed to theater at an early age and had wanted to become an actress from the time she was a young child. She was born in 12 May 1894 to Moses Thatcher and Sarah Catherine Hopkins, who had a deep interest in theater. In addition, she was a granddaughter of Moses Thatcher, who, besides being a member of the Council of the Twelve of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was also the builder of the Thatcher Opera House in Logan, Utah. Throughout her school years, Thatcher was involved in theater, first at Brigham Young College in Logan, and later at Utah State Agricultural College and the University of Utah. While at the University, she studied under the direction of Maud May Babcock. Upon her graduation in 1921, she performed in community theater, helping to organize a professional theater at the Social Hall. She joined the Moroni Olson Players in 1923, touring with the company throughout the western states and also to eastern Canada and many eastern United States cities. After the Moroni Olson Players disbanded in 1931, Thatcher turned to performing on radio with the KSL Players. She went on to gain national recognition with her work on daytime radio soap operas in New York and Los Angeles during the 1930s. While in California, she also performed at the Pasadena Playhouse and appeared in some motion pictures as well.

Throughout her acting career, Thatcher specialized in playing character parts, especially that of old women. Perhaps her most famous role was that of Ada Lester in "Tobacco Road." She joined the production while it was on tour in San Francisco and continued in the play in New York as well. In the early 1940s, after playing in "Tobacco Road" for two years, Thatcher worked to help the war effort, traveling with a small troupe to hospitals, performing for patients. By 1947, Thatcher was involved in television, performing in both commercials and in various Playhouse productions. She returned to New York during the 1950s and appeared in several Broadway plays. She later traveled to Dallas where she performed in State Fair Musicals during 1957 and 1958. During the 1960s, she returned to Utah to teach speech and theater at Utah State University and to perform and direct occasionally. She received numerous awards and citations during her life, including the University of Utah Emeritus Merit of Honor Award in 1973. Thatcher died on 5 March 1984.

Stanley Farnsworth (1906-1976) was well-known in Utah agriculture and theater. He was born in 1906 in Circleville, Utah and graduated from Bear River High School in Garland, Utah. As a youth he was a member of the O. L. Farnsworth Imperial Players and later the Taylor Players. Farnsworth lived in California for several years, where he did free lance radio work, writing and narrating children's stories. He also became involved in the film industry for a time appearing in a Walt Disney production and several movies produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was actively involved in Utah agriculture for many years. He was a lifetime member of the Salt Lake Advertising Club and produced some 20 commercials in Salt Lake City. He was also a board director and public relations representative for the Salt Lake County Fair and served as a member of the Executive committee of the Intermountain Junior Fat Live Stock Show for thirty years. In addition, Farnsworth was involved in the media in the field of Utah farming. He wrote a column titled "Over the Fence Post," for the Salt Lake Tribune for fifteen years, was farm service director for both the Tribune and KSL radio, and was a copywriter as well for the latter. He was also an advertising representative for the Newspaper Agency Corporation.

Farnsworth continued to perform in front of audiences throughout his life, either as an auctioneer or in the theater. In his later years he frequently appeared in Salt Lake Theater productions and in melodrama at the Silver Wheel Theater in Park City, Utah, with Stanley Russon and Ethel Baker Callis. Farnsworth died on 27 August 1976 after a long illness.

Stanley Russon (1905-1988) was active in Utah theater for over fifty years; he was born on 4 February 1905. He was a graduate of the Latter-day Saints University, and was involved in theater in the 1920s, working under the direction of Maud May Babcock. He has performed with such community and university theaters as the Babcock Varsity Players, Deseret Theater, Salt Lake Theater, the University Theater, the Playbox Theater, Pioneer Memorial Theater, and Lagoon Opera House. During the 1960s he served with Stanley Farnsworth and Ethel Baker Callis as executive director of the Silver Wheel Players. In addition to acting, Russon's involvement in theater includes directing and writing. He was also associated with the drama productions of the Mutual Improvement Association (MIA) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Russon's involvement in Utah theater has been on a part-time basis. He was a jeweler in the Salt Lake area for forty-nine years, retiring in 1975. He married Aileen Russon, whom he met in the theater, and is the father of Shirley Russon Ririe, who is also active in theater and is the co-founder of the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company. Russon's honors include the Best Actor Award from the Playbox Theater, the University of Utah Emeritus Honor Award in 1971, and the Robert Freed Memorial Award. He was also a member of the Pioneer State Theater's Hall of Fame. Russon died on 25 January 1988.