Cleon Throckmorton

Cleon Francis "Throck" Throckmorton (October 8, 1897 – October 23, 1965) was an American painter, theatrical designer, producer, and architect.^[1] During the early 1920s, Throckmorton resided in Washington, D.C., where he created sets for stage productions by Howard University, a historically black college.^[2]

Cleon Throckmorton
Born	(1897-10-08)October 8, 1897 Absecon, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	October 23, 1965(1965-10-23) (aged 68) Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Carnegie Institute of Technology George Washington University
Occupation	Theatrical designer
Works	The Emperor Jones (1920) Porgy (1928)
Spouse(s)	Katherine "Kat" Mullen Juliet Brenon ​ (m. 1927⁠–⁠1965)​
Parents	Ernest Throckmorton (father) Roberta Cowing (mother)

While associated with Howard University, he operated the Krazy Kat speakeasy in Washington, D.C., a gathering place for artists and intellectuals.^[3] After noticing Throckmorton's set design work for Ridgely Torrence's Simon the Cyrenian at Howard University, producer George Cram Cook recruited Throckmorton to create the sets for the Provincetown Players' upcoming production of playwright Eugene O'Neill's The Emperor Jones.^[2]

Following the success of The Emperor Jones, Throckmorton became one of the most prolific set designers of the Jazz Age. His set designs were featured in over six hundred productions.^[4] During the heyday of his career, it was said that the only person whose name appeared on more playbills than Throckmorton's was the fire commissioner.^[5] He was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2002.^[6]

Life

Early life and education

 

Throckmorton circa 1918

Born in Absecon, just outside Atlantic City, New Jersey, Throckmorton's parents Ernest Upton Throckmorton and Roberta Cowing Throckmorton had moved to Washington, D.C. by 1912 where Ernest ran a cigar store.^[7] His mother was an artist employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.^[8] Throckmorton's early years were spent in Atlantic City and Washington, D.C.^[8] He purportedly was deeply influenced by the gothic atmosphere of the American South which he drew upon in later years when he designed sets for All God's Chillun Got Wings (1924) and Porgy (1928).^[7]

As a young man, Throckmorton studied engineering at the Carnegie Institute of Technology from 1917–18 and George Washington University from 1918–19.^[9] As a student, he worked as a lab assistant at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.^[10] He developed an interest in painting, and studied painting with portraitist Charles Webster Hawthorne and Alexis Many.^[11] According to Throckmorton, his career began as a bet made with other artists in Washington, D.C. The artists claimed he could not succeed both in engineering and painting.^[2] Within a year, Throckmorton won the bet by graduating with an engineering degree and had an exposition of his paintings at the Biennial Exposition of Contemporary Artists.^[2] Attempting to reconcile his passion for painting with his love of engineering, he gradually became aware of "the perfect marriage of the two professions—set designing."^[2]

Early efforts and speakeasy owner

 

Cleon Throckmorton, his first wife Katherine "Kat" Mullen, and friends at the Krazy Kat in 1921.

After obtaining an engineering degree and following an exhibition of his paintings, Throckmorton began advertising himself as a specialist "in difficult tasks for the theater that require the combination of the artist and the engineer."^[2] Soon after, he became a frequent collaborator and associate with the African-American drama department at Howard University, a federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. He taught classes, produced plays, and designed sets at Howard University circa 1920–22.^[2]

While associated with Howard University, Throckmorton operated the Krazy Kat Klub, a raucous nightclub and speakeasy situated at No. 3 Green Court near Washington, D.C.'s Thomas Circle.^[12] As a pre-Raphaelite impressionist, Throckmorton believed that artists should pursue their vocation day and night by surrounding themselves with appropriate settings that inspired creativity, and the venue fulfilled that purpose.^[13] Due to its courtyard and tree-house, the establishment became as an idyllic haunt for artists, bohemians, flappers, and other free-wheeling "young moderns" during the Jazz Age.^[14] A frequent club habitué was Katherine "Kat" Mullen, a model and sketch artist known for her radio performances as a singer and ukulele player with the Crandall Saturday Nighters.^[15] Throckmorton and Mullen were married during this period.^[15]

While operating the Krazy Kat Klub speakeasy in Washington, D.C., Throckmorton became acquainted with theater producer George Cram Cook, a key figure in the experimental theater collective known as the Provincetown Players located in Provincetown, Massachusetts.^[9] Cook had been impressed by Throckmorton's avant-garde work on Ridgely Torrence's Simon the Cyrenian at Howard University,^[2] and he offered Throckmorton the opportunity to design the sets for the upcoming first production of Eugene O'Neill's The Emperor Jones (1920).^[9] Throckmorton completed the sketches and sets in only three days, and the play opened to rave reviews on November 1, 1920.^[2]

Meteoric success and cultural zenith

 

 

Throckmorton's lighting and set design for The Emperor Jones (1920) won him national acclaim and catapulted him into the cultural elite.

Due to the ecstatic critical reception of Throckmorton's set work for The Emperor Jones, Throckmorton went on to work on stage design or set design for over six hundred productions during the next decade.^[7] His many works included The Hairy Ape (1922), In Abraham's Bosom (1926; Pulitzer Prize, 1927), Porgy (1928), the American premiere of The Threepenny Opera (1933), Sidney Howard's Alien Corn (1933), the 1935 American premiere of Federico García Lorca's Blood Wedding (retitled as The Bitter Oleanders), and a 1942 production of Nathan the Wise.^[16] During this heyday of Throckmorton's career, it was said that the only person whose name appeared on more playbills than Throckmorton's was the fire commissioner.^[5] Many notable artists and stage designers worked with Throckmorton at the Provincetown Players, including Mordecai Gorelik,^[17] Alexander Calder,^[18] and Robert Edmond Jones.

 

Throckmorton's set design for Catfish Row as it appeared in Porgy (1928). Seven years later, this iconic set design was re-used for George Gershwin's musical adaptation Porgy and Bess (1935).

By 1928, following his divorce from his first wife Katherine Mullen and his second marriage to screen actress Juliet Brenon,^[19] Throckmorton had relocated to Hoboken, New Jersey, where he and his intimate friend, writer Christopher Morley, co-founded the Hoboken Theatrical Company.^[20] They produced at the Old Rialto Theatre a series of successful revivals of old-time melodramas from the gaslight era,^[9] "complete with peanuts—hisses for the villain and cheers for the heroes."^[8]

The efforts of Throckmorton and Morley led to a brief cultural flowering in the city.^[8] They concurrently produced an assortment of experimental crafts including an illustrated map of Hoboken,^[21] Hoboken passports,^[22] and a book, "Born in a Beer Garden, or She Troupes to Conquer" (1930), written with then-unknown poet Ogden Nash. Throckmorton and Morley later produced plays at the Millpond Playhouse in Roslyn, New York, including a well-received production of Morley's "The Trojan Horse".^[9]

While residing in a studio at West Third Street in New York City during the early 1930s,^[9] Throckmorton produced a series of drawings which soon decorated the "Volare" restaurant in Greenwich Village in New York City, where they have been hanging since 1933.^[23] In 1934, Throckmorton's four concept drawings for the scene designs in The Emperor Jones were included in the 1934 International Exhibition of Theatre Art at the Museum of Modern Art.^[24] During this period, Throckmorton also became known as an architect and designer of theaters, working on the Cherry Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village, the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut, the Cape Playhouse at Dennis on Cape Cod, and many others.^[2] In 1935, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Theatre Arts to study classic European theaters.^[25]

Decline and later years

After his artistic zenith during the Jazz Age, Throckmorton's theatrical work steadily declined in the 1940s, and he was forced to move on to other ventures. He became an event planner, created murals for restaurants and nightclubs, and designed private homes. He also did pioneering television work designing simulations of historical events, battles, and other events that could not be filmed.^[5] He became the first art director for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) during the early years of television.^[2]

As his career declined, Throckmorton divided his time between his Greenwich Village apartment and a residence in the Bahamas.^[8] In his final years, Throckmorton lived with his second wife Juliet Brenon in semi-retirement at 33 South North Carolina Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey.^[7] He died at 68 years old on October 23, 1965.^[9] Nearly forty years after his death, he was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2002.^[6]

Marriages

 

Katherine Mullen was Throckmorton's first wife and model.

Throckmorton's first wife was Katherine "Kat" Mullen.^[14] A model and sketch artist, Mullen was a frequent habitué of Throckmorton's speakeasy known as "The Kat" in Washington, D.C., and was also known for her radio performances as a singer and ukulele player with the Crandall Saturday Nighters.^[15] Throckmorton likely divorced Mullen before he permanently relocated from Washington, D.C. to New York City.

On March 13, 1927, Throckmorton married his second wife, silent movie actress Juliet Brenon (1895–1979).^[26] The Brenons were a musical and theatrical family; her father Algernon had been a music critic, and her uncle Herbert Brenon was a prolific film director who directed the first cinematic adaptation of The Great Gatsby (1926).^[27] Juliet's sister Aileen (1894–1967) was a music critic and theatrical publicist whose husband was art critic Thomas Craven.^[28]

During the 1930s, Throckmorton and Brenon’s Greenwich Village apartment became an after-hours salon for thespians, artists, and intellectuals such as Noël Coward, Norman Bel Geddes, Eugene O'Neill, and E.E. Cummings.^[29] Their politically leftward salon notably raised funds for the Republican faction during the Spanish Civil War.^[9]

See also

• Krazy Kat Klub

References

Citations

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cleon Throckmorton.

1. The New York Times 1965, p. 37; Flambeau 1922, p. 7; The Evening Star 1925, p. 38.
2. Congressional Record 1966, p. A532.
3. Flambeau 1922, p. 7; The Evening Star 1925, p. 38; The Washington Post 1919, p. 5.
4. The New York Times 1965, p. 37; Congressional Record 1966, p. A531.
5. Somerset-Ward 2005, p. 35.
6. Theater Hall of Fame 2002.
7. Congressional Record 1966, p. A531; The New York Times 1965, p. 37.
8. Congressional Record 1966, p. A531.
9. The New York Times 1965, p. 37.
10. Martin 2021.
11. The Washington Times 1921, p. D9; The New York Times 1965, p. 37.
12. The Washington Post 1919, p. 5; The Washington Herald 1921, p. 22; Flambeau 1922, p. 7.
13. The Washington Herald 1921, p. 22.
14. Flambeau 1922, p. 7.
15. Flambeau 1922, p. 7; The Evening Star 1925, p. 38.
16. Guggenheim Fellowship 1935; Congressional Record 1966, p. A532.
17. Fletcher 2009, pp. 27–29.
18. Perl 2017, pp. 174–178.
19. The New York Times 1927, p. E7.
20. The New York Times 1965, p. 37; Congressional Record 1966, pp. A531–A532.
21. Morley & Throckmorton 1929.
22. Morley & Throckmorton 1930.
23. McBurnie & Hammer 2015.
24. Museum of Modern Art 1934, p. 63; Cleon Throckmorton: MoMA Entry 2019.
25. Guggenheim Fellowship 1935.
26. The New York Times 1927, p. E7; The New York Times 1965, p. 37; The New York Times 1979, p. D13.
27. Ditta 2018; Green 1926, p. 14.
28. Ditta 2018.
29. The New York Times 1965, p. 37; The New York Times 1979, p. D13; Congressional Record 1966, p. A531.

Sources

• "Army-Navy Game To Be Broadcast: 'Saturday Nighters' Featured". The Evening Star. Washington, D.C. November 28, 1925. p. 38. Retrieved October 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. ...Katherine Throckmorton, songs with ukelele...
• "Cleon Throckmorton: International Exhibition of Theatre Art (Jan 15–Feb 25, 1934)". Museum of Modern Art. 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
• "Cleon Throckmorton, 68, Dead; Designed O'Neill Stage Settings". The New York Times. New York City. October 25, 1965. p. 37. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
• "Cleon Throckmorton: Extension of Remarks of Hon. Harrison A. Williams, Jr. of New Jersey in the Senate of the United States". Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the United States Congress. Vol. 112 (Part 24). United States: U.S. Government Printing Office. February 4, 1966. pp. A531–A532.
• Ditta, Joseph (February 16, 2018). "Guide to the Aileen St. John-Brenon Papers (1920-1947 )". New-York Historical Society Museum & Library. Retrieved October 20, 2020. Aileen's grandfather was the English dramatic critic Edward St. John-Brenon. Her uncle, Herbert Brenon (1880–1958), was a motion picture director perhaps best known for the silent films Peter Pan (1924) and Beau Geste (1926). Aileen's younger sister, Juliet St. John-Brenon (1895–1979), was an actress who appeared in some of their Uncle Herbert's films. Juliet married well-known set designer Cleon "Throck" Throckmorton (1897-1965), who maintained an active studio in bohemian Greenwich Village.
• "Engagements: Brenon–Throckmorton". The New York Times. New York City. May 1, 1927. p. E7. Retrieved October 8, 2020. Mrs. Algernon St. John Brenon of the Hotel Iroquois has announced the engagement of her younger daughter, Miss Juliet Brenon, to Cleon Throckmorton of Washington, D.C., and this city. Miss Brenon is the daughter of the late A. St. John Brenon, who was well known in New York and Europe as a music critic.
• Flambeau, Victor (February 5, 1922). "Flambeau Finds Washington's Bohemia In Hidden Haunt Where Cleon Throckmorton Stages His First Exhibition" (PDF). The Washington Times (Sunday ed.). p. 7. Retrieved October 20, 2020 – via Library of Congress.
• Fletcher, Anne (March 30, 2009). Rediscovering Mordecai Gorelik: Scene Design and the American Theatre. Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-2880-2. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
• Green, Abel (November 24, 1926). "Film Review: The Great Gatsby". Variety. Los Angeles, California. p. 14. Retrieved October 8, 2020 – via Internet Archive.
• "Guggenheim Fellows Biography of Cleon Throckmorton". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
• "Has Washington Genuine Art Colony, Asks Scientist: Visits Krazy Kat". The Washington Herald. Washington, D.C. July 31, 1921. p. 22. Retrieved October 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
• International Exhibition of Theatre Art (Jan 15–Feb 25, 1934) (PDF). Museum of Modern Art (Report). 1934. p. 63. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
• "Juliet B. Throckmorton". The New York Times. New York City. November 22, 1979. p. D13. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
• Martin, Keith (May 19, 2021). "The Pandemic Poet and Other Tales From a NIST 'Genealogy' Project". Retrieved December 21, 2021.
• McBurnie, Karen; Hammer, Jon (July 9, 2015). "A Quick One at the Krazy Kat Klub". Grade A Fancy Magazine. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
• Morley, Christopher; Throckmorton, Cleon (1929). "Bird's-eye View of Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S.A. New York's Last Seacoast of Bohemia. Issued 1929 by Christopher Morley et al". Hoboken Historical Museum. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
• Morley, Christopher; Throckmorton, Cleon (February 3, 1930). "Passport. Hoboken Free State. Issued by Christopher Morley and Cleon Throckmorton. No. 51. Issued to J. Brooks Atkinson, February 3, 1930". Hoboken Historical Museum. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
• Perl, Jed (October 24, 2017). Calder: The Conquest of Time: The Early Years: 1898-1940. Knopf Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-451-49421-4. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
• "Row In Krazy Kat Lands 14 In Jail: Carefree Bohemians Start Rough-House and Cop Raids Rendezvous". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. February 22, 1919. p. 5. Retrieved October 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
• Somerset-Ward, Richard (2005). An American Theatre: The Story of Westport Country Playhouse, 1931-2005. Yale University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-300-10648-0. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
• . American Theatre Critics Association. Archived from the original on 2010-05-17. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
• "Throckmorton Scenic Artist of Real Skill". The Washington Times (Sunday ed.). Washington, D.C. December 11, 1921. p. D9. Retrieved October 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Cleon Throckmorton, well known Washingtonian and founder of the Crazy Kat Restaurant, is rapidly acquiring a reputation as a scene designer of parts through his association with the Provincetown Players of New York.

External links

• Cleon Throckmorton at the Internet Broadway Database