Edward Askew Sothern the play that Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated. Sothern's role was Lord Dundreary, a caricature of a brainless English nobleman. At first, he was reluctant to accept the role; it was so small and unimportant that he felt it beneath him and feared it might damage his reputation. He mentioned his qualms to his friend, Joseph Jefferson, who had been cast in the leading role of Asa Trenchard in the play. Jefferson supposedly responded with the famous line: "There are no small parts, only small actors." On 15 October 1858, "Our American Cousin" premiered in New York.
Abraham Lincoln (1924 film short) Abraham Lincoln (1924 film short) Abraham Lincoln (1924) is a short film made in the Phonofilm sound-on-film process . The film was directed by J. Searle Dawley, produced by Lee DeForest, is based on the 1918 play "Abraham Lincoln" by John Drinkwater, and stars Frank McGlynn Sr. as Lincoln. McGlynn also played Lincoln in the play on Broadway. Although no copies of the film appear to have survived, some photographs have been preserved. In 1923, DeForest and Dawley produced a short Phonofilm, "Lincoln, Man of the People", with Edwin Markham reading his poem of that title. In 1925, DeForest produced