Robert Porterfield
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Robert Huffard Porterfield, born on December 21, 1905, on the outskirts of Austinville, in Wythe County, VA. He died October 28, 1971, in Abingdon, VA, and was best known for being the founder of "Virginia's World-Famous" Barter Theatre, the state theatre of Virginia.
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[edit] Family history
Robert Porterfield was the fifth generation of Porterfields born in the United States. His great-great-great-grandfather (John or Frank) arrived in the American colonies from Scotland in about 1760, probably through the port of Philadelphia. Like many immigrants of Scots, Irish, Scots-Irish, or German descent, he traveled from Pennsylvania down the Wilderness Road through the lush and fertile Shenandoah Valley only to find all of the best land already staked out and occupied, forcing him to keep pushing on until he arrived at some unclaimed real estate in Southwest Virginia, what is now called Glade Spring.
[edit] Childhood
Robert was the third of six children, all boys, born to William Breckenridge Porterfield and Daisy Huffard Porterfield on December 21, 1905.
In 1909, Robert's father accepted a position as overseer of some 20,000 acres (81 km²) of land and moved the family to Saltville, VA. The family's new home was a large farmhouse south of the town of Saltville but with a view of the town about a mile away. Robert and his brothers shared in all the work of the farm. The farm included a two-story barn in which the young Porterfield, at the age of seven, staged his first plays for cousins.
The Porterfields were quite prosperous by the standards of the day. They were the first family to have a dial telephone, thanks to Mr. Porterfield's position as Mayor of Saltville, 1920-24 and 1926-29, and the luxury of central heating.
At the age of ten, Robert announced to his father his intention of becoming an actor. His father, however, was very much against such an idea.
His mother taught him to read before he started school, but Robert's formal education began in a one-room schoolhouse with a pot-bellied wood stove where about four grades were gathered together. There he learned Shakespeare when his teacher would have Shakespearean quotation bees. He would go home afterwards and pore over his family volumes of Shakespeare, culling new lines for the next bee.
As a youngster he learned to fish for trout, rock bass and gig giant bullfrogs from the North Fork of the Holston River. He also learned how to shoot guns, along with hunting and trapping. His favorite was raccoon hunting.
The first great sorrow of his life happened when he was twelve years old. He had fallen in love with a girl named Mary. One spring Sunday morning, he was supposed to meet her for Sunday school but she never came. He learned later that day that she had died in her sleep the night before. The brokenhearted Porterfield ran away for a while only to return to his home with his mother waiting up for him with hot milk toast. Mary's family gave him a gold heart that she always kept around her neck. Robert kept that locket close to him for the remainder of his life.
He joined the school debating society just for the chance to talk in front of audiences. He became the sparkplug that instigated class plays at Saltville High School.
He almost married a girl from Marion, VA named Helen, who was a few years older than Robert, but at the last minute turned the car around and drove her back home.
After graduating from Saltville High School, Robert enrolled at Hampden-Sydney College in Farmville, VA. He would only stay there for two years but while there he was a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity. While submitting an application to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he boarded a train and went to Petersburg, VA. While there, he worked as a soda jerk at the Lum's Drugstore in town. Without any word from the Academy, he gave up on school and decided that he must go to New York. He wrote his dad and told him that he was dropping out of college and heading to New York. He spent the next few months working six days a week, saving as much money he could to go to New York. He was finally accepted to the Academy, but his father wrote saying he must either go back to school or come home. Robert, however, continued to work as a soda jerk until he became ill and was advised by a Petersburg doctor to go home and get a lot of rest. Home he went, all the way back to the new Porterfield farm of "Twin Oaks", located on the outskirts of Glade Spring. There he was checked out by his father's doctor, who said he was strong as an ox. His father finally gave his reluctant consent, and Robert boarded a train that would take him to New York City.
[edit] At the academy
In the fall of 1926, Porterfield arrived at New York's Pennsylvania Station and made his way to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. When he arrived, he was ushered into the president's office, where he was asked to give a two-minute audition in front of a committee of faculty members. Upon completing his audition, the faculty members informed Porterfield that "not one of us were able to understand a word you said. If you want to become an actor, you have to lose that southern accent and quickly."
Robert lived in a small apartment above a speakeasy on 85th Street and Riverside Drive and spent the next two years at the Academy immersing himself in his lessons, a period he would later describe as "a necessary stage in my development as an actor."
[edit] Barter Theatre
He created the Barter Theatre in 1933.
[edit] Family life
Porterfield was married to Helen Fritz from May 12, 1934, until her death on New Year's day 1949. She battled alcoholism most of her life, and her father too. She was told all of her life that her father died from pneumonia until 1941, when told by mistake in a heated argument with her mother, that her father drank himself to death. It eventually claimed her life too. Robert and Helen had no children together.
He was married for the second time on October 6, 1964 to Mary Dudley. They were married until Robert's death on October 28, 1971. She still lives at the Porterfield home of "Twin Oaks".
In 1968, the two adopted a five-year-old boy they named Jay Payne Porterfield; his nickname, given to him by Robert, was "Jay Bird."
[edit] Quotes
"If you like us, talk about us. And if you don't, just keep your mouth shut." - Robert would say this at the end of each speech before each show.
"He gave me my start in the business, and every time I see my Oscar, I remember him fondly". - Ernest Borgnine on Robert Porterfield
[edit] Filmography
Thunder Road (1958) (uncredited) .... Preacher
The Yearling (1946) (uncredited) .... Mate
Sergeant York (1941) .... Zeb Andrews
They Won't Forget (1937) (uncredited) .... Jimmy Harrison (Dissenting Juror)
[edit] Awards
- In 1948, he won a special award the Regional Theatre Tony Award for his "Contribution to Development of Regional Theatre".
- Also in 1948, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters for his work in the theatre by his alma mater Hampden-Sydney College.
- In 1957, he was named "First Citizen of Abingdon" and presented the "Actors' Fund Award of Merit" too.
- In 1963, he received the "Thomas Jefferson Award" for public relations on behalf of Virginia.
- In 1967, the "Suzanne Davis Memorial Award" for contributions to theatre in the South was awarded to him, as was the "Special Service Award" from the Virginia State Chamber of Commerce.
[edit] References
McKinney, L. Robert. "If You Like Us, Talk About Us". Barter Media, Abingdon, VA. 2006.
