Joseph Holland

Joseph Holland (August 30, 1910 – December 28, 1994) was an American actor of stage and screen who was principally known for his work in the theatre. Active on Broadway from 1935 through 1957, he was particularly admired for his performances in the plays of William Shakespeare. He was notably a founding member of John Houseman and Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre in 1937; performing the title role in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar for the first play mounted by that company. During that production he was seriously wounded by Welles, in the role of Brutus, who stabbed him in the chest and arm with a steel knife in the famous Act 3 Scene 1 betrayal. After a month of recovery, he returned to the production. Holland went on to create roles in original works by playwrights Maxwell Anderson, Lindsay and Crouse, Elsie Schauffler, and Robert E. Sherwood. He worked periodically on television as a guest actor from 1949 through 1961 on a variety of programs, and appeared in a minor supporting role in the 1958 film Rally Round the Flag, Boys!. Early life and education Born in Franklin, Virginia, Holland grew up in a small farming community and first acted in plays in high school. He earned degrees in drama from the University of Richmond (BA, 1932) and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London (MA, 1934). At the University of Richmond he performed the title role in Othello in his senior year, and was also the first person to give a dramatic speech at the newly built amphitheater, the Jenkins Greek Theatre. In 1934 he portrayed the title role in Shakespeare's King Lear at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in a student production staged by RADA with fellow castmates including British character actor Francis de Wolff as Cornwall. Stage career Holland made his professional stage debut in London while a student at RADA as George Patterson in Howard Irving Young's The Drums Begin at the Embassy Theatre in April 1934. He moved to New York City after graduating from RADA, and landed the small role of Sampson, a servant to Capulet, in Katharine Cornell's 1934 Broadway revival of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It was the first of 22 plays that Holland would appear in on Broadway through 1957. He appeared in several more Cornell productions on Broadway including the roles of Robert de Baudricourt and Canon John D'Estivet in George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan (1936) and Pompey in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (1947–1948).