Plympton, Eben

Eben Plympton Eben Plympton (1853—April 12, 1915) was an actor and charter member of The Lambs. He supported leading men such as Edwin Booth and other greats, but his best work was in Shakespearean drama.

Plympton was born Eben Bradlee in Boston in 1853 and worked as a bookkeeper before migrating to California. He first stepped onstage in Stockton, California, in 1871, with Joseph Proctor, after which his robust masculinity and confidence won him a place in Lester Wallack’s company. Most of the company formed the core members of the early membership of The Lambs; Plympton was elected sometime before 1877.

A few years of apprenticeship led to leading man roles in Rose Michele (1875) and Our Boarding House (1878), and he won plaudits in Romeo in 1877. Plympton scored back-to-back triumphs in Hazel Kirke (1880) and Esmeralda (1881), after which he starred opposite Mary Anderson. He played Laertes to Edwin Booth’s Hamlet; he toured with Booth across the U.S. and to London.

Between 1894 and 1914 Plympton continued to pay reliably in a range of classic and contemporary plays. He was long known as a capable actor and leading man. It was not long after his entrance into the profession that his good work in minor roles brought him advancement, and earned him popular favor in important roles. He supported Booth, Lawrence Barrett, and Mary Anderson, as well as other great stars, and they also played in England.

He co-starred in The Garden of Allah (1911-1912) with an all-star cast. His best work was done in the Shakespearean drama, showing an artistic conception of the great roles in which he had ably supported the most famous actors of American stage.

As he aged, Plympton made the decision to be among the first actors of the legitimate stage to go into Vaudeville. In 1905 he was on front pages after he was arrested for attempting to murder his companion, Capt. George Martin. He was jailed in Boston; a jury cleared him 11 months later. His career suffered a setback.

Plympton died of pneumonia in a hotel on Forty-fifth Street and Eighth Avenue, not far from The Lambs, on April 12, 1915. He was 62.