Albert Henderson Sackett (1861-1939) was a stage actor who was born during the U.S. Civil War and began his theatrical career during the Gilded Age. When he was in his seventies he was elected to The Lambs in 1936 as a non-resident member. At the time his son-in-law, Frank Crumit, was shepherd of the Club.
He was born April 26, 1861, in Northampton, Massachusetts. His parents were John Sackett (1833-1908) and Julia Clark (1837-1927). As a teenager in nearby Springfield, he worked in plants manufacturing ice skates, Smith & Wesson handguns, and typewriters. He quit the industrial workforce for a life on the stage. After a turn in regional amateur productions, he moved to Boston in his twenties to study acting under John Proctor.
He launched a 35-year career on the stage. One of his earliest acting friends he travelled with was James O’Neill, father of Lamb Eugene O’Neill, when the pair appeared in The Count of Monte Cristo. Sackett was in the original company of Brewster’s Millions, written by Lamb Winchell Smith, and in The Misleading Lady with Lamb Fred Stone.
On December 14, 1885, he married Jeannette E. Sanderson (1866-1952); they were married for more than 50 years, and travelled extensively. Their daughter, who acted under the name Julia Sanderson (1887-1975), was married to Lamb Frank Crumit, who was the 19th shepherd of The Lambs. The family lived in Philadelphia and Springfield, before retiring to Longmeadow, Massachusetts.
Albert Sackett died May 4, 1939, in New York. He was 78 years old. He is interred in Hillcrest Park Cemetery, Springfield, Massachusetts.
—Researched by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, Shepherd of The Lambs.