The Carrington Chronicles - Chapter 2: The Inner Frank
Early 1920s promotional photo of Frank Carrington, courtesy of the Paper Mill Playhouse
By Bill Hildebrandt
Frank Carrington has left an anonymous yet extraordinary legacy in the Arts that spans his residence on Fire Island, 1927 through 1975. The Paper Mill Playhouse is just one chapter in his career.
In 1914, when he was 19 years old, he copyrighted a play, “Naosuke, The Swordmaker,” which when acknowledged by the Library of Congress was addressed to “F. Maxfield Carrington” in Pasadena California.
Copyright acknowledgement from the Library of Congress for Frank’s play written at age 19; courtesy of the Paper Mill Playhouse
The play, based on Japanese culture, is a revealing subject, as is the acknowledgement. I have viewed much about Frank and there is no other reference to a “Maxfield”. Was he developing a new persona at 19? And, what kind of imagination did he have to take a stab at Art in a foreign culture. All savvy stuff for a 19 year old in 1914; and to have the mind to understand the value of the copyright process.
1914
While in Pasadena Frank had a role in a silent film, “The $5,000,000 Counterfeiting Plot,” starring William J. Burns, the founder of the detective agency of the same name. The firm still exists as part of the Securitas Security Services. Unfortunately, there are no known copies of the film. One of the 10,000 or so silent films that have been lost.
Photo courtesy of the Paper Mill Playhouse
By all accounts, there is no evidence of Carrington having received any formal education beyond a presumed high school level, which would have been available to him at various Army base camps. So where did his world view and insight originate?
Frederick Marquet, Frank Carrington’s first host on Fire Island, circa 1920; Frank later purchased the house from him in 1927; photo courtesy of National Park Service
Frank’s grandfather, Lafayette Carrington, named for the Marquis de Lafayette for his visit to Milledgeville in 1825, was a teacher and clerk to the Georgia House of Representatives. Colloquial accounts suggest he was a respected educator and had played an important role in the community. His son, Frank deLaunay Carrington, was born in 1855. At the time Milledgeville was the State Capitol of Georgia, about as deep as you can go in the south.
Marquet family circa 1920s; courtesy of National Park Service
When Frank’s father was 10, he witnessed Sherman’s march of destruction to the sea; Milledgeville was not spared. One of the Union officers, William Ludlow, was a recent graduate of West Point. Ironically, he would serve as Frank’s commander in the Spanish American War in Cuba in 1898. In a further irony, William Ludlow married into the Nichols family and lived on a bayfront estate in West Sayville. Was it a coincidence? Or is there a connection?
Title block of Major Carrington’s senior thesis in 1878, courtesy of the Paper Mill Playhouse
Frank Sr.’s appointment to West Point in 1874 was his ticket, not only out of the deep south, but to the opening of all the horizons on the planet. It is more than ironic and coincidental that Frank Jr. would find his escape on Fire Island, 1/2 mile from Cherry Grove and directly adjacent to the development of what was to become Fire Island Pines.
We know that Frank Jr. lived with his parents and two older sisters in Millburn, NJ until his father passed away in 1940 at 85. He subsequently moved to the Carriage House on the premises of the Paper Mill Playhouse with his mother and sister Gene and stayed there until his death in 1975.
I would argue his gravitas, world view, and perspective is the product of a close family relationship and perhaps “hero worship” so to speak of his father. A Major in the US Army, veteran of foreign wars, and a world traveler would offer rare insight to a bright young man.
Unlike Lincoln Kirstein,
who had a privileged upbringing and a Harvard Education in fine arts, Frank Jr. was 10 years older without the education and the product of valuable young life experiences. It is a subtle connection. However, like Lincoln Kirstein, Frank Jr. had dreams of a National Theater, a ballet company at the Paper Mill Playhouse, education for young theatrical types, exhibition and promotion of painting and sculpture and so on.
Photo of Lincoln Kirstein on the west deck of Frank Carrington’s cottage, circa 1948; photo reproduced from The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein by Martin Duberman
That dream lives on today, The Paper Mill Playhouse has been the official “State Theater of New Jersey” since 1972. That status is more than a title. It has opened doors culturally and financially and was an inspiration and accomplishment of Frank Carrington. To be continued…..
Editor’s note: Carrington was known to have been in silent films, there is information on the web indicating this may have been a different Frank Carrington, however, our Frank lived in Pasadena in 1914, when the film was produced as did the director and others