Max Figman (March 9, 1866 – February 13, 1952), born in Vienna, Austria, and Lolita Robertson (March 7, 1888 – May 1, 1959) born in San Francisco, were a husband and wife acting duo who appeared on Broadway and in silent films together. Max was also a director and writer in his stage career. Max was 22 years Lolita's senior but the couple was long married and devoted to each other until Max's death in 1952. Max died on February 13, 1952, in a nursing home in Bayside, Queens, called Edgewater Rest, at the age of 85. They had two children, Max Jr. and Lolita Figman.Lolita Robertson biography, IMDb- Max Figman biography, IMDb –
Max and Lolita appeared in a hit play Fine Feathers in 1913 co-starring Wilton Lackaye and Robert Edeson.Daniel Blum, Pictorial History of the American Theatre: 1860–1970 p. 140 c. 1970; originally 1958, 1970 edition enlarged by John Willis They made a few films with the short-lived Masterpiece Film Manufacturing Company.
The couple sat in on the formation of The Lasky Company in 1914, later to be Paramount Pictures.Daniel Blum, Pictorial History of the Silent Screen p.54 c.1952 In silent pictures, the husband and wife often appeared together.
Max stage career Max made his stage debut at 17 in A Scrap of Paper (1883). He later joined the company of Willie Edouin in Fun in a Photographic Gallery and appeared in four plays with Mrs. Fiske: Miranda of the Balcony, A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler and Mary of Magdala. In 1905–06, he supported Florence Roberts in Ann La Mont and The Strength of the Weak. He became a star in the play version of The Man on the Box, filmed in 1914 by Cecil B. DeMille. From 1909 to 1910, he toured in Mary Jane's Pa and in February 1912 was at Daly's Theatre New York in The Truth Wagon. He began his relationship with Lolita Robertson while in the play Fine Feathers, first at the Cort Theatre, Chicago, in August 1912, and finally in New York at the Astor Theatre in January 1913.Who Was Who in the Theatre: 1912–1976 vol. 2 D-H p. 835, originally published annually by John Parker; 1976 edition by Gale Research Company His final performance before his death was The DuBarry on Broadway in 1932, playing the role of Louis XV.
Lolita stage career When the originally cast actress in Fine Feathers, Alice Stone, fell sick, Lolita was offered her role of Jane Reynolds. Eugene Walter asked her to read Alice's part during rehearsal and she was later offered the role. At the time, Max and Lolita had a two-month-old infant, so she initially turned down the offer. After spending time reading the part during rehearsals, she took the role.
Filmography
Max Figman The Man on the Box (1914) What's His Name (1914) The Hoosier Schoolmaster (1914) The Truth Wagon (1914) Jack Chanty (1915) My Best Girl (1915) The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford (1915, short) The Bungalow Bungle (1915, short) Three Rings and a Goat (1915, short) A Rheumatic Joint (1915, short) The Master Stroke (1915, short) The Lilac Splash (1915, short) A Trap for Trapp (1915, short) A Bang Sun Engine (1915, short) A Transaction in Summer Boarders (1915, short) Detective Blackie (1915, short) Apples and Eggbeaters (1915, short) A Stony Deal (1915, short) Buying a Bank with Bunk (1915, short) The Missing Heir (1915, short) Lord Southpaugh (1916, short) He Wouldn't Wear Glasses (1916, short) Monomania (1917, short) Old Home Week (1925) It Happened in Paris (1932)
Lolita Robertson The Man on the Box (1914) What's His Name (1914) The Hoosier Schoolmaster (1914) The Truth Wagon (1914) Jack Chanty (1915) The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford (1915, short) The Bungalow Bungle (1915, short) Three Rings and a Goat (1915, short) A Rheumatic Joint (1915, short) The Master Stroke (1915, short) The Lilac Splash (1915, short) A Trap for Trapp (1915, short) A Bang Sun Engine (1915, short) A Transaction in Summer Boarders (1915, short) Detective Blackie (1915, short) Apples and Eggbeaters (1915, short) A Stony Deal (1915, short) Buying a Bank with Bunk (1915, short) The Missing Heir (1915, short) Lord Southpaugh (1916, short) No Mother to Guide Her (1923)
References
External links
Lolita portrait gallery (University of Washington, Sayre collection) Max Figman portrait gallery (University of Washington, Sayre collection) Lolita Robertson portrait (University of Louisville, Macauley Theatre collection) Max Figman when he was under the management of John Cort Max and Lolita in a scene from the film What's His Name