GOODWIN

goodwin, nathaniel carl (1857- ), american actor, was born in boston on the 25th of july 1857. while clerk in a large shop he studied for the stage, and made his first appearance in 1873 in boston in stuart robson's company as the newsboy in joseph bradford's _law_. he made an immediate success by his imitations of popular actors. a hit in the burlesque _black-eyed susan_ led to his taking part in rice and goodwin's _evangeline_ company. it was at this time that he married eliza weathersby (d. 1887), an english actress with whom he played in b. e. woollf's _hobbies_. it was not until 1889, however, that nat goodwin's talent as a comedian of the "legitimate" type began to be recognized. from that time he appeared in a number of plays designed to display his drily humorous method, such as brander matthews' and george h. jessop's _a gold mine_, henry guy carleton's _a gilded fool_ and _ambition_, clyde fitch's _nathan hale_, h. v. esmond's _when we were twenty-one_, &c. till 1903 he was associated in his performances with his third wife, the actress maxine elliott (b. 1873), whom he married in 1898; this marriage was dissolved in 1908.