CHILD ACTOR AUTOGRAPH HANDWRITTEN LETTER BILL MAUCH SIGNED STAR VINTAGE

Description: BILLY MAUCH ON OFFICIAL BILL MAUCH LETTERHEAD AUTOGRAPH LETTRER SIGNED MEASURING APPROXIMATELY 5 1/2 X 7 1/4 INCHES Dear David - It is always goodto hear from you a loyalfan - i regret that mybrother no longer signspictures or gives autographs Sincerely - Bill Mauch William John Mauch (July 6, 1921 – September 29, 2006) and his identical twin brother, Robert Joseph Mauch (July 6, 1921 – October 15, 2007), were child actors in the 1930s. They had starring roles in the 1937 film The Prince and the Pauper, based on the novel of the same name by Mark Twain. Robert Joseph Mauch, actor and film editor: born Peoria, Illinois 6 July 1921; married; died 15 October 2007. Bobby Mauch, the actor and film editor, was one of a pair of identical twins, Billy and Bobby Mauch (pronounced "Mawk"), who starred in a distinguished version of the Mark Twain classic The Prince and the Pauper in 1937. The spirited pair were so completely alike that they were often able to take each other's place without revealing their true identity. The sons of a railroad agent, Robert and his brother William were born in Peoria, Illinois in 1921 – Billy, who died in September 2006, was the older by 10 minutes. Their mother, soon aware of the possibilities available to her personable progeny, taught them to dance before they started school. From the age of three they performed at private parties, and by the time they were seven they were modelling and acting on radio, gaining early exposure on NBC's Sunday morning amateur hour for children Coast-to-Coast on a Bus and Let's Pretend, a drama series for children which also nurtured the talents of the future teenage stars Jimmy Lydon and Billy Halop. Warner Bros had been looking for a young boy who looked enough like Fredric March to play the actor as a youth in Anthony Adverse, and the twins fitted the bill. Initially, Billy was signed to play Anthony, with Bobby hired as his stand-in, but after the film's completion they confessed to the director Mervyn LeRoy that they had been taking turns at playing the role, confident that no one would know. Their mother stated that she could tell them apart when they were awake, but that even she could not tell which was which when they were sleeping – the only major difference between them was that Bobby was right-handed and Billy left-handed, and Billy wore glasses for reading. The pair allegedly shared the next role in which Billy was cast, as a drummer boy befriended by Florence Nightingale (Kay Francis) in the Crimea in William Dieterle's The White Angel (1936). Warners then offered Billy a contract, but their formidable mother told the studio that if one of the boys was a stand-in for the other it would give him an inferiority complex, and that if only Billy were signed, she would take Bobby to a rival studio. The boys were both given performer contracts, with Mrs Mauch hired as their guardian, and when a vehicle was sought to showcase the twins, a prime choice was The Prince and the Pauper, which had last been filmed as a silent starring Marguerite Clark in both the title roles in 1915. The story of two boys, one the son of Henry the Eighth and the other the son of a pickpocket, whose identities are switched, it seemed a shrewd project to release in the year of the Coronation in Britain, since the film concludes with a lavish crowning. Directed by William Keighley, with Errol Flynn top-billed (though his role as a soldier of fortune who befriends the Prince, thinking him an urchin, was secondary to those of the twins), plus a rousing score by Erich Korngold, the result is still considered the finest dramatisation of the Twain tale. Time magazine wrote of the brothers: "Their major assets are energy, lack of precocity and a wholesome distaste for showing off, which prevents them from trying to steal scenes like most of their contemporaries." Initially, one twin was to play all the royal scenes, with the other to play all the guttersnipe scenes, regardless of which character appeared in them, but the boys again switched roles occasionally. Billy was next cast in Penrod and Sam (1937), based on the second of Booth Tarkington's tales of a mischievous lad in the American Midwest in the early 1900s, with Bobby officially Billy's stand-in, but the two boys were teamed in the two "Penrod" adventures that followed, Penrod and his Twin Brother and Penrod's Double Trouble (both 1938). ✕Their last film together, playing twin brothers, was I'll Tell the World (1939). During the Second World War the twins served together in the United States Air Force in the Philippines – the military had a rule that twins could not be separated unless they so requested – and they acted together in Moss Hart's play Winged Victory (1943), produced for the Army Emergency Relief Fund. Watch MoreAfter the war, Billy continued acting, often playing small roles in films directed by old pals from the Warner days – he was in Dieterle's gripping thriller The Accused and William Keighley's crime drama The Street with No Name (both 1948). In his last film, Bedtime for Bonzo (1951) he was the student of a psychology professor (Ronald Reagan) who adopts a chimpanzee. Bobby returned to Warners to work as a make-up assistant, then switched to editing, and for several years worked for Jack Webb's Mark VII productions. Billy eventually returned to Warners as a sound editor. The brothers remained close, and lived near each other in San Fernando Valley, California. Mauch Twins & Mark TwainMonday, May. 03, 1937ARTICLE TOOLSPrintEmailReprints(See front cover) With all the stories in the world to choose from, which story would a shrewd cinema producer pick to coincide with the coronation of a King of England? This was one problem which last year faced Warner Brothers' Associate Executive in Charge of Production Hal Wallis. For a cinema producer, problems never come singly. Another and more difficult riddle for Producer Wallis was this: what were the best roles in which to cast two 12-year-old identical twins who looked so much alike that their mother could scarcely tell them apart? One test of a cinema producer is his ability to solve two problems at the same time. Ready for simultaneous release in 275 U. S. cities last week was Producer Wallis' exceedingly neat finesse of his dilemma: Billy & Bobby Mauch in Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, last made as a silent picture with Marguerite Clark playing both roles in 1915. The Prince and the Pauper starts on the day in 1537 when boy infants are born simultaneously to Henry the VIII in Windsor Palace and to Pickpocket John Canty in Offal Court. Young Prince Edward thrives at the court, under the tutelage of the Duke of Norfolk (Henry Stephenson). Young Tom Canty thrives in the gutter, with Latin lessons from Father Andrew and whackings from his father (Barton MacLane). Prowling about London one day, Tom crawls under a bench outside the castle to take a nap. The Captain of the Guard hauls him out and is giving him a thrashing when Prince Edward comes out of the palace to call his dog. Prince invites pauper indoors to play. They change clothes for a joke, laugh when the mirror shows how much they look alike. Then the Prince runs out again to find his dog. The Captain of the Guard, thinking it is the pauper, resumes his interrupted thrashing, tosses Prince Edward out into the street. In his story, Author Mark Twain set out to show that palaces were not much better than the people in them. At Windsor, young Tom Canty falls under the wing of the bad Earl of Hertford (Claude Rains) who, when he hears Tom's story about how he got into the palace, merely tells King Henry that the Prince is mad. When the old king dies. Hertford plans to execute the Duke of Norfolk and have Tom Canty crowned, with himself as Lord Protector. As things shape up, he seems in a fair way to accomplish it. Another notion of Mark Twain's was that monarchies would do better if kings saw how their subjects lived. In medieval London's alleys, Edward fares not much better than his counterpart in the palace until he encounters a young soldier of fortune named Miles Hendon (Errol Flynn). Hendon feeds him, humors his apparently preposterous notion that he is the King of England, sets out, when the boy is kidnapped, to rescue him from John Canty's gang of thieves. When the rescue entails fighting off the palace guards, sent to kill the young King before he can return to foil the Hertford,plot, Hendon begins to think his young protege's ideas of his own grandeur may not be delusions after all, hurries him back to London. PRINTEMAILREPRINTS SHARE Tweet(2 of 4) Biggest scene in The Prince and the Pauper is naturally the Coronation, for which Warners used their big new Stage 22, too ft. longer than the lot's ordinary 40-ft. stages; a small army of extras, the St. Luke's Choir and six technical advisers. In this scene Tom Canty, already prayed over, sworn and anointed, is about to get the crown when Prince Edward comes scampering up Westminster Abbey's central aisle to present his claims. When Tom Canty corroborates them, the Archbishop of Canterbury agrees to crown Edward if he can tell the whereabouts of the Great Seal of England. Edward does so with some difficulty. When next seen he is on the throne distributing rewards to those who deserve them, passing laws for the improvement of the slum population, and taking waivers on the Earl of Hertford. The Prince and the Pauper is not and does not aim to be screen drama of cosmic import, superspectacle or Hollywood picture-poem. It does aim to be, and is, a frisky, fresh and wholly likable comedy by the best comic writer, for the screen or otherwise, whom the U. S. has yet produced. Directed by William Keighley, acted by Warner Brothers' most high-powered cast since Midsummer Night's Dream, staged by Robert Lord and scored by Erich Korngold, it should amply grace next fortnight's Coronation. It should also grace, if not climax, the careers of two amiable young actors from Peoria, Ill. who, among Hollywood's currently swollen quota of remarkable children, are perhaps the most remarkable. Billy & Bobby Mauch (pronounced mock) are more extraordinary than Shirley Temple because there are two of them. They have an advantage over the Dionnes because they are interchangeable. In The Prince and the Pauper, it is not possible to say which Mauch played which. The original plan was, not to have one play Prince and the other Pauper, but to have Billy play all the palace scenes and Bobby play all the guttersnipe scenes, regardless of which character appeared in them. This plan came to nothing because it suited the Mauch twins' sense of humor to switch from time to time. This was by no means the first trick of the kind they had played. The Mauch brothers got their Hollywood jobs not because they looked alike but because they both look like Fredric March. Producer Wallis, who had been scouring the U. S. for a ten-year-old to play young Anthony in March's Anthony Adverse, found the Mauchs, signed Billy for the part. In Anthony Adverse Bobby Mauch's job was stand-in for his brother. He apparently discharged his duties faithfully. Actually he did nothing of the sort. When the picture was over, he and Billy confessed to Director Mervyn Le Roy that they had switched jobs whenever they felt like it. Neither Director Le Roy nor anyone else knew the difference at the time or in the picture. PRINTEMAILREPRINTS SHARE (3 of 4) Sons of an employe of the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad, the Mauchs were born in 1924. Billy is the older by ten minutes. Their mother, delighted with her product, had them taught to dance before they went to school. By the time they were seven, the little Mauchs were acting on radio and posing for ads in their spare time. Their jobs were comparatively easy because whenever one felt unlike working the other took his place. By the time they got their Warner contract in 1935, the Mauchs had had experience on programs like Lucky Strike. Show Boat and THE MARCH OF TIME. After Anthony Adverse, Bobby Mauch was cast in Penrod & Sam. Again he and Billy took turns acting and. standing-in. When Warners drew up a new contract, Mrs. Mauch refused to let one son perform as stand-in for the other on the ground that it might give him an inferiority complex. When studio executives demurred, Mrs. Mauch threatened to let Warners keep one twin, sign the other with a rival studio. The Mauchs currently have a contract calling for $350 a week apiece, with equal attention and billing guaranteed. Mrs. Mauch gets $150 as their guardian. Until last week, Father Felix Mauch, currently a general agent for the Toledo, Peoria & Western, lived and worked in New York, dashing out West to see his sons on his vacations. Between pictures his sons visited him in the East. Last week, Mr. Mauch, with Bobby and Billy, returned to California for good, where he has now been transferred. The Mauchs travel by train, because they consider that planes are injurious to their father's business. On the screen the Mauchs' main defects are their Midwest accents. Their major assets are energy, lack of precocity and a wholesome distaste for showing off, which prevents them from trying to steal scenes like most of their contemporaries. Off screen, the Mauchs' most apparent assets are good brains. Both are currently well ahead of the average in their lessons. Most serious off-screen defect in the Mauchs is their enthusiasm for capitalizing their similarity of appearance to fool acquaintances. When not practicing this hobby, the Mauchs are easily distinguish able. Billy wears glasses. Contrary to legend, Mrs. Mauch can always tell her sons apart when they are awake. She sometimes makes a mistake when both are asleep. To avoid waking the wrong twin the morning when only one has to go to work early, the Mauch family has worked out a system. The Mauch who has worked late the night before leaves make-up on his arm. Only the clean twin is disturbed next day. Invariable question raised by every cinema fan magazine about every child actor is whether or not the child actor is "unspoiled." Equally invariable is the fan magazine answer: No. Whether or not the Mauchs are unspoiled, time will tell. Tricking people about their identity, however, is by no means the only Mauch peccadillo. Two years ago, when Bobby was sick, the Mauch twins got a chemistry set. With it they have since compounded a mixture of ink and ketchup for making spots on bedspreads; an ink spot remover, for removing the spots; and a rotten egg extract, for harmlessly discommoding din ner guests at the Mauch apartment on Franklin Avenue. When not engaged in chemistry, the Mauchs invent other contrivances. Their most formidable invention was a submarine in which Bobby took the maiden voyage. When the ship failed to rise after a minute, Billy rescued his brother by diving after him. In addition to being inventors, the Mauchs are pugilists, speculators, sportsmen, collectors and litterateurs. As litterateurs, the Mauchs have written several scenarios for themselves and other Warner actors. None has so far been accepted. Their tastes in reading are catholic. Recently Billy Mauch read Alexis Carrel's Man, the Unknown. Last Christmas both were reading Gulliver's Travels. One day Father Mauch, who was paying them a visit, fell asleep on a sofa. They found two spools of thread, wound it around him so that when he woke up he found himself in the same predicament as Gulliver in Lilliput. Mrs. Mauch extricated her husband with a pair of scissors. What will become of the Mauchs, not even their parents dare to guess. Neither wants to be an actor. Currently, Bobby wants to be a civil engineer, Billy a doctor. Past ambitions of the Mauchs were to be baseball players, transport pilots, acrobats, firemen, G-Men. Both intend to go to college. Since even if Warners does not give them new contracts, options on their old one will give them each $900 a week by 1938, they should be able to afford it. Last fortnight the Mauchs were in New York for a holiday. This week they were back in Hollywood, ready to start work on the next Mauch picture—probably an adaptation of Hugh Walpole's book, A Prayer For My Son. William John Mauch (July 6, 1921 – September 29, 2006) and his identical twin brother, Robert Joseph Mauch (July 6, 1921 – October 15, 2007), were child actors in the 1930s. They had starring roles in the 1937 film The Prince and the Pauper, based on the novel of the same name by Mark Twain. Contents1Early life2Career3Personal life4References5External linksEarly lifeBilly and Bobby were born in Peoria, Illinois, to Felix, an employee of the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad and Marguerite Mauch, née Burley.[2] Billy was older than Bobby by ten minutes. They began singing and acting in radio at the age of seven[2] and later appeared in print advertisements before signing a contract with Warner Bros. CareerAfter moving with their mother to Hollywood in 1935, Billy was cast as the young title character in the film Anthony Adverse because he resembled Fredric March,[1][2] who was to play Adverse as an adult. His brother Bobby was his stand-in for the role, but the brothers, whose voice and appearance were almost indistinguishable, later claimed that they had freely alternated who would play the part in the takes.[3] They were cast as lookalikes in The Prince and the Pauper (1937), in which they co-starred with Errol Flynn and Claude Rains, and were each paid $350 per week.[2] The picture earned them the cover story in the May 3, 1937 issue of Time magazine.[4] The twins went on to appear together in three films based on the Penrod stories by Booth Tarkington, but Bobby ended his acting career shortly afterwards. Billy and Bobby both attended Loyola High School in Los Angeles before graduating from the Mar-Ken School for professional children, in Hollywood. During their senior year, they ran jointly for the office of class president under the campaign slogan "Two Heads Are Better than One."[1] In 1943 the brothers appeared in the Broadway play Winged Victory, then saw actual military service together in World War II, stationed in the Pacific.[1][2] After the war, Billy continued to play minor roles in films, the last of which was the comedy Bedtime for Bonzo (1951), which famously starred Ronald Reagan and a chimpanzee. Interested in the technical aspects of movie-making, both brothers eventually found employment in that field. Bobby became a film editor whose work included the 1950s television series Dragnet.[1] In 1950 Billy became a sound editor for Warner Brothers and went on to work on more than 300 films and television shows. He created the sound effects for the car chase in Bullitt and the giant ants in Them!.[5] Personal lifeBilly and his wife Marjorie, who were married 53 years, had one son, William J. Mauch II, named after himself. Billy died, aged 85, in his home in Palatine, Illinois. Bobby Mauch married professional figure skater Georgia "Gigi" Shattuck, whom he first met at the Mar-Ken School in the 1940s,[2] but married in 1971. They had no children. He died, aged 86, at a nursing home in Santa Rosa, California.[1] Bobby Mauch, who played the pauper (or was it the prince?) in the rambunctious 1937 film of Mark Twain’s “Prince and the Pauper” opposite his spitting-image twin brother, Billy, who portrayed the prince (or was it the other way around?), died on Oct. 15 near his home in Santa Rosa, Calif. He was 86. The cause was heart failure, his wife, Georgia, said. Twelve years old, 5 feet tall and 99 pounds apiece, the winsome, blue-eyed Mauch (rhymes with walk) brothers were cast, along with Errol Flynn, in the Warner Brothers talkie version of Twain’s tale of the beggar lad Tom Canty. There had been a silent version in 1915. Tom, the son of a pickpocket, wanders onto the grounds of the Palace of Westminster and meets his stunning look-alike, Prince Edward, son of Henry VIII. As a joke, Tom trades his rags for princely robes, then inadvertently finds himself filling in as royalty while the real prince is kicked and belittled while roaming with knaves and cutthroats through the streets of 16th-century London. Billy Mauch, 10 minutes older than Bobby, was cast by the director, William Keighley, as the prince; Bobby as the pauper. But, as they had before in another movie, the boys sometimes secretly traded roles, tricking the entire cast and crew. Their mother, who had taken them to Hollywood in the early 1930s, could tell them apart, theoretically. But as she told Time magazine, which ran their faces side by side on its cover in November 1937, that was only possible when the boys were awake and Billy was wearing his glasses; or when it was obvious that Bobby was right-handed and Billy left-handed. Rich or poor (both earned $350 a week), the Mauch boys were a hit. In his May 6, 1937, review, The New York Times film critic Frank S. Nugent wrote: “Bobby and Billy justify their twinship completely, not merely by investing the Twain legend of mistaken royal identity with a pleasing degree of credibility, but by playing their roles with such straightforwardness and naturalness that the picture becomes one of the most likable entertainments of the year.” The boys first came to Hollywood’s attention not because of their mirror image, but because they fit the bill of resembling a very young Fredric March in the 1936 film “Anthony Adverse,” about an abandoned child who later wanders the world. Billy was signed to play the preteen Anthony, with Bobby as his stand-in. Later they confessed to the director, Mervyn LeRoy, that they had taken turns playing the role. “I won’t be a stand-in for anybody, not even my brother,” Bobby Mauch told The New York American in August 1936. Robert Joseph and William John Mauch were born in Peoria, Ill., on July 6, 1921. Billy Mauch died last year. The boys’ father was a ticket agent for the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway. Their mother started teaching the boys to dance when they were 3. At 7 they were singing and acting on the radio. In 1935 Mrs. Mauch took them to Hollywood. Editors’ Picks Anna Sui ‘Saturday Night Live’ Takes on the N.F.L.’s Jon Gruden Scandal John Grisham on Judges, Innocence and the Judgments He IgnoresContinue reading the main storyAfter the “Prince and the Pauper,” the twins appeared together in several more films, including “Penrod and His Twin Brother” and “Penrod’s Double Trouble,” sometimes flipping a coin to choose their roles. During World War II they served together in the military in the Pacific, and acted together on Broadway in Moss Hart’s “Winged Victory,” a wartime morale booster starring servicemen. Bobby Mauch later became a film editor in Hollywood. His brother worked at Warner Brothers as a sound editor. In 1971 Bobby Mauch married Georgia Shattuck; she is his only immediate survivor. They first met in high school, at the Mar-Ken School for professional children in Hollywood. Reached at home in Santa Rosa yesterday, Mrs. Mauch recalled how the twins had run, together, for senior class president, with her as their campaign manager. Their winning slogan: “Two Heads Are Better Than One.” William J. MauchSound Effects and Dialogue Editor1921-2006 William J. MauchBorn July 6, 1921 in Peoria, Illinois, longtime motion picture and television sound effects and dialogue editor William John Mauch passed away September 29, 2006 of respiratory failure. Mauch began his show business career singing with his twin brother, Robert, on radio in Peoria. In the early 1930s, they were under contract to CBS and NBC radio in New York with major parts in Let’s Pretend, March of Time and others. They also modeled for General Motors, Ivory Soap and Underwood Typewriters. Then Hollywood beckoned and the brothers starred in The Prince and the Pauper and the Penrod and Sam series. Bill also played Anthony as a boy in Anthony Adverse. Appearing on Broadway in Winged Victory, and later in the film version, Mauch was a freelance actor in Hollywood in the 1940s. He joined Warner Bros. in 1950 as a sound editor, creating many audio effects––among them the famous car chase scene in Bullitt, as well as the sounds of the ants in Them. In 1967, he became a dialogue editor at Warners and in 1976 joined Universal Studios as a dialogue loop editor. Before his retirement in 1986, Mauch had worked on well over 300 films and TV series, the last one being Murder She Wrote. Mauch attended Loyola High School in Los Angeles and Mar-Ken Professional School in Hollywood. He served in the United States 13th Army Air Force in World War II in the Philippines. He was a member of Editors Guild Local 776. He had resided in Palatine, Illinois, near Chicago, with his wife for the past 20 years. For several years beginning in 1987, Mauch volunteered with the Palatine Police Department, reviewing training videotapes, and cataloguing and editing entries. He also volunteered at American Cable Systems Access Studio. Mauch is survived by his loving wife of 53 years, Marjorie; his brother, Robert of Santa Rosa, California; and his son, William of Houston, Texas. A funeral mass was held at St. Mary Church in Kickapoo, Illinois on October 4, 2006 and internment was at Swan Lake Cemetery in Peoria. Billy and Bobby MauchThe Mauch TwinsBorn in Peoria, Illinoison July 6, 1924Billy Mauch in The White Angel #401 The Mauch Twins publicity photo #402 Bobby Mauch publicity photo #408Click on the thumbnails to get a larger image.Billy and Bobby Mauch were identical twins. When Billy was cast in "Anthony Adverse," Bobby was to be his stand-in for unimportant scenes. Once the film was completed, however, the twins revealed to director Mervyn LeRoy that that had taken turns playing the lead role throughout the movie, confident that no one would notice. They are said to have played the same trick during the filming of "The White Angel," where Billy again was cast as the lead. The only noticeable difference between them is that Billy is left-handed, and Bobby is right-handed. The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television, but also to an adult who began their acting career as a child. To avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor. Closely associated is teenage actor or teen actor, an actor who reached popularity as a teenager. Many child actors find themselves struggling to adapt as they become adults, mainly due to typecasting. Macaulay Culkin and Lindsay Lohan are two particular famous child actors who eventually experienced much difficulty with the fame they acquired at a young age. Some child actors do go on to have successful acting careers as adults; notable actors who first gained fame as children include Kurt Russell, Jodie Foster, Christian Bale, Elijah Wood, Natalie Portman, Lacey Chabert, and Scarlett Johansson. Other child actors have gone on to successful careers in other fields, including director Ron Howard, politicians Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński, and singer Jenny Lewis. Contents1Regulation1.1California1.2United Kingdom2Issues2.1Ownership of earnings2.2Competitive pressure3After the childhood success3.1Other careers4See also5References6External linksRegulationIn the United States, the activities of child actors are regulated by the governing labor union, if any, and state laws. Some projects film in distant locations specifically to evade regulations intended to protect the child. Longer work hours or risky stunts prohibited by California, for example, might be permitted to a project filming in British Columbia. US federal law "specifically exempted minors working in the Entertainment Business from all provisions of the Child Labor Laws." Any regulation of child actors is governed by disparate state laws. CaliforniaDue to the large presence of the entertainment industry in Hollywood, the state of California has some of the most explicit laws protecting child actors. Being a minor, a child actor must secure an entertainment work permit before accepting any paid performing work. Compulsory education laws mandate that the education of the child actor not be disrupted while the child is working, whether the child actor is enrolled in public school, private school or even home school. The child does their schoolwork under the supervision of a studio teacher while on the set. United KingdomIn the United Kingdom, a child actor is defined as someone under school leaving age.[1] Before a child can work, they require a performance license from their Local Education Authority as well as a licensed chaperone; a parent can only chaperone their own child, and a chaperone's duties include acting in loco parentis and record arrival and departure time from the work place, the time a child is working, their breaks and the amount of tutoring.[1][2] A child requires three hours minimum of tutoring daily and a lesson must be a minimum of 30 minutes to count towards the total and with regards to 16 and 17-year-olds in further education, considerations are made in regards to their studies.[3] There are regulations and guidance to safeguard all actors under the age of 18; OFCOM guidance states a child's health and safety, wellbeing and welfare is paramount in television production and factors such as their age, maturity and life experiences can affect their performance.[4] OFCOM also advises that broadcasters undertake risk assessments, consider seeking expert advice and follow best practise.[4] IssuesOwnership of earningsBefore the 1930s, many child actors never got to see the money they earned because they were not in charge of this money. Jackie Coogan earned millions of dollars from working as a child actor only to see most of it squandered by his parents. In 1939, California weighed in on this controversy and enacted the Coogan Bill, which requires a portion of the earnings of a child to be preserved in a special savings account called a blocked trust.[5] A trust that is not actively monitored can also be problematic, however, as in the case of Gary Coleman, who after working from 1974, later sued his adoptive parents and former business advisor for $3.8 million over misappropriation of his trust fund.[6][7] Competitive pressureSome people[who?] also criticize the parents of child actors for allowing their children to work, believing that more "normal" activities should be the staple during the childhood years. Others[who?] observe that competition is present in all areas of a child's life—from sports to student newspaper to orchestra and band—and believe that the work ethic instilled or the talent developed accrues to the child's benefit.[citation needed] The child actor may experience unique and negative pressures when working under tight production schedules. Large projects which depend for their success on the ability of the child to deliver an effective performance add to the pressure.[citation needed] Ethel Merman, who several times worked in long-running stage productions with child actors, disliked what she eventually saw as their overprofessionalization—"acting more like midgets than children"—and disapproved of parents pushing adulthood on them.[8] After the childhood success This section possibly contains synthesis of material which does not verifiably mention or relate to the main topic. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. (May 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Jodie Foster in 1974There are many instances of troubled adult lives due to the stressful environment to which child actors are subjected. It is common to see a child actor grow up in front of the camera, whether in films, TV shows or both. However, it is not uncommon to see child actors continue their careers throughout as actors or in a different professional field. Jodie Foster started acting at age 3, becoming the quintessential child actor during the 1970s with roles in films such as Tom Sawyer (1973), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Bugsy Malone (1976), The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976), and Freaky Friday (1976). A child prodigy, Foster received her first Academy Award nomination at age 13 and later took a sabbatical from films to attend Yale University. She made a successful transition to adult roles, winning two Academy Awards for Best Actress before the age of 30, and starring in several successful and acclaimed films such as The Accused (1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Nell (1994), Maverick (1994), Contact (1997), and The Brave One (2007), thus establishing herself as one of the most accomplished and sought-after actresses of her generation. She has also ventured into directing and her directing credits include films such as Little Man Tate (1991), Money Monster (2016) and television shows such as House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black, and Black Mirror. Now adults, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, the three leads of the acclaimed Harry Potter film series (2001–11), starred in every installment in the series, and have since continued to act in film, television, and theater in their early 30s. Dakota Fanning rose to prominence after her breakthrough performance at age 7 in the film I Am Sam (2001). Her performance earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination at age 8 in 2002, making her the youngest nominee in SAG history. She later appeared in major Hollywood productions, in such acclaimed blockbuster films as Man on Fire (2004), War of the Worlds (2005), Charlotte's Web (2006), Hounddog (2007), The Secret Life of Bees (2008), Coraline (2009), The Twilight Saga film series (2009–12), The Runaways (2010), and The Motel Life (2012). Fanning's younger sister, Elle Fanning also rose to prominence as a child actress, having appeared in many films since before she turned 3. Miranda Cosgrove, known mainly for her role on Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh as a child, gained more attention for her role as a teenager in the show iCarly. Since the end of the show she has been featured in other roles, including as the voice of Margo in the Despicable Me franchise. Once she was of age, she decided to pursue a college degree in film at the University of Southern California.[9] Late actress Shirley Temple became a public figure and diplomat, beginning in the 1960s. Some of her duties included representing the United Nations, and becoming a U.S. ambassador in countries such as Ghana and Czechoslovakia.[10] Mary-Kate Olsen was treated for an eating disorder, deemed anorexia, but her twin sister remained less troubled. In an article with the magazine Marie Claire, Mary-Kate expressed the bittersweet nature of the twins' childhood. "I look at old photos of me, and I don't feel connected to them at all," she said. "I would never wish my upbringing on anyone... but I wouldn't take it back for the world." The twins now have continued success in the fashion industry with an estimated net worth of approximately $100 million. Since the beginning of her career at age 15 in 1999, Mandy Moore is one of the child stars to have success as an adult.Drew Barrymore started acting at age 3. During her childhood she battled with drugs, but today she continues to act in films. Natalie Portman took a small break in acting to get a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Harvard University before continuing her career as an actress. Rider Strong, known as "Shawn Hunter" in Boy Meets World, was educated at Columbia University and now runs a successful blog and published a graphic novel.[11] Neil Patrick Harris got his acting start in Doogie Howser, M.D. He continues to act in television, films and theater. Jonathan Lipnicki, known mostly for the Stuart Little films, now successfully competes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.[11] Sara Gilbert is known for her role on Roseanne and later created and served as a co-host for CBS's The Talk. Also from Roseanne, Michael Fishman continued to work in film, but behind the scenes and has since been nominated for an Emmy for the work he did in Sports Science. Both Gilbert and Fishman returned for the later series based on Roseanne, The Conners, with Gilbert also serving as an executive producer and guiding the series through its transition after Roseanne Barr was fired after the tenth season of the revived Roseanne.[11] Kirsten Dunst and Lacey Chabert both made the transition from a child actress to an adult actress with a rough patch including depression. After a stay in a rehabilitation center, Dunst was able to recover and continue her career. She proves that the pressures of growing up under the spotlight may not come without repercussions.[12] Roddy McDowall, who had a long and outstanding career including as the regular star of the Planet of the Apes series; Micky Dolenz, who started his career as a child star in the 1950s, grew up to be a musician of the successful 1960s pop group The Monkees, which had its own successful television show; Ron Howard, who, in addition to being the star of both of the long running The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days television series, became an Academy Award-winning director in adulthood; Elijah Wood, who continued his career successfully into adulthood, starring as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings film series and starring as Ryan Newman in the television series Wilfred. Other careersMany actors' careers are short-lived and this is also true of child actors. Many actors out of personal choice that start their careers as child actors decide not to pursue the same careers as adults, Shirley Temple became a public figure and diplomat. Peter Ostrum, appearing in his only role, the titular character of Charlie Bucket in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory became a large-scale veterinarian surgeon. Whilst Jenny Lewis, formerly of film Troop Beverly Hills in 1989, is a well-known singer-songwriter indie rock musician. In Poland, former child actors and identical twin brothers Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński became successful politicians, at one time Lech being President and Jarosław the Prime Minister. See alsoActing ageChild singerList of child actorsChild labor Worked as child actor with identical twin brother, Bobby Mauch. They are best remembered for their performance in Mark Twain’s “The Prince and the Pauper” which “stole the show” from Errol Flynn, Alan Hale and Claude Rains. Became a sound engineer. From the September 30, 1938 Mar-Ken Journal:•Jackie Morrow, after working in several of the “Penrod” series which starred our new pupils “The Mauch Twins” has also worked in “Boystown.”•YE OLDE TATTLER – – Billy and Bobby Mauch the latest cut-ups of Mar-Ken, wish to know why they were recently called “Confusion” … Maybe Mr. Wilber could tell them. From the October 13, 1938 Mar-Ken Journal:•THINGS WE COULDN’T DO WITHOUT: Mauch Twins – Their giggle.•The Mauch twins are trying very hard to get to school on time lately. Here’s luck to them. From the October 28, 1938 Mar-Ken Journal:Billy Mauch is 10th Grade (Sophomore) Class Vice-President. From the December 16, 1938 Mar-Ken Journal:WHAT THEY ARE DOING FOR CHRISTMAS – Mauch Twins: Roughing in the woodsWHAT THEY WANT FROM SANTA CLAUS – Mauch Twins: Motor for a scooter-bike From the January 24, 1940 Mar-Ken Journal:SNOOPER: What’s the great secret the 12th grade has in store for the high-school. Bill and Bob Mauch, President of the senior grade, stated “Just wait and see, we promise to surprise even ourselves.”Seen stalking one field mouse while hunting were the Mauchs . . Well boys!!! Speaking of the Mauchs, Bob Mauch is reputed to play a spanking good game of Monopoly, so you monopoly fans take heed… From the 1940 Mar-Ken Yearbook, as a Junior:WILLIAM JOHN AND ROBERT MAUCH – – Billy and Bobby to you, were born July 6th in Peoria, Illinois. Billy likes to collect stamps while Bobby enjoys collecting curios. Both of these boys like football, women and the songs “Intermezzo” and “All the Things You Are”. Billy hopes to be a doctor; Bobby wants to do something for mankind for which he shall be remembered. Co-Vice President Junior Class, 1940. From the September 27, 1940 Mar-Ken Journal:SNOOPER: Guest night at the Orpheum might have been called “Mar-Ken Night” one evening last week with the bright array of talent from “ye halls of learnin.” Seen heartily enjoying themselves were Linda Ware, Jackie Moran, Ann Gillis and those men about town the Mauchs. From the October 11, 1940 Mar-Ken Journal:•The Mauch twins rounded out the evenings entertainment with a duet and a song of their own composition at the Mar-Ken Get Acquainted Party given by the school faculty on the evening of September 27.•Seniors – Class Officers Elected: Elected by a large vote, Bill and Bob Mauch have assumed the roll of Senior Class President for the year 1941. From the October 25, 1940 Mar-Ken Journal:•WHO’S WHO: Among the Seniors Are – The Presidents – Bill Mauch. Billy would like to be a doctor. Are you going to specialize in “heart” trouble, Billy? His hobbies are stamp collecting and photography. He’s the other half when you find yourself seeing double.•SENIOR DINNER PARTY: October 11, was the date of the first Senior activity of the term – attended by all members of the graduating class. / Given at the home of June Carlson and sponsored by the 12th grade officers, the evening was highlighted by “Charades” with Bill and Bob Mauch as Captains of competitive teams. / Particularly good pantomimes were provided by Tina Thayer enacting “Birth of a Nation,” “Quality of mercy is not strained” by June Carlson; “To be or not to be,” given by William John Bernard Mauch; “Grand Illusion” acted out by Janice Chambers. / Dancing and a buffet dinner were significant aspects of the festivity. Curfew hour was announced at 12:00 by those members of the faculty who had joined the party. / When interviewed by a reporter, Senior members stated: Bob Mauch – “Swell time”; Mary Alice Dill – “Terrific”; June Carlson – “I had a good time, hope everybody else did too”; David Tillotson – “Bill ate a lot.”•SNOOPER: Badminton games are again THE thing with Mar-Kenites and many students of the Senior class may be found at Jean Gordon’s. Seen at Gordon adobe Monday evening were Ray Dixon, Bill and Jeanne Johnston, June Carlson and the Mauchs. From the November 8, 1940 Mar-Ken Journal:•HALLOWEEN PARTY: … The floor show included tap dancing by Jeanne Johnston, dances by the De Clerq sisters and original songs by Linda Ware and the Mauchs. / The evening was highlighted by a dramatic play entitled “J.W. Rides Again” or “Empty Saddles.” The case included the Mauchs, Jack Moran, and Bill Johnston. The melodrama practically brought down the house!!!•SNOOPER: Viewing the cinema Saturday evening were Mildred Schenk and Bill Mauch. / Such Mar-Ken luminaries as Mary Alice Dill, Bill Johnston, June Carlson, the Machs, and Diana Patterson were seen chasing one very small turkey for the senior Halloween party – – your reporter hears tell fun was had by all but the turkey. From the November 20, 1940 Mar-Ken Journal:THANKSGIVING PLANS: Mauchs – Going hunting!! (What for) From the 1941 Mar-Ken Yearbook, as a Senior:William Mauch. Being a twin presented a very interesting problem when the time came for the election of the Senior officers. Consequently, it all ended with two presidents in one. Bill is one of the two. He works hard for his class and plays hard on activities. All in all, he helps the class have a good time. As means of relaxation, music and photography get his vote. Next year he plans to go to Notre Dame and study for the medical profession.Links to other resources about William John Mauch: How many people can you think of that have appeared on the cover of Time Magazine that are now largely forgotten by the pages of history? I had never heard of the Mauch Twins (pronounced “Mock”,) until I acquired a stash of movie star scrapbooks from an elderly woman in Ohio. She had meticulously cut out articles and pictures of her favorite stars, when she was growing up in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Among her articles were those of Billy and Bobby Mauch, identical twin child actors of that time. I had to know more. Here is their story: Billy and Bobby Mauch were born on July 6, 1921 in Peoria, Illinois. Billy was the older twin by ten minutes. Their father, Felix, worked for the railroad and their mother, Dorothy, a homemaker, was also a twin. She taught the boys songs, and they began to entertain at banquets and radio stations in Peoria, eventually moving to New York. Billy and Bobby auditioned there and were signed for CBS and NBC radio, performing on shows such as “Beauty Box Revue,” “Lucky Strike,” “Show Boat,” and “March of Time.” Besides singing, the twins could also dance and play the piano. In New York the boys attended The Professional Children School. It was their radio work and appearance in the musical comedy, “Mr. Smith,” that brought them to the attention of Warner Brothers. They were on the look-out for a child actor to play a young Frederic March in the movie “Anthony Adverse.” Warner Brothers wanted a boy that resembled Frederic March at a younger age. After auditioning, Warner’s only wanted to sign Billy, but Mrs. Mauch insisted that Bobby be signed also, and Bobby was the stand-in. The twins were very close and devoted to each other. Billy and Bobby were notorious for their practical jokes and switching places constantly, even while filming. Their mother also had trouble telling them apart. She told an interviewer that Bobby wears a ring with a setting, and Billy wears a plain band ring. The interviewer asked how could she be positive that they never swapped rings? She looked worried. When the Mauch Twins moved to Hollywood, they attended the famous Mar-Ken Professional School. Besides, “Anthony Adverse” in 1936, their other big role came in 1937’s “The Prince and the Pauper.” MGM child actor, Freddie Bartholomew, was considered for the double role as MGM had the rights to the film; however, Warner Brothers purchased “The Prince and the Pauper,” from them realizing real twins would be better in the roles and Billy and Bobby Mauch were signed. Critics complained because Errol Flynn (the star of the film) was not in it that much. Between 1937 and 1938, the boys starred in the “Penrod” series of films about a group of Junior G-Men who tried to solve crimes. Bill and Bobby did not want to be film actors when they grew up, they were more interested in behind the scenes. Although, they did some acting separately up until the 1950’s, the Mauch twins also served in the Air Force during World War ll in the Philippines. Billy Mauch eventually became a sound editor at Warner Brothers and Universal and Bobby Mauch became a film editor with work on the TV show, “Dragnet,” among other shows. Billy married Marjorie Barnewolt in 1953 and had a son, William J. Mauch ll; Bobby married Georgia Shattuck in 1971 and had no children. In child actress Sybil Jason’s book, “Five Minutes More,” Sybil recalled a time when she decided to invite a whole list of child stars she worked with at Warner Brothers for her husband’s surprise birthday party in 1979. Sybil invited both Billy and Bobby Mauch, but only Bobby was able to make it. She remembered how Mrs. Mauch (their mother) was surprised that Sybil was the only one who could tell the twins apart. Bobby and Sybil rekindled their friendship. In Sybil Jason’s book, “My Fifteen Minutes,” Bob Mauch quoted, “To be a friend of Sybil Jason you know you have a real friend. She has a sense of humor and a way of knowing how you feel and is willing to help in any way. The years go by but Sybil remains Sybil…a treasure for all who are blessed by her friendship. I know Bill (Mauch) feels the same way.” William “Billy” Mauch died on September 29, 2006 at the age of 85 and is buried Swan Lake Memory Garden in Peoria, Illinois. Robert “Bobby” Mauch died on October 15, 2007 at the age of 86 and was cremated. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),[1] known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was lauded as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced",[2] and William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature".[3] His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884),[4] the latter of which has often been called the "Great American Novel". Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, which later provided the setting for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He served an apprenticeship with a printer and then worked as a typesetter, contributing articles to the newspaper of his older brother Orion Clemens. He later became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion in Nevada. He referred humorously to his lack of success at mining, turning to journalism for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise.[5] His humorous story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" was published in 1865, based on a story that he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, where he had spent some time as a miner. The short story brought international attention and was even translated into French.[6] His wit and satire, in prose and in speech, earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty. Twain earned a great deal of money from his writings and lectures but invested in ventures that lost most of it—such as the Paige Compositor, a mechanical typesetter that failed because of its complexity and imprecision. He filed for bankruptcy in the wake of these financial setbacks, but in time overcame his financial troubles with the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers. He eventually paid all his creditors in full, even though his bankruptcy relieved him of having to do so. Twain was born shortly after an appearance of Halley's Comet, and he predicted that he would "go out with it" as well, dying the day after the comet made its closest approach to Earth. Contents1Biography1.1Early life1.2In the American West1.3Marriage and children1.4Love of science and technology1.5Financial troubles1.6Speaking engagements1.6.1Canadian visits1.7Later life and death2Writing2.1Overview2.2Early journalism and travelogues2.3Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn2.4Later writing2.5Censorship3Views3.1Politics3.1.1Labor3.1.2Imperialism3.1.3Civil rights3.1.4Political parties3.2Religion3.3Vivisection4Pen names5Legacy and depictions6See also7References8Further reading9External links9.1Online editions9.2LibrariesBiographyEarly life Samuel Clemens, age 15Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. He was the sixth of seven children of Jane (née Lampton; 1803–1890), a native of Kentucky, and John Marshall Clemens (1798–1847), a native of Virginia. His parents met when his father moved to Missouri. They were married in 1823.[7][8] Twain was of Cornish, English, and Scots-Irish descent.[9][10][11][12] Only three of his siblings survived childhood: Orion (1825–1897), Pamela (1827–1904), and Henry (1838–1858). His brother Pleasant Hannibal (1828) died at three weeks of age,[13][14] his sister Margaret (1830–1839) when Twain was three, and his brother Benjamin (1832–1842) three years later.[citation needed] When he was four, Twain's family moved to Hannibal, Missouri,[15] a port town on the Mississippi River that inspired the fictional town of St. Petersburg in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.[16] Slavery was legal in Missouri at the time, and it became a theme in these writings. His father was an attorney and judge, who died of pneumonia in 1847, when Twain was 11.[17] The following year, Twain left school after the fifth grade to become a printer's apprentice.[1] In 1851, he began working as a typesetter, contributing articles and humorous sketches to the Hannibal Journal, a newspaper that Orion owned. When he was 18, he left Hannibal and worked as a printer in New York City, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Cincinnati, joining the newly formed International Typographical Union, the printers trade union. He educated himself in public libraries in the evenings, finding wider information than at a conventional school.[18] Twain describes his boyhood in Life on the Mississippi, stating that "there was but one permanent ambition" among his comrades: to be a steamboatman. "Pilot was the grandest position of all. The pilot, even in those days of trivial wages, had a princely salary – from a hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty dollars a month, and no board to pay." As Twain described it, the pilot's prestige exceeded that of the captain. The pilot had to "get up a warm personal acquaintanceship with every old snag and one-limbed cottonwood and every obscure wood pile that ornaments the banks of this river for twelve hundred miles; and more than that, must... actually know where these things are in the dark". Steamboat pilot Horace E. Bixby took Twain on as a cub pilot to teach him the river between New Orleans and St. Louis for $500 (equivalent to $16,000 in 2021), payable out of Twain's first wages after graduating. Twain studied the Mississippi, learning its landmarks, how to navigate its currents effectively, and how to read the river and its constantly shifting channels, reefs, submerged snags, and rocks that would "tear the life out of the strongest vessel that ever floated".[19] It was more than two years before he received his pilot's license. Piloting also gave him his pen name from "mark twain", the leadsman's cry for a measured river depth of two fathoms (12 feet), which was safe water for a steamboat.[20][21] As a young pilot, Clemens served on the steamer A. B. Chambers with Grant Marsh, who became famous for his exploits as a steamboat captain on the Missouri River. The two liked each other, and admired one another, and maintained a correspondence for many years after Clemens left the river.[22] While training, Samuel convinced his younger brother Henry to work with him, and even arranged a post of mud clerk for him on the steamboat Pennsylvania. On June 13, 1858, the steamboat's boiler exploded; Henry succumbed to his wounds on June 21. Twain claimed to have foreseen this death in a dream a month earlier,[23]: 275  which inspired his interest in parapsychology; he was an early member of the Society for Psychical Research.[24] Twain was guilt-stricken and held himself responsible for the rest of his life. He continued to work on the river and was a river pilot until the Civil War broke out in 1861, when traffic was curtailed along the Mississippi River. At the start of hostilities, he enlisted briefly in a local Confederate unit. He later wrote the sketch "The Private History of a Campaign That Failed", describing how he and his friends had been Confederate volunteers for two weeks before disbanding.[25] He then left for Nevada to work for his brother Orion, who was Secretary of the Nevada Territory. Twain describes the episode in his book Roughing It.[26][27]: 147  In the American West Twain, age 31Orion became secretary to Nevada Territory governor James W. Nye in 1861, and Twain joined him when he moved west. The brothers traveled more than two weeks on a stagecoach across the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, visiting the Mormon community in Salt Lake City.[citation needed] Twain's journey ended in the silver-mining town of Virginia City, Nevada, where he became a miner on the Comstock Lode.[25] He failed as a miner and went to work at the Virginia City newspaper Territorial Enterprise,[28] working under a friend, the writer Dan DeQuille. He first used his pen name here on February 3, 1863, when he wrote a humorous travel account titled "Letter From Carson – re: Joe Goodman; party at Gov. Johnson's; music" and signed it "Mark Twain".[29][30] His experiences in the American West inspired Roughing It, written during 1870–71 and published in 1872. His experiences in Angels Camp (in Calaveras County, California) provided material for "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" (1865).[citation needed] Twain moved to San Francisco in 1864, still as a journalist, and met writers such as Bret Harte and Artemus Ward. He may have been romantically involved with the poet Ina Coolbrith.[31] His first success as a writer came when his humorous tall tale "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" was published on November 18, 1865, in the New York weekly The Saturday Press, bringing him national attention. A year later, he traveled to the Sandwich Islands (present-day Hawaii) as a reporter for the Sacramento Union. His letters to the Union were popular and became the basis for his first lectures.[32] In 1867, a local newspaper funded his trip to the Mediterranean aboard the Quaker City, including a tour of Europe and the Middle East. He wrote a collection of travel letters which were later compiled as The Innocents Abroad (1869). It was on this trip that he met fellow passenger Charles Langdon, who showed him a picture of his sister Olivia. Twain later claimed to have fallen in love at first sight.[33] Upon returning to the United States, Twain was offered honorary membership in Yale University's secret society Scroll and Key in 1868.[34] Marriage and children Twain with American Civil War correspondent and author George Alfred Townsend, and David Gray, editor of the rival Buffalo Courier[35] Twain House in Hartford, ConnecticutTwain and Olivia Langdon corresponded throughout 1868. After she rejected his first marriage proposal, they were married in Elmira, New York in February 1870,[32] where he courted her and managed to overcome her father's initial reluctance.[36] She came from a "wealthy but liberal family"; through her, he met abolitionists, "socialists, principled atheists and activists for women's rights and social equality", including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, and utopian socialist writer William Dean Howells,[37] who became a long-time friend. The Clemenses lived in Buffalo, New York, from 1869 to 1871. He owned a stake in the Buffalo Express newspaper and worked as an editor and writer.[38][35] While they were living in Buffalo, their son Langdon died of diphtheria at the age of 19 months. They had three daughters: Susy (1872–1896), Clara (1874–1962),[39] and Jean (1880–1909). The Clemenses formed a friendship with David Gray, who worked as an editor of the rival Buffalo Courier, and his wife Martha. Twain later wrote that the Grays were "'all the solace' he and Livy had during their 'sorrowful and pathetic brief sojourn in Buffalo'", and that Gray's "delicate gift for poetry" was wasted working for a newspaper.[35] In November 1872, Twain was a passenger on the Cunard Line steamship Batavia which rescued the nine surviving crew of the British barque Charles Ward. Twain witnessed the rescue, and wrote to the Royal Humane Society recommending them to honour Batavia's captain and the lifeboat's crew.[40] Starting in 1873, Twain moved his family to Hartford, Connecticut, where he arranged the building of a home next door to Stowe. In the 1870s and 1880s, the family summered at Quarry Farm in Elmira, the home of Olivia's sister, Susan Crane.[41][42] In 1874,[41] Susan had a study built apart from the main house so that Twain would have a quiet place in which to write. Also, he smoked cigars constantly, and Susan did not want him to do so in her house.[citation needed] Twain wrote many of his classic novels during his 17 years in Hartford (1874–1891) and over 20 summers at Quarry Farm. They include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), The Prince and the Pauper (1881), Life on the Mississippi (1883), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889).[citation needed] The couple's marriage lasted 34 years until Olivia's death in 1904. All of the Clemens family are buried in Elmira's Woodlawn Cemetery.[citation needed] Love of science and technology Twain in the laboratory of Nikola Tesla, early 1894Twain was fascinated with science and scientific inquiry. He developed a close and lasting friendship with Nikola Tesla, and the two spent much time together in Tesla's laboratory.[citation needed] Twain patented three inventions, including an "Improvement in Adjustable and Detachable Straps for Garments" (to replace suspenders) and a history trivia game.[43][44] Most commercially successful was a self-pasting scrapbook; a dried adhesive on the pages needed only to be moistened before use.[43] Over 25,000 were sold.[43] Twain was an early proponent of fingerprinting as a forensic technique, featuring it in a tall tale in Life on the Mississippi (1883) and as a central plot element in the novel Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894).[citation needed] Twain's novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) features a time traveler from the contemporary U.S., using his knowledge of science to introduce modern technology to Arthurian England. This type of historical manipulation became a trope of speculative fiction as alternate histories.[citation needed] In 1909, Thomas Edison visited Twain at Stormfield, his home in Redding, Connecticut and filmed him. Part of the footage was used in The Prince and the Pauper (1909), a two-reel short film. It is the only known existing film footage of Twain.[45] Financial troublesTwain made a substantial amount of money through his writing, but he lost a great deal through investments. He invested mostly in new inventions and technology, particularly the Paige typesetting machine. It was a beautifully engineered mechanical marvel that amazed viewers when it worked, but it was prone to breakdowns. Twain spent $300,000 (equal to $9,000,000 in 2022 [46]) on it between 1880 and 1894,[47] but before it could be perfected it was rendered obsolete by the Linotype. He lost the bulk of his book profits, as well as a substantial portion of his wife's inheritance.[48] Twain also lost money through his publishing house, Charles L. Webster and Company, which enjoyed initial success selling the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant but failed soon afterward, losing money on a biography of Pope Leo XIII. Fewer than 200 copies were sold.[48] Twain and his family closed down their expensive Hartford home in response to the dwindling income and moved to Europe in June 1891. William M. Laffan of The New York Sun and the McClure Newspaper Syndicate offered him the publication of a series of six European letters. Twain, Olivia, and their daughter Susy were all faced with health problems, and they believed that it would be of benefit to visit European baths.[49]: 175  The family stayed mainly in France, Germany, and Italy until May 1895, with longer spells at Berlin (winter 1891–92), Florence (fall and winter 1892–93), and Paris (winters and springs 1893-94 and 1894–95). During that period, Twain returned four times to New York due to his enduring business troubles. He rented "a cheap room" in September 1893 at $1.50 per day (equivalent to $45 in 2021) at The Players Club, which he had to keep until March 1894; meanwhile, he became "the Belle of New York," in the words of biographer Albert Bigelow Paine.[49]: 176–190  Twain's writings and lectures enabled him to recover financially, combined with the help of his friend, Henry Huttleston Rogers.[50] In 1893 he began a friendship with the financier, a principal of Standard Oil, that lasted the remainder of his life. Rogers first made him file for bankruptcy in April 1894, then had him transfer the copyrights on his written works to his wife to prevent creditors from gaining possession of them. Finally, Rogers took absolute charge of Twain's money until all his creditors were paid.[49]: 188  Twain accepted an offer from Robert Sparrow Smythe[51] and embarked on a year-long around-the-world lecture tour in July 1895[52] to pay off his creditors in full, although he was no longer under any legal obligation to do so.[53] It was a long, arduous journey, and he was sick much of the time, mostly from a cold and a carbuncle. The first part of the itinerary took him across northern America to British Columbia, Canada, until the second half of August. For the second part, he sailed across the Pacific Ocean. His scheduled lecture in Honolulu, Hawaii, had to be canceled due to a cholera epidemic.[49]: 188 [54] Twain went on to Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India, Mauritius, and South Africa. His three months in India became the centerpiece of his 712-page book Following the Equator. In the second half of July 1896, he sailed back to England, completing his circumnavigation of the world begun 14 months before.[49]: 188  Twain and his family spent four more years in Europe, mainly in England and Austria (October 1897 to May 1899), with longer spells in London and Vienna. Clara had wished to study the piano under Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna.[49]: 192–211  However, Jean's health did not benefit from consulting with specialists in Vienna, the "City of Doctors".[55] The family moved to London in spring 1899, following a lead by Poultney Bigelow, who had a good experience being treated by Dr. Jonas Henrik Kellgren, a Swedish osteopathic practitioner in Belgravia. They were persuaded to spend the summer at Kellgren's sanatorium by the lake in the Swedish village of Sanna. Coming back in fall, they continued the treatment in London, until Twain was convinced by lengthy inquiries in America that similar osteopathic expertise was available there.[56] In mid-1900, he was the guest of newspaper proprietor Hugh Gilzean-Reid at Dollis Hill House, located on the north side of London. Twain wrote that he had "never seen any place that was so satisfactorily situated, with its noble trees and stretch of country, and everything that went to make life delightful, and all within a biscuit's throw of the metropolis of the world."[57] He then returned to America in October 1900, having earned enough to pay off his debts. In winter 1900/01, he became his country's most prominent opponent of imperialism, raising the issue in his speeches, interviews, and writings. In January 1901, he began serving as vice-president of the Anti-Imperialist League of New York.[58] Speaking engagements Plaque on Sydney Writers Walk commemorating the visit of Twain in 1895Twain was in great demand as a featured speaker, performing solo humorous talks similar to modern stand-up comedy.[59] He gave paid talks to many men's clubs, including the Authors' Club, Beefsteak Club, Vagabonds, White Friars, and Monday Evening Club of Hartford.[citation needed] In the late 1890s, he spoke to the Savage Club in London and was elected an honorary member. He was told that only three men had been so honored, including the Prince of Wales, and he replied: "Well, it must make the Prince feel mighty fine."[49]: 197  He visited Melbourne and Sydney in 1895 as part of a world lecture tour. In 1897, he spoke to the Concordia Press Club in Vienna as a special guest, following the diplomat Charlemagne Tower, Jr. He delivered the speech "Die Schrecken der Deutschen Sprache" ("The Horrors of the German Language")—in German—to the great amusement of the audience.[27]: 50  In 1901, he was invited to speak at Princeton University's Cliosophic Literary Society, where he was made an honorary member.[60] Canadian visitsIn 1881, Twain was honored at a banquet in Montreal, Canada where he made reference to securing a copyright.[61] In 1883, he paid a brief visit to Ottawa,[62] and he visited Toronto twice in 1884 and 1885 on a reading tour with George Washington Cable, known as the "Twins of Genius" tour.[62][63][64] The reason for the Toronto visits was to secure Canadian and British copyrights for his upcoming book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,[62][64] to which he had alluded in his Montreal visit. The reason for the Ottawa visit had been to secure Canadian and British copyrights for Life on the Mississippi.[62] Publishers in Toronto had printed unauthorized editions of his books at the time, before an international copyright agreement was established in 1891.[62] These were sold in the United States as well as in Canada, depriving him of royalties. He estimated that Belford Brothers' edition of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer alone had cost him ten thousand dollars (equivalent to $300,000 in 2021).[62] He had unsuccessfully attempted to secure the rights for The Prince and the Pauper in 1881, in conjunction with his Montreal trip.[62] Eventually, he received legal advice to register a copyright in Canada (for both Canada and Britain) prior to publishing in the United States, which would restrain the Canadian publishers from printing a version when the American edition was published.[62][64] There was a requirement that a copyright be registered to a Canadian resident; he addressed this by his short visits to the country.[62][64] Later life and deathThe report of my death was an exaggeration.— Twain[65][66]Twain lived in his later years at 14 West 10th Street in Manhattan.[67] He passed through a period of deep depression which began in 1896 when his daughter Susy died of meningitis. Olivia's death in 1904 and Jean's on December 24, 1909, deepened his gloom.[1] On May 20, 1909, his close friend Henry Rogers died suddenly.[68] In April 1906, he heard that his friend Ina Coolbrith had lost nearly all that she owned in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and he volunteered a few autographed portrait photographs to be sold for her benefit. To further aid Coolbrith, George Wharton James visited Twain in New York and arranged for a new portrait session. He was resistant initially, but he eventually admitted that four of the resulting images were the finest ones ever taken of him.[69] In September, Twain started publishing chapters from his autobiography in the North American Review.[70] The same year, Charlotte Teller, a writer living with her grandmother at 3 Fifth Avenue, began an acquaintanceship with him which "lasted several years and may have included romantic intentions" on his part.[71] Twain photographed in 1908 via the Autochrome Lumiere processIn 1906 Twain formed the Angel Fish and Aquarium Club, for girls whom he viewed as surrogate granddaughters. Its dozen or so members ranged in age from 10 to 16. He exchanged letters with his "Angel Fish" girls and invited them to concerts and the theatre and to play games. Twain wrote in 1908 that the club was his "life's chief delight".[27]: 28  In 1907, he met Dorothy Quick (aged 11) on a transatlantic crossing, beginning "a friendship that was to last until the very day of his death".[72] Twain in academic regalia for acceptance of the D.Litt. degree awarded him by Oxford UniversityTwain was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) by Yale University in 1901. Then in 1902, the Doctor of Law by the University of Missouri, Oxford University would also award him the Doctorate of Law in 1907.[73]: 52 : 58  Twain was born two weeks after Halley's Comet's closest approach in 1835; he said in 1909:[49] I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: "Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together". Twain's prediction was eerily accurate; he died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910, in Stormfield, one day after the comet's closest approach to Earth.[74] Twain and his wife are buried side by side in Elmira's Woodlawn CemeteryUpon hearing of Twain's death, President William Howard Taft said:[75][76] Mark Twain gave pleasure – real intellectual enjoyment – to millions, and his works will continue to give such pleasure to millions yet to come … His humor was American, but he was nearly as much appreciated by Englishmen and people of other countries as by his own countrymen. He has made an enduring part of American literature. Twain's funeral was at the Brick Presbyterian Church on Fifth Avenue, New York.[77] He is buried in his wife's family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York. The Langdon family plot is marked by a 12-foot monument (two fathoms, or "mark twain") placed there by his surviving daughter Clara.[78] There is also a smaller headstone. He expressed a preference for cremation (for example, in Life on the Mississippi), but he acknowledged that his surviving family would have the last word. Officials in Connecticut and New York estimated the value of Twain's estate at $471,000 ($10,000,000 in 2020).[79] WritingOverviewTwain began his career writing light, humorous verse, but he became a chronicler of the vanities, hypocrisies, and murderous acts of mankind. At mid-career, he combined rich humor, sturdy narrative, and social criticism in Huckleberry Finn. He was a master of rendering colloquial speech and helped to create and popularize a distinctive American literature built on American themes and language. Many of his works have been suppressed at times for various reasons. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been repeatedly restricted in American high schools, not least for its frequent use of the word "nigger",[80] which was in common usage in the pre-Civil War period in which the novel was set. A complete bibliography of Twain's works is nearly impossible to compile because of the vast number of pieces he wrote (often in obscure newspapers) and his use of several different pen names. Additionally, a large portion of his speeches and lectures have been lost or were not recorded; thus, the compilation of Twain's works is an ongoing process. Researchers rediscovered published material as recently as 1995 and 2015.[48][81] Early journalism and traveloguesTwain was writing for the Virginia City newspaper the Territorial Enterprise in 1863 when he met lawyer Tom Fitch, editor of the competing newspaper Virginia Daily Union and known as the "silver-tongued orator of the Pacific".[82]: 51  He credited Fitch with giving him his "first really profitable lesson" in writing. "When I first began to lecture, and in my earlier writings," Twain later commented, "my sole idea was to make comic capital out of everything I saw and heard."[83] In 1866, he presented his lecture on the Sandwich Islands to a crowd in Washoe City, Nevada.[84] Afterwards, Fitch told him: Clemens, your lecture was magnificent. It was eloquent, moving, sincere. Never in my entire life have I listened to such a magnificent piece of descriptive narration. But you committed one unpardonable sin – the unpardonable sin. It is a sin you must never commit again. You closed a most eloquent description, by which you had keyed your audience up to a pitch of the intensest interest, with a piece of atrocious anti-climax which nullified all the really fine effect you had produced.[85] Cabin where Twain wrote "Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", Jackass Hill, Tuolumne County. Click on historical marker and interior view.It was in these days that Twain became a writer of the Sagebrush School; he was known later as its most famous member.[86] His first important work was "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," published in the New York Saturday Press on November 18, 1865. After a burst of popularity, the Sacramento Union commissioned him to write letters about his travel experiences. The first journey that he took for this job was to ride the steamer Ajax on its maiden voyage to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). All the while, he was writing letters to the newspaper that were meant for publishing, chronicling his experiences with humor. These letters proved to be the genesis to his work with the San Francisco Alta California newspaper, which designated him a traveling correspondent for a trip from San Francisco to New York City via the Panama isthmus. On June 8, 1867, he set sail on the pleasure cruiser Quaker City for five months, and this trip resulted in The Innocents Abroad or The New Pilgrims' Progress. In 1872, he published his second piece of travel literature, Roughing It, as an account of his journey from Missouri to Nevada, his subsequent life in the American West, and his visit to Hawaii. The book lampoons American and Western society in the same way that Innocents critiqued the various countries of Europe and the Middle East. His next work was The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, his first attempt at writing a novel. The book, written with his neighbor Charles Dudley Warner, is also his only collaboration. Twain's next work drew on his experiences on the Mississippi River. Old Times on the Mississippi was a series of sketches published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1875 featuring his disillusionment with Romanticism.[87] Old Times eventually became the starting point for Life on the Mississippi. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Mark Twain" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)Twain's next major publication was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which draws on his youth in Hannibal. Tom Sawyer was modeled on Twain as a child, with traces of schoolmates John Briggs and Will Bowen.[citation needed] The book also introduces Huckleberry Finn in a supporting role, based on Twain's boyhood friend Tom Blankenship. The Prince and the Pauper was not as well received, despite a storyline that is common in film and literature today. The book tells the story of two boys born on the same day who are physically identical, acting as a social commentary as the prince and pauper switch places. Twain had started Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (which he consistently had problems completing)[88] and had completed his travel book A Tramp Abroad, which describes his travels through central and southern Europe. Twain's next major published work was the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which confirmed him as a noteworthy American writer. Some have called it the first Great American Novel, and the book has become required reading in many schools throughout the United States. Huckleberry Finn was an offshoot from Tom Sawyer and had a more serious tone than its predecessor. Four hundred manuscript pages were written in mid-1876, right after the publication of Tom Sawyer. The last fifth of Huckleberry Finn is subject to much controversy. Some say that Twain experienced a "failure of nerve," as critic Leo Marx puts it. Ernest Hemingway once said of Huckleberry Finn: If you read it, you must stop where the Nigger Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating. Hemingway also wrote in the same essay: All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.[89] Near the completion of Huckleberry Finn, Twain wrote Life on the Mississippi, which is said to have heavily influenced the novel.[48] The travel work recounts Twain's memories and new experiences after a 22-year absence from the Mississippi River. In it, he also explains that "Mark Twain" was the call made when the boat was in safe water, indicating a depth of two (or twain) fathoms (12 feet or 3.7 metres). The McDowell's cave—now known as Mark Twain Cave in Hannibal, Missouri, and frequently mentioned in Twain's book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer—has "Sam Clemens", Twain's real name, engraved on the wall by Twain himself.[90] Later writingTwain produced President Ulysses S. Grant's Memoirs through his fledgling publishing house, Charles L. Webster & Company, which he co-owned with Charles L. Webster, his nephew by marriage.[91] At this time he also wrote "The Private History of a Campaign That Failed" for The Century Magazine.[92] This piece detailed his two-week stint in a Confederate militia during the Civil War. He next focused on A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, written with the same historical fiction style as The Prince and the Pauper. A Connecticut Yankee showed the absurdities of political and social norms by setting them in the court of King Arthur. The book was started in December 1885, then shelved a few months later until the summer of 1887, and eventually finished in the spring of 1889.[citation needed] His next large-scale work was Pudd'nhead Wilson, which he wrote rapidly, as he was desperately trying to stave off bankruptcy. From November 12 to December 14, 1893, Twain wrote 60,000 words for the novel.[48] Critics[who?] have pointed to this rushed completion as the cause of the novel's rough organization and constant disruption of the plot. This novel also contains the tale of two boys born on the same day who switch positions in life, like The Prince and the Pauper. It was first published serially in Century Magazine and, when it was finally published in book form, Pudd'nhead Wilson appeared as the main title; however, the "subtitles" make the entire title read: The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson and the Comedy of The Extraordinary Twins.[48] Twain's next venture was a work of straight fiction that he called Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc and dedicated to his wife. He had long said[where?] that this was the work that he was most proud of, despite the criticism that he received for it. The book had been a dream of his since childhood, and he claimed that he had found a manuscript detailing the life of Joan of Arc when he was an adolescent.[48] This was another piece that he was convinced would save his publishing company. His financial adviser Henry Huttleston Rogers quashed that idea and got Twain out of that business altogether, but the book was published nonetheless.[citation needed] To pay the bills and keep his business projects afloat, Twain had begun to write articles and commentary furiously, with diminishing returns, but it was not enough. He filed for bankruptcy in 1894. During this time of dire financial straits, he published several literary reviews in newspapers to help make ends meet. He famously derided James Fenimore Cooper in his article detailing Cooper's "Literary Offenses". He became an extremely outspoken critic of other authors and other critics; he suggested that, before praising Cooper's work, Thomas Lounsbury, Brander Matthews, and Wilkie Collins "ought to have read some of it".[93] George Eliot, Jane Austen, and Robert Louis Stevenson also fell under Twain's attack during this time period, beginning around 1890 and continuing until his death.[94] He outlines what he considers to be "quality writing" in several letters and essays, in addition to providing a source for the "tooth and claw" style of literary criticism. He places emphasis on concision, utility of word choice, and realism; he complains, for example, that Cooper's Deerslayer purports to be realistic but has several shortcomings. Ironically, several of his own works were later criticized for lack of continuity (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) and organization (Pudd'nhead Wilson). Twain's wife died in 1904 while the couple were staying at the Villa di Quarto in Florence. After some time had passed he published some works that his wife, his de facto editor and censor throughout her married life, had looked down upon. The Mysterious Stranger is perhaps the best known, depicting various visits of Satan to earth. This particular work was not published in Twain's lifetime. His manuscripts included three versions, written between 1897 and 1905: the so-called Hannibal, Eseldorf, and Print Shop versions. The resulting confusion led to extensive publication of a jumbled version, and only recently have the original versions become available as Twain wrote them. Twain's last work was his autobiography, which he dictated and thought would be most entertaining if he went off on whims and tangents in non-chronological order. Some archivists and compilers have rearranged the biography into a more conventional form, thereby eliminating some of Twain's humor and the flow of the book. The first volume of the autobiography, over 736 pages, was published by the University of California in November 2010, 100 years after his death, as Twain wished.[95][96] It soon became an unexpected best-seller,[97] making Twain one of a very few authors publishing new best-selling volumes in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. CensorshipTwain's works have been subjected to censorship efforts. According to Stuart (2013), "Leading these banning campaigns, generally, were religious organizations or individuals in positions of influence – not so much working librarians, who had been instilled with that American "library spirit" which honored intellectual freedom (within bounds of course)". In 1905, the Brooklyn Public Library banned both The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer from the children's department because of their language.[98] ViewsTwain's views became more radical as he grew older. In a letter to friend and fellow writer William Dean Howells in 1887, he acknowledged that his views had changed and developed over his lifetime, referring to one of his favorite works: When I finished Carlyle's French Revolution in 1871, I was a Girondin; every time I have read it since, I have read it differently – being influenced and changed, little by little, by life and environment ... and now I lay the book down once more, and recognize that I am a Sansculotte! And not a pale, characterless Sansculotte, but a Marat.[99][100] PoliticsTwain was a staunch supporter of technological progress and commerce. He was against welfare measures, because he believed that society in the "business age" is governed by "exact and constant" laws that should not be "interfered with for the accommodation of any individual or political or religious faction".[101] He opined that "there is no good government at all & none possible".[101] According to Washington University professor Guy A. Cardwell: By present standards Mark Twain was more conservative than liberal. He believed strongly in laissez faire, thought personal political rights secondary to property rights, admired self-made plutocrats, and advocated a leadership to be composed of men of wealth and brains. Among his attitudes now more readily recognized as liberal were a faith in progress through technology and a hostility towards monarchy, inherited aristocracy, the Roman Catholic church, and, in his later years, imperialism.[102] LaborTwain wrote glowingly about unions in the river boating industry in Life on the Mississippi, which was read in union halls decades later.[103] He supported the labor movement, especially one of the most important unions, the Knights of Labor.[37] In a speech to them, he said: Who are the oppressors? The few: the King, the capitalist, and a handful of other overseers and superintendents. Who are the oppressed? The many: the nations of the earth; the valuable personages; the workers; they that make the bread that the soft-handed and idle eat.[104] ImperialismBefore 1899, Twain was an ardent imperialist. In the late 1860s and early 1870s, he spoke out strongly in favor of American interests in the Hawaiian Islands.[105] He said the war with Spain in 1898 was "the worthiest" war ever fought.[106] In 1899, however, he reversed course. In the New York Herald, October 16, 1900, Twain describes his transformation and political awakening, in the context of the Philippine–American War, to anti-imperialism: I wanted the American eagle to go screaming into the Pacific ... Why not spread its wings over the Philippines, I asked myself? ... I said to myself, Here are a people who have suffered for three centuries. We can make them as free as ourselves, give them a government and country of their own, put a miniature of the American Constitution afloat in the Pacific, start a brand new republic to take its place among the free nations of the world. It seemed to me a great task to which we had addressed ourselves. But I have thought some more, since then, and I have read carefully the treaty of Paris (which ended the Spanish–American War), and I have seen that we do not intend to free, but to subjugate the people of the Philippines. We have gone there to conquer, not to redeem. It should, it seems to me, be our pleasure and duty to make those people free, and let them deal with their own domestic questions in their own way. And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.[107][108] During the Boxer Rebellion, Twain said that "the Boxer is a patriot. He loves his country better than he does the countries of other people. I wish him success."[109] From 1901, soon after his return from Europe, until his death in 1910, Twain was vice-president of the American Anti-Imperialist League,[110] which opposed the annexation of the Philippines by the United States and had "tens of thousands of members".[37] He wrote many political pamphlets for the organization. The Incident in the Philippines, posthumously published in 1924, was in response to the Moro Crater Massacre, in which six hundred Moros were killed.[111] Many of his neglected and previously uncollected writings on anti-imperialism appeared for the first time in book form in 1992.[110] Twain was critical of imperialism in other countries as well. In Following the Equator, Twain expresses "hatred and condemnation of imperialism of all stripes".[37] He was highly critical of European imperialists such as Cecil Rhodes and King Leopold II of Belgium, both of whom attempted to establish colonies on the African continent during the Scramble for Africa.[37] King Leopold's Soliloquy is a political satire about his private colony, the Congo Free State. Reports of outrageous exploitation and grotesque abuses led to widespread international outcry in the early 1900s, arguably the first large-scale human rights movement. In the soliloquy, the King argues that bringing Christianity to the colony outweighs "a little starvation". The abuses against Congolese forced laborers continued until the movement forced the Belgian government to take direct control of the colony.[112][113] During the Philippine–American War, Twain wrote a short pacifist story titled The War Prayer, which makes the point that humanism and Christianity's preaching of love are incompatible with the conduct of war. It was submitted to Harper's Bazaar for publication, but on March 22, 1905, the magazine rejected the story as "not quite suited to a woman's magazine". Eight days later, Twain wrote to his friend Daniel Carter Beard, to whom he had read the story, "I don't think the prayer will be published in my time. None but the dead are permitted to tell the truth." Because he had an exclusive contract with Harper & Brothers, Twain could not publish The War Prayer elsewhere; it remained unpublished until 1916.[114] It was republished in the 1960s as campaigning material by anti-war activists.[37] Twain acknowledged that he had originally sympathized with the more moderate Girondins of the French Revolution and then shifted his sympathies to the more radical Sansculottes, indeed identifying himself as "a Marat" and writing that the Reign of Terror paled in comparison to the older terrors that preceded it.[115] Twain supported the revolutionaries in Russia against the reformists, arguing that the Tsar must be got rid of by violent means, because peaceful ones would not work.[116] He summed up his views of revolutions in the following statement: I am said to be a revolutionist in my sympathies, by birth, by breeding and by principle. I am always on the side of the revolutionists, because there never was a revolution unless there were some oppressive and intolerable conditions against which to revolute.[117] Civil rightsTwain was an adamant supporter of the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of slaves, even going so far as to say, "Lincoln's Proclamation ... not only set the black slaves free, but set the white man free also".[118] He argued that non-whites did not receive justice in the United States, once saying, "I have seen Chinamen abused and maltreated in all the mean, cowardly ways possible to the invention of a degraded nature ... but I never saw a Chinaman righted in a court of justice for wrongs thus done to him".[119] He paid for at least one black person to attend Yale Law School and for another black person to attend a southern university to become a minister.[120] Twain's forward-thinking views on race were not reflected in his early writings on American Indians. Of them, Twain wrote in 1870:His heart is a cesspool of falsehood, of treachery, and of low and devilish instincts. With him, gratitude is an unknown emotion; and when one does him a kindness, it is safest to keep the face toward him, lest the reward be an arrow in the back. To accept of a favor from him is to assume a debt which you can never repay to his satisfaction, though you bankrupt yourself trying. The scum of the earth![121] As counterpoint, Twain's essay on "The Literary Offenses of Fenimore Cooper" offers a much kinder view of Indians.[93] "No, other Indians would have noticed these things, but Cooper's Indians never notice anything. Cooper thinks they are marvelous creatures for noticing, but he was almost always in error about his Indians. There was seldom a sane one among them."[122] In his later travelogue Following the Equator (1897), Twain observes that in colonized lands all over the world, "savages" have always been wronged by "whites" in the most merciless ways, such as "robbery, humiliation, and slow, slow murder, through poverty and the white man's whiskey"; his conclusion is that "there are many humorous things in this world; among them the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages".[123] In an expression that captures his East Indian experiences, he wrote, "So far as I am able to judge nothing has been left undone, either by man or Nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Where every prospect pleases, and only man is vile."[124] Twain was also a supporter of women's suffrage, as evidenced by his "Votes for Women" speech, given in 1901.[125] Helen Keller benefited from Twain's support as she pursued her college education and publishing despite her disabilities and financial limitations. The two were friends for roughly 16 years.[126] Through Twain's efforts, the Connecticut legislature voted a pension for Prudence Crandall, since 1995 Connecticut's official heroine, for her efforts towards the education of young African-American women in Connecticut. Twain also offered to purchase for her use her former house in Canterbury, home of the Canterbury Female Boarding School, but she declined.[127]: 528  Political partiesTwain was a Republican for most of his life. However, in 1884 he publicly broke with his party and joined the Mugwumps to support the Democratic nominee, Grover Cleveland, over the Republican nominee, James G. Blaine, whom he considered a corrupt politician.[128] Twain spoke at rallies in favor of Cleveland. In the early 20th century, he began decrying both Democrats and Republicans as "insane" and proposed, in his 1907 book Christian Science, that while each party recognized the other’s insanity, only the Mugwumps (that is, those who eschewed party loyalties in favor of voting for “the best man”) could perceive the overall madness linking the two.[128] ReligionSee also: Twain–Ament indemnities controversyTwain was a Presbyterian.[129] He was critical of organized religion and certain elements of Christianity through his later life. He wrote, for example, "Faith is believing what you know ain't so", and "If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be – a Christian".[130] With anti-Catholic sentiment rampant in 19th century America, Twain noted he was "educated to enmity toward everything that is Catholic".[131] As an adult, he engaged in religious discussions and attended services, his theology developing as he wrestled with the deaths of loved ones and with his own mortality.[132] Twain generally avoided publishing his most controversial[133] opinions on religion in his lifetime, and they are known from essays and stories that were published later. In the essay Three Statements of the Eighties in the 1880s, Twain stated that he believed in an almighty God, but not in any messages, revelations, holy scriptures such as the Bible, Providence, or retribution in the afterlife. He did state that "the goodness, the justice, and the mercy of God are manifested in His works", but also that "the universe is governed by strict and immutable laws", which determine "small matters", such as who dies in a pestilence.[134] At other times, he plainly professed a belief in Providence.[135] In some later writings in the 1890s, he was less optimistic about the goodness of God, observing that "if our Maker is all-powerful for good or evil, He is not in His right mind". At other times, he conjectured sardonically that perhaps God had created the world with all its tortures for some purpose of His own, but was otherwise indifferent to humanity, which was too petty and insignificant to deserve His attention anyway.[136] In 1901, Twain criticized the actions of the missionary Dr. William Scott Ament (1851–1909) because Ament and other missionaries had collected indemnities from Chinese subjects in the aftermath of the Boxer Uprising of 1900. Twain's response to hearing of Ament's methods was published in the North American Review in February 1901: To the Person Sitting in Darkness, and deals with examples of imperialism in China, South Africa, and with the U.S. occupation of the Philippines.[137] A subsequent article, "To My Missionary Critics" published in The North American Review in April 1901, unapologetically continues his attack, but with the focus shifted from Ament to his missionary superiors, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.[138] After his death, Twain's family suppressed some of his work that was especially irreverent toward conventional religion, including Letters from the Earth, which was not published until his daughter Clara reversed her position in 1962 in response to Soviet propaganda about the withholding.[139] The anti-religious The Mysterious Stranger was published in 1916. Little Bessie, a story ridiculing Christianity, was first published in the 1972 collection Mark Twain's Fables of Man.[140] He raised money to build a Presbyterian Church in Nevada in 1864.[141] Twain created a reverent portrayal of Joan of Arc, a subject over which he had obsessed for forty years, studied for a dozen years and spent two years writing about.[142] In 1900 and again in 1908 he stated, "I like Joan of Arc best of all my books, it is the best".[142][143] Those who knew Twain well late in life recount that he dwelt on the subject of the afterlife, his daughter Clara saying: "Sometimes he believed death ended everything, but most of the time he felt sure of a life beyond."[144] Twain's frankest views on religion appeared in his final work Autobiography of Mark Twain, the publication of which started in November 2010, 100 years after his death. In it, he said:[145]There is one notable thing about our Christianity: bad, bloody, merciless, money-grabbing, and predatory as it is – in our country particularly and in all other Christian countries in a somewhat modified degree – it is still a hundred times better than the Christianity of the Bible, with its prodigious crime – the invention of Hell. Measured by our Christianity of to-day, bad as it is, hypocritical as it is, empty and hollow as it is, neither the Deity nor his Son is a Christian, nor qualified for that moderately high place. Ours is a terrible religion. The fleets of the world could swim in spacious comfort in the innocent blood it has spilled. Twain was a Freemason.[146][147] He belonged to Polar Star Lodge No. 79 A.F.&A.M., based in St. Louis. He was initiated an Entered Apprentice on May 22, 1861, passed to the degree of Fellow Craft on June 12, and raised to the degree of Master Mason on July 10. Twain visited Salt Lake City for two days and met there members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They also gave him a Book of Mormon.[148] He later wrote in Roughing It about that book:[149][150]The book seems to be merely a prosy detail of imaginary history, with the Old Testament for a model; followed by a tedious plagiarism of the New Testament. VivisectionTwain was opposed to the vivisection practices of his day. His objection was not on a scientific basis but rather an ethical one. He specifically cited the pain caused to the animal as his basis of his opposition:[151][152] I am not interested to know whether Vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't. ... The pains which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity towards it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further. Pen namesTwain used different pen names before deciding on "Mark Twain". He signed humorous and imaginative sketches as "Josh" until 1863. Additionally, he used the pen name "Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass" for a series of humorous letters.[153] He maintained that his primary pen name came from his years working on Mississippi riverboats, where two fathoms, a depth indicating water safe for the passage of boat, was a measure on the sounding line. Twain is an archaic term for "two", as in "The veil of the temple was rent in twain."[154] The riverboatman's cry was "mark twain" or, more fully, "by the mark twain", meaning "according to the mark [on the line], [the depth is] two [fathoms]"; that is, "The water is 12 feet (3.7 m) deep and it is safe to pass." Twain said that his famous pen name was not entirely his invention. In Life on the Mississippi, he wrote: Captain Isaiah Sellers was not of literary turn or capacity, but he used to jot down brief paragraphs of plain practical information about the river, and sign them "MARK TWAIN", and give them to the New Orleans Picayune. They related to the stage and condition of the river, and were accurate and valuable; ... At the time that the telegraph brought the news of his death, I was on the Pacific coast. I was a fresh new journalist, and needed a nom de guerre; so I confiscated the ancient mariner's discarded one, and have done my best to make it remain what it was in his hands – a sign and symbol and warrant that whatever is found in its company may be gambled on as being the petrified truth; how I have succeeded, it would not be modest in me to say.[155] Twain's story about his pen name has been questioned by some,[156] with the suggestion that "mark twain" refers to a running bar tab that Twain would regularly incur while drinking at John Piper's saloon in Virginia City, Nevada. Samuel Clemens himself responded to this suggestion by saying, "Mark Twain was the nom de plume of one Captain Isaiah Sellers, who used to write river news over it for the New Orleans Picayune. He died in 1863 and as he could no longer need that signature, I laid violent hands upon it without asking permission of the proprietor's remains. That is the history of the nom de plume I bear."[157] In his autobiography, Twain writes further of Captain Sellers' use of "Mark Twain": I was a cub pilot on the Mississippi River then, and one day I wrote a rude and crude satire which was leveled at Captain Isaiah Sellers, the oldest steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River, and the most respected, esteemed, and revered. For many years he had occasionally written brief paragraphs concerning the river and the changes which it had undergone under his observation during fifty years, and had signed these paragraphs "Mark Twain" and published them in the St. Louis and New Orleans journals. In my satire I made rude game of his reminiscences. It was a shabby poor performance, but I didn't know it, and the pilots didn't know it. The pilots thought it was brilliant. They were jealous of Sellers, because when the gray-heads among them pleased their vanity by detailing in the hearing of the younger craftsmen marvels which they had seen in the long ago on the river, Sellers was always likely to step in at the psychological moment and snuff them out with wonders of his own which made their small marvels look pale and sick. However, I have told all about this in "Old Times on the Mississippi." The pilots handed my extravagant satire to a river reporter, and it was published in the New Orleans True Delta. That poor old Captain Sellers was deeply wounded. He had never been held up to ridicule before; he was sensitive, and he never got over the hurt which I had wantonly and stupidly inflicted upon his dignity. I was proud of my performance for a while, and considered it quite wonderful, but I have changed my opinion of it long ago. Sellers never published another paragraph nor ever used his nom de guerre again.[158] Legacy and depictionsMain article: Mark Twain in popular culture Caricature of Twain by Spy in the London magazine Vanity Fair, May 1908While Twain is often depicted wearing a white suit, modern representations suggesting that he wore them throughout his life are unfounded. Evidence suggests that Twain began wearing white suits on the lecture circuit, after the death of his wife in 1904. However, there is also evidence showing him wearing a white suit before 1904. In 1882, he sent a photograph of himself in a white suit to 18-year-old Edward W. Bok, later publisher of the Ladies Home Journal, with a handwritten dated note. The white suit did eventually become his trademark, as illustrated in anecdotes about this eccentricity (such as the time he wore a white summer suit to a Congressional hearing during the winter).[48] McMasters' The Mark Twain Encyclopedia states that Twain did not wear a white suit in his last three years, except at one banquet speech.[159] In his autobiography, Twain writes of his early experiments with wearing white out-of-season:[160] Next after fine colors, I like plain white. One of my sorrows, when the summer ends, is that I must put off my cheery and comfortable white clothes and enter for the winter into the depressing captivity of the shapeless and degrading black ones. It is mid-October now, and the weather is growing cold up here in the New Hampshire hills, but it will not succeed in freezing me out of these white garments, for here the neighbors are few, and it is only of crowds that I am afraid.[160]

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