{{Short description|American theatre manager, talent manager, actor and theatre director}} '''Napier Lothian Jr.''' (1855 – January 3, 1903) was an American theatre manager, talent manager, actor, and theatre director.<ref name="obit">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1903/01/04/archives/napier-lothian-jr-dead-veteran-theatrical-manager-expires-suddenly.html|title=NAPIER LOTHIAN, JR., DEAD.; Veteran Theatrical Manager Expires Suddenly of Appoplexy in Boston|work=The New York Times|date=4 January 1903 }}</ref> He should not be confused with his father, the actor, conductor, flageoletist, and violinist Napier Lothian Sr. (1836–1916).<ref name="Incidental">{{cite book|title=Incidental and Dance Music in the American Theatre from 1786 to 1923 Volume 3, Biographical and Critical Commentary – Alphabetical Listings from Edgar Stillman Kelley to Charles Zimmerman|author=John Franceschina|publisher=Bear Manor Media|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R4tEDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Napier+Lothian%22&pg=PT96|chapter=Lothian, Napier|year=2018}}</ref>
==Life and career== Born in San Francisco, California in 1855,<ref name="obit"/> Napier Lothian Jr. was the son of Napier Lothian Sr.; an unsuccessful gold miner who had participated in the California Gold Rush.<ref name="Incidental"/> His mother was the British dancer Clara Chapman Rivers who married his father in San Francisco.<ref name="Incidental"/> In 1856 Lothian Sr. became an actor in the San Francisco Minstrels.<ref name="Incidental"/> In 1859 both of Lothian Jr.'s parents were engaged in Christy's Minstrels, and the family traveled with that company to New York City where Lothian Sr. became a celebrated flageoletist on the New York stage.<ref name="Incidental"/>
In 1862, the entire Lothian family, including the seven-year old Lothian Jr., were engaged by the Morris Brothers minstrels from Boston.<ref name="obit"/> The family moved from New York City to Boston upon taking this engagement.<ref name="Incidental"/> Lothian Jr. made his professional stage debut at Ordway Hall (then known as the Morris Brothers Opera House) in May 1862 and continued to be active on the stage throughout his youth.<ref name="obit"/> His father went on to have a highly successful career as a music director in Boston and Broadway at several theaters, including posts at The Boston Theatre and Niblo's Garden.<ref name="Incidental"/>
As an adult, Lothian Jr. became a successful theatre manager, theatre director, and talent manager. He served posts as the manager of two theatre's in Boston: the Continental Theatre and The Boston Theatre;<ref name="obit"/> serving at the latter theatre while his father was music director for over two decades.<ref name="Incidental"/> For several years he was the manager of the touring acting troupe, the Quincy Adams Sawyer Company. As a talent manager, he managed the careers of actresses Mary Anderson, Julia Arthur, and Henrietta Crosman.<ref name="obit"/> In 1895 he directed ''The Wizard of the Nile'' at Broadway's Casino Theatre.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ken Wlaschin|title=Encyclopedia of American Opera|date=24 September 2009|publisher=McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers|isbn=978-0-7864-4596-7|page=428}}</ref>
He died in Boston, Massachusetts on January 3, 1903;<ref name="obit"/> thirteen years before the death of his father.<ref name="Incidental"/> ==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lothian Jr, Napier}} Category:1855 births Category:1903 deaths Category:Actors from San Francisco Category:American child actors Category:American theatre directors Category:American theatre managers and producers Category:Talent managers