Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Faculty Publications 2013-1 Maude Adams and the Mormons J. Michael Hunter Brigham Young University - Provo, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub Part of the Mormon Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Hunter, J. Michael, "Maude Adams and the Mormons" (2013). Faculty Publications. 1391. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/1391 This Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Mormons and Popular Culture The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon Volume 1 Cinema, Television, Theater, Music, and Fashion J. Michael Hunter, Editor Q PRAEGER AN IMPRI NT OF ABC-CLIO, LLC Santa Barbara, Ca li fornia • Denver, Colorado • Oxford, England Copyright 2013 by ABC-CLIO, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mormons and popular culture : the global influence of an American phenomenon I J. Michael Hunter, editor. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-313-39167-5 (alk. paper) - ISBN 978-0-313-39168-2 (ebook) 1. Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-Influence. 2. Mormon Church­ Influence. 3. Popular culture-Religious aspects-Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4. Popular culture-Religious aspects-Mormon Church. I. Hunter, J. Michael (James Michael), 1963- BX8635.3.M68 2013 289.3'32-dc23 2012033778 ISBN: 978-0-313-39167-5 EISBN: 978-0-313-39168-2 17 16 15 14 13 1 2 3 4 5 This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. Praeger An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper 8 Manufactured in the United States of America Contents Preface and Acknowledgments vii 1. Mormons and Cinema Randy Astle 2. The Mormon Influence at Disney 45 J. Michael Hunter 3. "Flights oflmagination": Philo T. Farnsworth and the Invention of Television 71 Donald G. Godfrey 4. Mormons and American Television 91 John-Charles Duffy 5. Mormons and Melodrama 121 Megan Sanborn Jones 6. Mormon Drama 149 Eric Samuelsen 7. Ritualized Theater: The Performing Pilgrim's Process at the Hill Cumorah Pageant 163 James A. Bell 8. Mormons and the Music Industry 183 Michael Hicks vi Con tents 9. America's Choir: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and American Popular Culture 201 Heidi S. Swinton 10. A Genius for Beauty: Swimsuit Designer Rose Marie Reid 213 Roger K. Petersen and Carole Reid Burr 11. Profiles of Selected Mormon Actors 229 J. Michael Hunter About the Editor and Contributors 257 Index 261 Preface and Acknowledgments This two-volume work comprises a collection of essays related to Mormons and popular culture, terms with multiple, competing definitions. For the sake of this publication, Mormons are defined as individuals who, at some point in their lives, have been baptized and confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Popular culture herein relates to American entertainment or diversions with an emphasis on mass media entertainment and ideas within the mainstream of American culture. Within this context, Mormons and mainstream may initially appear to be contradictory terms, as Mormons are widely perceived to be unconventional. Yet, talented and innovative Mormons have influenced mainstream percep­ tions in America and beyond with significant contributions to such technolo­ gies as stereophonic sound, television, video games, and computer-generated imagery. Mormon artists, filmmakers, directors, musicians, actors, fashion designers, journalists, and writers have influenced national and international perceptions through mass media. Mormons, like Twilight author Stephenie Meyer and radio host Glenn Beck, have introduced unique ideas into Ameri­ can mainstream culture, some of which have made a global impact. This work explores both the influence of individual Mormons on popular culture and the influence Mormonism has had on these individuals and their contribu­ tions. Mormons have, at times, presented uniquely Mormon cultural elements and perspectives to the public through the media of popular culture, and this thread of inquiry is followed in numerous essays in this publication. Likewise, American popular culture has influenced perceptions within the Mormon subculture. Mormons have emulated styles and techniques from the American mainstream in creating cultural works within the Mormon subculture-works by Mormons for Mormons. vii VIII Prefa ce and Acknowledgments Also, the interesting nature of Mormon "outside-ness" has brought it inside the homes of mainstream America as Mormons provide interesting subject matter for the media of popular culture-cartoons, illustrations, novels, the­ ater, motion pictures, radio, television, music, and the internet. Since the 19th century, the portrayal of Mormons in American popular culture has ranged from pejorative to laudatory with everything in between. Mormons have been portrayed in competing and contradicting ways, and the shifting whims of a fickle entertainment culture have often influenced the Mormon image in the popular mind. This work explores that image and how it has changed over time. This publication consists of 26 chapters with numerous sidebars and in­ cludes profiles of Mormon actors, writers, and athletes. Contributors to this set include scholars from universities across the country, as well as filmmak­ ers, artists, journalists, and novelists. With limited space and a limitless field, the topics covered are necessarily selective, and selection depended on finding expert contributors with time to contribute. In some cases, interesting topics were unavoidably left for another time and another publication. Nonetheless, this publication provides students, scholars, and interested readers with an in­ troduction and wide-ranging overview of Mormons and popular culture. Support and assistance from many persons resulted in the production of this publication. A special thanks is extended to Daniel Harmon, a former editor at Praeger, who initiated the project and approached me about editing the publication. I also wish to thank James Sherman, Editorial Manager for American History and Pop Culture at ABC-CLIO, who managed the project. Appreciation is gratefully extended to Randy Astle and Gideon Burton, who provided suggestions for topics and contributors, and to Ardis Parshall, who offered much wise advice. I also wish to thank numerous individuals who as­ sisted in the editorial process, including Amy Hoffman, Briana Beers, Caitlin Metzger, Caroline Elvey, and Christie Kapenda. Assisting me with photo­ graphs was Russ Taylor from the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, and Bill Slaughter from the Church History Li­ brary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. Pauline Musig also helped locate photographs. Finally, I would like to express appreciation to my family, who supported me during the countless hours I spent working on this project. J. Michael Hunter 132 Mormons and Popular Culture MAUDE ADAMS AND THE MORMONS J. Michael Hunter Traveling journalists of the mid-19th century were often surprised to find a theater in the geographically and culturally isolated Rocky Mountain region. Yet, a theater-the Salt Lake Theatre-was the first prominent building to be constructed in Salt Lake City under Mormon leader Brigham Young's direction. "I was greatly astonished," wrote Fitz Hugh Ludlow in the 1864 Atlantic Monthly, "to find in the desert heart of the continent a place of public amusement which for capacity, beauty and com­ fort had no superior in America, except the opera-houses of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia."' The Salt Lake Theatre seated 1,500 on four levels, was lighted by 385 oil lamps, and boasted red velvet-lined boxes with red velvet-cushioned chairs. Journalists were also surprised at Brigham Young's liberal attitude toward theater. Reporting on Young's speech at the dedication of the Salt Lake Theatre in 1862, the New York Times reported, "Brigham then gave his views upon theatrical and similar entertainments, from which it was evident that his notions were not cast in the Puri­ tanic mould. "2 In Brigham Young's world, all things had a spiritual element. Amusements, if used to uplift and enlighten, were ordained of God. Recalling his strict puritan upbringing, Morm ons and Melodrama 133 Young commented, "I shall not subject my little children to such a course of unnatu ­ ral training, but th ey shall go to the dance, study music, rea d novels, and do anyth ing else th at w ill tend to expand their frames, add fire to th eir spirits, improve their minds, and make them fee l free and untrammeled in body and mind." For Young, the theater and th e church could work hand in hand. "Th e stage," he sa id, "can be made to aid th e pulpit in impress ing upon th e minds of a community an enlightened sense of a virtuous life, also a proper horror of the enormity of sin and a just dread of its consequences."3 Even before th e M ormons migrated to Utah, th ey had staged pl ays in Nauvoo, Il­ linois, in th e ea rl y 1840s. Bri gham Young himse lf pl ayed a Peru vian high priest in th e play Pizarro. Sa lt Lake City's first dramati c assoc iati on was formed in 1850, and the Soc ial Hall was erected in 1852 as a pl ace for amusements of all so rts, including th eater.