b. 1879, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, d. 1 December 1931, New York City, New York, USA. Early appearances Elliott made on Broadway in acting roles include That Man And I (1904), Beau Brummell and The Misanthrope (both 1905) and Charley’s Aunt (1906). He was in the musicals A Grand Army Man (1907) and The Pink Lady (1911). From hereon, Elliott was mostly active as a producer, mainly of plays, including The Governor’s Lady (1912), Kitty Mackay (1914) and The Greatest Nation (1916), which he also wrote and in which he performed. In 1917 he produced several musicals, some in collaboration with F. Ray Comstock and Morris Gest. First of these was Oh, Boy!, music by Jerome Kern, book and lyrics by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, which ran for 467 performances at the Princess and Casino theatres. Next was Leave It To Jane, again by Kern, Bolton and Wodehouse, which ran for 167 performances, followed by Chu Chin Chow and Kitty Darlin’. The following year was also busy with musicals Oh, Lady! Lady!!, Maid Of The Mountains and Oh, My Dear! The latter, with music by Louis Hirsch and book and lyrics by Bolton and Wodehouse, ran for 189 performances at the Princess and 39th Street theatres. Elliott’s last Broadway production was a play, The Home Towners (1926).
Other stage and film people with the same or a similar name include William H. Elliott, who appeared in Broadway dramas Robert Emmet (1904) and A Very Good Young Man (1918) and who might possibly be the same actor as discussed above; William ‘Wild Bill’ Elliott (b. Gordon Nance, 16 October 1904, d. 26 November 1965), who made westerns under this name, his real name, and as Gordon Elliott; William Elliott, who performed on Broadway in Revenge With Music (1934) and The Eternal Road (1937); William Elliott (b. 1953), who arranged music for Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1978) and other shows.
