Nat M Wills

Early life

Nat Wills was born Louis McGrath Wills in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on July 11, 1873, the son of John (1832–1904) and Sallie B. (1845–1881) Wills. His birth name is variously given as Louis Magrath Wills, Matthew McGrath Wills and Edward McGregor, but census records from 1880 show a boy named "Lewis" Wills, and Wills gave his legal name as Louis on official documents. He had a brother, Clarence (1877–1896), and a sister, Maud, born in 1875. He also had a half-sister, Indianna, born in 1855, and a half-brother, George F., born in 1853, from his father's first marriage to Susan A. Wills (1832–1865).

Little is known about his early life. There is no record of his birth in Virginia. An article in the Fredericksburg, Virginia Daily Star, dated Tuesday, October 9, 1923, mentions Maud, and says that Wills was the grandson of James Taylor, a policeman. James Taylor was Wills' mother Sallie's father and is listed on census records as a policeman.

Performing career

Wills' family moved to Washington, D.C. when he was a child and he and began his theatrical career there. Reportedly, one of his first stage appearances was with Minnie Palmer, a popular actress and operetta star of the day.

As a young man, Wills appeared in melodramas and stage shows all over the United States. He alternated between theatrical stage shows and vaudeville performances throughout his life.

Wills was one of the first entertainers to perform at the famous Palace Theater, and he appeared in the 1913 edition of the Ziegfeld Follies.

Wills was famous for his version of "No News," an old and much copied vaudeville routine. In a monologue fashion, Wills played both a wealthy man returned from a doctor-ordered vacation and a servant reporting the news on the man's return home. The routine begins with the servant assuring the master there is no news to report, "except for one small thing..." which culminates in a great deal of tragic news.

Wills tried to help other entertainers by forming, with other performers, The White Rats, the first entertainer's union. He was an original member of the Board of Governors. The White Rats (rats is "star" spelled backwards) were organized June 1, 1900 to combat the abuses of the United Booking Office, a group of managers who had a monopoly on vaudeville bookings.

Notable stage appearances

Broadway appearances

1908

1909

1913

1915

Personal life

Wills was married four times. His first two wives died.

His third wife was Heloise Titcomb, a fellow vaudeville performer who sang French songs and performed an act with white horses using the stage name "La Belle Titcomb." After their divorce, Wills was quoted as saying, "I should have married the horse."

His fourth wife was the actress May Day. Wills and May had a daughter, Natalie, born in about 1915.

On August 20, 1909, tabloids reported that vaudeville player Trixie Friganza was engaged to Wills, but no further mention was made of this and they did not get married.

Death

Wills died on December 9, 1917, of carbon monoxide poisoning while working on his car in a closed garage at his home in Woodcliff, New Jersey. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City.

Controversy

Many vaudeville performers, including Wills, performed in blackface or used ethnic stereotypes in their humor. One such routine was called "Darky Stories." Wills also used "black dialect" in his famous "No News" routine.

Wills went to court on April 13, 1915, after his divorce from La Belle Titcomb and remarriage to May Day, to try to reduce his alimony payments to Heloise. He claimed they were a hardship, as they took too much of his salary, and he had May and their daughter Natalie to support. In addition, he claimed that Heloise made sufficient income with her own stage show, and had assets enough to keep her well without his alimony payments.

Influence on Popular Culture

Wills in mentioned in James Thurber's autobiography, My Life and Hard Times. Thurber describes how he and his brothers would listen to Wills' recording of "No News" over and over, to the irritation of their father.

Wills is mentioned in Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums in a passage describing a cartoon of a young boy going out into the wilderness "with a small staff and pack, like an American Nat Wills tramp of 1905."

Current interest

In 2007, Archeophone Records released a CD containing all existing songs by Wills remastered from their original cylinder or disk formats. The CD includes a 24-page booklet with information about each track, as well as biographical information about Wills, written by Trav S.D., author of No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous.

Wills' recording of "No News" was identified as one of 25 "cultural, artistic and historical treasures to be preserved for future generations" by the Library of Congress in 2008 under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000.

Wills' songs and comic monologues are often played on East Village Radio's "The Ragged Phonograph Program," and his recordings are occasionally played on Venerable Radio and WFMU's Antique Phonograph Music Program.

In May 2011, Wills' recording of "No News" was chosen by the lead curator of the Library of Congress' free streaming National Jukebox, Gene DeAnna, as one of his favorite recordings in the Library's collection on a playlist for The Atlantic magazine online.