The Death of Mary Elitch Long
On July 15, 1936, Mary Elitch Long suffered a heart attack at the home of her sister-in-law, Jeannette Arnold, at 4567 West 38th Avenue, where she had lived for four years. She moved there from her home across the way in the Gardens where she had lived for forty years. Her home in the Gardens was a gathering place for the great from the world of the theater.
She was reported to be unconscious throughout the evening. On the following day, July 16, 1936, she sank into a coma. Monsignor William F O’Ryan, her longtime friend, administered the last rites of the Catholic Church to her at her bedside. She died at 10:02 p.m. without regaining consciousness. She was 80 years of age.
Funeral services were conducted in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver. Monsignor O’Ryan preached the sermon and sang the solemn mass of requiem. Hundreds of friends from every walk of life attended the funeral.
The Denver Post reported that:
For one who had lived all of her adult life in the glare of spotlights that shine upon a place of public entertainment, like Elitch Gardens … the funeral of Mary Elitch Long was marked by extreme simplicity and complete lack of pomp and circumstance.
She was eulogized as one of the most beloved women in Denver’s history. In speaking of her, Monsignor O’Ryan said:
Her standards of morality were firmly fixed and that is why she created a monument out of a public playground that has always stood for what is clean, right, good before the world.
On July 17, 1936, the following appeared in the Denver Post:
The better part of her life story will not be found in rigid biographies or histories of Who’s Who in Colorado or in America, but in the hearts and memories of those who, entering the gates of the Gardens she created and owned for so many years, came into contact with a personality whose quick sympathy, understanding, joyousness, gentleness and rare good humor enriched the experience of each.
The life of the Theatre continued, even in mourning, but curtain time was appropriately described as follows:
It was curtain time at the nationally-famed Elitch Gardens Theatre in Denver, Colorado, a July evening in 1936. Few programs rustled; even fewer eyes sought the footlights spraying the forty-five-year old hand-painted curtain. Instead they rested on the lower right front box, empty and draped in black. Mary Elitch, patroness-founder of Elitch Theatre, would enter her personal box that evening in spirit only.
Mary Elitch Long was buried on July 21, 1936 in Fairmount Cemetery beside John Elitch… Their grave sites are Lot 63, Block 5.
1936 Season
The plays selected for the season included Jay Mallory’s Sweet Aloes, Edward Wooll’s Libel!, Robert E. Sherwood’s The Petrified Forest and Ayn Rand’s The Night of January 16.
The leads for the season were Irene Purcell and Kenneth MacKenna. George Somnes was selected by Arnold Gurtler to direct the season of plays. He remained director for Elitch Theatre from 1936 through 1947 and later from 1951 through 1954. In addition to directing the plays, having had a background as an actor, Somnes occasionally performed in his own productions. Among such roles were those of counsel for the defendant in Libel (1936), Sherman Whiteside in The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941), Sander Turai in The Play’s The Thing (1942) and the title role in Uncle Harry (1943).
[Borrillo, T. A. (2012). Denver’s historic Elitch Theatre: A nostalgic journey (a history of its times). Colorado. p. 183-185]
Theatre Staff:
- Arnold B. Gurtler, President
- George L. Roberts, Treasurer
- Marie M. Gurtler, Secretary
- George Somnes, Director
- Lucian Self, Stage Manager
- Eugene C. Fitsch, Scenic Director
Resident Company:
- Irene Purcell
- Lynn Kendall
- Edith Gresham
- Phyllis Welch
- Helen Bonfils
- Kenneth MacKenna
- John Deager
- Frank Wilcox
- Forrest Orr
- Henry Richards
- Milo Boulton
Productions:
- Week of June 13: Sweet Aloes, by Jay Mallory.
- Week of June 21: Libel!, by Edward Wooll
- Week of June 28: The Bride the Sun Shines On, by Will Cotton.
- Week of July 5: Fresh Fields, by Ivor Novello.
- Week of July 12: The Petrified Forest, by Robert E. Sherwood.
- Week of July 19: Personal Appearance, by Lawrence Riley.
- Week of July 26: Invitation to a Murder, by Rufus King.
- Week of Aug. 2: Three Men on a Horse, by John Cecil Holm and George Abbott.
- Week of Aug. 9: Co-Respondent Unknown, by Mildred Harris and Harold Goldman.
- Week of Aug. 16: The Night of January 16, by Ayn Rand.
- Week of Aug. 23: Peter Ibbetson, dramatized by Constance Collier from the novel by Gerald Du Maurier.
- Week of Aug. 30: The First Legion, by Emmet Lavery
