Adapter, The Count of Monte Cristo
James O’Neill was born in Ireland during the potato famine and emigrated to America as a boy. After his father left the family, O’Neill went to work as a machinist’s apprentice. He was enthralled with the theatre from an early age, and in 1866, an actors’ strike gave him his big break. The talented and handsome actor quickly drew notice. In 1883, he went on for a prominent actor who had died in the wings following his first performance as Edmond Dantès in The Count of Monte Cristo. O’Neill was an instant success. He bought the script, adapted it and went on to play the role more than 6,000 times. O’Neill became so associated with the role that he became trapped in it, never able to play others. While Cristo brought him the wealth he so longed for, he still feared poverty and was a skinflint with his wife and two sons. O’Neill’s miserliness and his sense of loss over his career are the foundations of his son Eugene’s play about their family, Long Day’s Journey into Night.