Everett Dodrill, Writer, Actor, Director, Producer, Talent, and Artist

By Janet Dodrill

Career Highlights – Everett L. Dodrill Jr.

Everett Dodrill

1940s

Columbia College, BS Degree, Science and Literature, NY, NY

Morey, Humm & Johnstone, NY, NY, 3 years, wrote articles for 4-color magazine “House Organ”

Art School, one term, NY, NY

Pratt Institute for advertising design, NY, NY

Professional Magician, Ajax the Magician (1940s & 1950s), Larchmont, NY

Ballet Dancer, performance at Metropolitan Opera house of a Russian opera, NY, NY

1950s

Bedford Players theater group, Founder, Bedford, Ohio

Lakewood Little Theatre, actor & director, Lakewood, Ohio

Karamu House theater, actor, Cleveland, Ohio

Clague Playhouse, actor, Cleveland, Ohio

Penn, Hamicker, Meldrum & Fewsmith ad agency, writer, Cleveland, Ohio

Lang Fisher & Stashhower ad agency, writer, Cleveland, Ohio (1950s)

1960s

Chagrin Valley Little Theater, actor, Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Dobama Theatre, founding theater company, actor & director, Cleveland Heights, Ohio (1960s through 2000s)

Story Craft, script writer for “On Location” radio shows and daily show “Speaking of Money”, Cleveland, Ohio

Editorial Features, and Editorial Services, writer with author Bill Ellis on book The Cuyahoga, Cleveland, Ohio

Mark V advertising agency (1960s & 1970s), Cleveland, Ohio

1970s

Dodrill-Vasilakes & Co. (1970s & 1980s), training and sales documents, technical writing, sales & educational scripts and presentations, articles for “Basic Utility Sales Techniques” industrial magazine, Cleveland, Ohio

“The Wandering Muse of Artemus Flagg” TV special, writer, starring Burgess Meredith, featuring the Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, WJW Channel 8, Cleveland, Ohio

“Say Older My Son, Not Old”, wrote and produced, WVIZ Channel 25 an Emmy winning TV series, Cleveland, Ohio

Heartsong USA project, wrote and produced, WVIZ Channel 25, Cleveland, Ohio

1980s

“Home Again”, wrote and produced, WVIZ Channel 25, Cleveland, Ohio (on rehabbing a Cleveland house)

Educational Research Council of America (1980s), wrote 50 educational stories including Truck Mechanic, Ecologist, and Market Researcher for its “Real People at Work” series, and 3 textbooks, Cleveland, Ohio

Freelance writer (1980s and 1990s), research, technical writing, training and development for user manuals and sales presentations for National Electrical Carbon Corp., General Electric, NASA Lewis Research Center, Union Carbide Corporation, and BFGoodrich, Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland Playhouse, actor, Cleveland, Ohio

AFTRA male model (1980s & 1990s)

1990s

Rotary Club, president, Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Cain Park Theater, actor, Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Cleveland Museum of Natural History, volunteer, molds/casts of fossils, Cleveland, Ohio

Case Western Reserve Medical School acting as a patient in its doctor training program, Cleveland, Ohio

Special effects makeup artist

2000s

“Christmas Classics by Cleveland”, producer and cast member, a two hour collection of original and classic Christmas narratives, recorded at WJCU 88.7 FM, Cleveland, Ohio

“A Christmas Carol”, starred as Scrooge, recorded at WJCU 88.7 FM, Cleveland, Ohio

Artist and sculptor

 

Everett Dodrill, Ajax the Magician Business Card

Everett Dodrill ballet dancer, 1940s

Marji Dodrill & Everett Dodrill, acting at Karamu House theater, early 1960s

Everett Dodrill in Caligula, Dobama Theatre, 1962

Everett Dodrill, model, talent, 1980s

Everett Dodrill special effects makeup artist, 1990s

Ceramic mask sculpture by Everett Dodrill

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Archibald Willard, Friend to Hugo Max Schmitz of Schmitz-Horning Co.

By Janet Dodrill

Hugo Max Schmitz I (late 1800s). (Schmitz family archives)

It is believed that in the 1890s, a promising artist left his family and relatives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and made his way to Cleveland, perhaps attracted to its thriving art community. He was Hugo Max Schmitz (1867-1938), my great grandfather, and in his mid-30s. Hugo, of German descent, joined Cleveland’s Art Club (formerly know as The Bohemians) and attended regular drawing sessions in its location above City Hall, and participated in their exhibits and possibly traveled abroad with other artists.

President of the established Art Club (and also co-founder and trustee) at the time was notable northeast Ohio artist Archibald MacNeal Willard (1836-1918). He was best known for his painting of The Spirit of ’76. He was born in Bedford, Ohio and at the age of 17 moved to Wellington, Ohio. There is a museum in Wellington in his honor.

Photo portrait of Archibald Willard, restored (Schmitz family archives).

Archibald Willard was a prolific artist who worked in a variety of mediums and subject matters. He was a talented portrait artist as well as landscape artist.

In addition to the Wellington museum, several Cleveland museums carry his work including the Cleveland Museum of Art and Cleveland History Center/Western Reserve Historical Society. A dedicated plot just east of Cleveland City Hall is known as Willard Park.

A search in Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer archived newspaper articles, resulted in stories about Cleveland artists which included Archibald Willard and photos of him working in his studio.

Archibald MacNeal Willard in his studio (Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 17, 1899, Several of Cleveland’s Well Known Artists Seen At Work In Their Studios).

He had a friendship with Hugo, and gave him a portrait photo of himself, plus as a wedding gift in 1902 an original landscape oil painting, which resembles the area’s Chagrin River. In addition my great grandfather received a small statue of The Spirit of ’76 from Mr. Willard, which may be a one of a kind working prototype in porcelain by Stanway.

Hugo Max Schmitz co-founded the Schmitz-Horning Company in 1905, a well-regarded scenic wall paper and mural manufacturing firm, and was president of the company until 1938, when his son Warren Reynolds Schmitz ran it until the company’s closing around 1960.

Landscape oil painting by Archibald Willard (Schmitz family archives).

Statue of Spirit of ’76 by Archibald Willard (Schmitz family archives).

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Former Schmitz-Horning Company Building Destroyed by Fire

By Janet Dodrill

The Schmitz-Horning Company building, Cleveland, Ohio, about 1925. (Schmitz family archives)

In April 2011 when I began my research into family-owned Schmitz-Horning Company (Cleveland, Ohio, 1905-1960), a prominent high-end mural and wall covering manufacturer and printer (co-founded and run by my great-grandfather and later by my grandfather), two things happened. First, I discovered a black and white photograph of the building from around 1925 in our family documents. Second, after Googling the building’s address of 777 E. 82nd Street in Cleveland, search results showed it was being occupied by an industrial chemical company, and the building looked well maintained from the photo on Google street view.

777 E. 82nd Street, Cleveland, Ohio
Photo: Google, 2007

Excited about the find, it was my intention to go see the building. Several months rolled by and I Googled the business address again and many recent articles dated June 27, 2011 came up stating that an accidental fire had destroyed the building, most likely started by roofers, drawing 60 firefighters from 15 departments — a triple three alarm fire! Fortunately, no one was injured.

Fire at 777 E. 82nd Street, Cleveland, Ohio
Photo: Cleveland.com, June 27, 2011

Initially, the owner announced plans to rebuild on the same site but renovated offices were built directly across the street in other facilities owned by the company. The site where the building once stood is today a lot for parking and storage of machinery and equipment.

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Artists D.E. Sutton and Anne Nolan Illustrated for Schmitz-Horning Catalogs

By Janet Dodrill

Schmitz-Horning Company of Cleveland, Ohio (1905-1960) was recognized on a global level as a high-end large scale chromolithograph designer and manufacturer of art murals and posters, wall decorations and wall coverings.

The company advertised in architectural and decorating trade magazines, and produced postcards with their patterns, and fully illustrated catalogs.

The original wallpaper and mural designs were meticulously drawn or painted by skilled artists then transferred onto lithographic plates, the largest in the country at the time, with the imported zinc plates exceeding 40″ x 80″ in size. Expert catalog illustrators recreated the patterns and rendered interiors showing their applications.

These catalog illustrations are beautiful and demonstrate a high degree of artistic ability and design.

Some of the catalogs themselves exist in our family, as a record of the business that my great-grandfather (H.M. Schmitz) co-founded and ran, and of which my grandfather (W.R. Schmitz) later oversaw.

Here are some of the Schmitz-Horning Company catalog illustrations, created and signed by B.E. Sutton, Anne Nolan, and D. Scott Brown or Scott D. Brown, D.S. or S.D., and other unidentified yet talented artists.

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Schmitz-Horning Co. pattern Chinese Floral, catalog illustration by D.E. Sutton.

Schmitz-Horning Co. pattern Elysia, catalog illustration by D.E. Sutton.

Schmitz-Horning Co. pattern Marguerette, catalog illustration by Anne Nolan.

Schmitz-Horning Co. pattern Valencia, catalog illustration by D.S. or S.D.

Schmitz-Horning Co. pattern Valencia, catalog illustration by D. Scott Brown or Scott Brown D.

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Artistic Prints and Note Cards by Janet Dodrill

By Janet Dodrill

Euclid Beach Carousel iPad art image by Janet Dodrill.

Looking for a unique artisan gift? You can find my note cards and prints in local Cleveland shops listed below. The themes include Cleveland landmarks, carousel horses from the Euclid Beach Carousel, nature scenes from the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, Chagrin Falls landmarks, and other subjects.

The images are photography that is manipulated using iPad art apps, and some are then put into graphic design layouts.

 

 

 

Shops:

Fireside Book Shop, 29 N Franklin St, Chagrin Falls, OH 44022, www.firesidebookshop.com (Note cards)

In The 216 shop, 1854 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118, www.facebook.com/inthe216shop (Note cards, matted & loose laser prints, coloring pages)

Mac’s Backs-Books, 1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118, www.macsbacks.com (Note cards)

Native Cleveland gift shop, 15813 Waterloo Road, Cleveland, OH 44110, www.nativecleveland.com (Note cards)

Stars on Blue, 165 E. Aurora Road, Northfield, OH 44067,www.facebook.com/StarsonBlue (Note cards, matted images, coloring pages)

The Duck Pond gift shop, Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, 2600 S. Park Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44120, www.shakerlakes.org (Note cards)

Western Reserve Historical Society gift shop, 10825 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, www.wrhs.org (Note cards, matted & loose laser prints, coloring pages)

Visit my ETSY shop for a limited amount of original lino-cut prints at janetdodrill.etsy.com.

Chagrin Falls iPad art image by Janet Dodrill.

Cleveland prints by Janet Dodrill.

Cleveland note cards by Janet Dodrill at In The 216 gift shop.

Chagrin Falls note cards by Janet Dodrill at Fireside Book Shop.

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Glenn M. Shaw, Established Mural Artist Designed for Schmitz-Horning Co.

By Janet Dodrill

The Old Canal by Glenn M. Shaw, small-scale salesman sample, chromolithograph, 4-panel pattern.

The Old Canal detail.

Glenn Moore Shaw was a local Northeast Ohio commercial artist, who had a studio in Lakewood, Ohio, and he designed a number of patterns for the Schmitz-Horning Company, sometime between the 1930s and 1950s. His artist wife Elsa Vick Shaw also designed for the company. Both had a friendly and close working relationship for a number of years with my grandfather, Warren Reynolds Schmitz, who ran Schmitz-Horning from 1938 to 1960.

The scenic designs included five illustrated maps (which were said to be accurate), The Old Canal (or Canal Days) wallpaper or wall mural pattern set which depicts the Ohio & Erie Canal between Cleveland and Bath, Ohio, and Old Dominion wall mural pattern which was a set of seven panels. Each panel in the Old Dominion pattern was 30” x 80” plus, printed in multi-color chromolithograph, to be trimmed at the desired height.

Old Dominion by Glenn M. Shaw, chromolithograph, 7-panel pattern, each 30″ x 80″+.

Old Dominion detail.

Shown is a section of the pictorial map Glenn Shaw designed called Robinson Crusoe, which is part of a collection of Schmitz-Horning wall coverings at the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt Design Museum (a gift from the Wallpaper Council, Inc.).

In addition to professional fine art painting and printmaking, he taught mural painting and advertising design at the Cleveland School of Art for 35 years, and painted murals in three post offices, Canton, Warren, and Perrysburg, Ohio.

Robinson Crusoe Pictoral Mural Map, one panel 40″ x 60″, designed by Glenn M. Shaw. Above catalog illustration, below section of actual paper (photo: Cooper Hewitt).

Resources:

Schmitz family documents

Wikipedia

Ohio Post Office Artwork Collection
http://www.wpamurals.com/ohiopoart.htm
http://www.wpamurals.com/ohio.htm

AskArt
http://www.askart.com/artist/Glenn_Moore_Shaw/109732/Glenn_Moore_Shaw.aspx

Elsa Vick Shaw, The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
http://ech.case.edu/cgi/article.pl?id=SEV

Glenn Moore Shaw, The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
http://ech.case.edu/cgi/article.pl?id=SGM

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum Links:

Smuggler’s Cove, Scenic Mural/Map Panel, 1950 (by Glenn M. Shaw)
http://www.cooperhewitt.org/2015/07/05/decorative-wall-map/
https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18431523/with-image-6098/
https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18431521/
https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18431523/with-image-91433/

Pioneer America, Scenic Mural/Map Panel, 1930–40 (by Glenn M. Shaw)
https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18431531/
https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18431533/
https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18431533/with-image-95057/
https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18431533/with-image-95920/
https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18431533/with-image-95056/

Robinson Crusoe, Scenic Mural/Map Panel, 1930-40 (by Glenn M. Shaw)
https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18431521/

Spanish Main, Scenic Mural/Map Panel, 1930-40 (by Glenn M. Shaw)
https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18431535/

Relief Map of the United States, Scenic Mural/Map Panel, 1930-40 (by Glenn M. Shaw)
https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18431525/

Image from Cooperhewitt.org used under the Fair Use copyright act.

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Paul A. Meunier, Artist at Schmitz-Horning Company

By Janet Dodrill

Paul A. Meunier. Source: The Plain Dealer

Paul Alfred Meunier (1906-1978) was an artist who worked in the lithographic printing industry. He came to Cleveland to study art, studying at John Huntington Polytechnic Institute and at the Cleveland School of Art. For 11 years, he worked at Cleveland’s lithographic mural and wall decoration business, Schmitz-Horning Company, which was co-founded around 1905 by my great-grandfather, Hugo M. Schmitz, and later run by my grandfather, Warren R. Schmitz, beginning in 1938. They employed many area artists. During the time span that Paul worked there (1927-1938), Hugo Schmitz served as president and Warren as vice president. Two of Paul’s uncles also worked at Schmitz-Horning, Ovid (Otto) Meunier for 25 years, and Laurence Meunier (Ovid’s brother) for 7 to 10 years.

Paul A. Meunier served as R.E. May Inc. owner and president, 1938-1977. Source: R.E. May Inc. website

In 1938 he became owner president of R.E. May Inc. (after being established in 1937 by Richard E. May and following his unexpected death), a litho plate company located on E. 24th Street in Cleveland, until he sold the firm in 1977. The company is still in existence today. A favored Schmitz-Horning western mural (a small-scale version) was displayed in his office reception area, entitled Wells Fargo, a wall covering pattern that is in the collection of the Western Reserve Historical Society (Cleveland History Center). It was possibly donated to them by Paul Meunier.

Above reception area at R.E. May Inc. hangs Schmitz-Horning mural, Wells Fargo. Source: R.E. May website

Wells Fargo pattern, 5 sections, each 40″ x 80″.

I myself worked in the printing industry as a graphic artist in Cleveland in the late 1980s/early 1990s, and we would send negatives to R.E. May for printing plates. They had an excellent reputation even then, but I was unaware of the company’s history or the connection to my ancestors.

Originally from Hunting Valley, Ohio, Paul A. Meunier had a home studio in Gates Mills, and enjoyed painting and creating prints from nature and wildlife. He specialized in painting horses owned by residents of Gates Mills and Hunting Valley. Many of his paintings hang in the Chagrin Valley Hunt Club. He was trustee of Gates Mills Historical Society, and created historical maps of the area. He wrote, illustrated, and published the book, History of Gates Mills, Ohio 1805-1976, as well as contributed illustrations to several other books. One of his paintings hangs in the chamber room at Gates Mills city hall. He showed his work at the annual Gates Mills Art Show, and a special juried award was established in his name, for the art best representing life in Gates Mills.

He served in WWII as a lieutenant colonel.

His great-grandfather was noted Belgian painter and sculptor, Constantin Meunier, who has work owned by the Louvre.

Village of Gates Mills Map by Paul A. Meunier, 1938. Source: Aspire Auctions

Map detail. Source: Aspire Auctions

Map detail. Source: Aspire Auctions

R.E. May Inc. building approx. 1960. Source: R.E. May Inc. website

R.E. May Inc. building 2011. Source: Google

Holly and Her Friends, Paul A. Meunier, 1974, Aluminum print, 10 1/2″ x 14 3/4″. Source: Gray’s Auctioneers & Appraisers, Liveautioneers.com

Paul A. Meunier, watercolor or gouache floral painting, 1937, employed at the Schmitz-Horning Co. 1927-1938.

Paul A. Meunier artwork label, 1937

Resources:

-The Plain Dealer, February 18, 1978 (Paul A. Meunier Obituary)
–RE May Inc. website
-Gates Mills Art Show 2016 Program
–Aspire Auctions
–Gray’s Auctioneers & Appraisers, Liveautioneers.com
–Google
-Schmitz family documents

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