Billy "Single" Clifford
Wm. C. Shyrigh, better known as Billy Clifford, was born in this
house on January 24, 1869, to Levi and Sarah Shyrigh. Coming
from a musical family, he developed an early interest in music
and practiced with the family in the barn behind the house.
At the age of ten, Clifford joined the circus when it was in
town and played the snare drum, sold tickets, and eventually
performed a song and dance routine. A leading vaudevillian of
his time, Clifford once performed with Buster Keaton and went
on to act with the best troupes in New York City, Baltimore,
Norfolk, Richmond, and Europe. Eventually, he created his own
company of performers, including an all-girl orchestra. Clifford
died in this house on November 20, 1930, and is buried in
Oakdale Cemetery in Urbana.
Clifford Theater
In 1905, Billy Clifford built the Clifford Theater, now the Urbana
Cinema, on the spot where his family's barn stood on South Main
Street. That was the same year motion pictures were first shown in
Urbana. Built at a cost of $75,000, the theater was the first building
in Urbana constructed solely for theatrical purposes. The ground
level was large with an eighty-foot stage; the theater held an
audience of 700. The building had three floors each with separate
exit doors. While visiting Columbus and Dayton, Clifford and his
troupe traveled to Urbana using Clifford's private railcar. A separate
railcar transported the scenery and baggage. In addition to Clifford
and his troupe, the theater hosted performances by such noted entertainers as John Philip Sousa and his band. Fire destroyed the
Clifford Theater years later, taking with it most of Clifford's personal
belongings.
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