Independent Publisher Book Awards 2018, Bronze Medal Winner - Biography As the Statue of Liberty stood unlit and unloved by American politicians in 1886, one of her saviors was creating a theatrical sensation at New York's Fourteenth Street Theatre. Actor M. B. Curtis, who had achieved overnight success in  Sam'l of Posen , a groundbreaking play that transcended the common stereotypes of Jewish characters current at the time, was basking in public accolades at every curtain call when he came to Lady Liberty's aid. Curtis's rise to the top of his profession and his resulting fall from grace is a dramatic arc that rivals anything created for the stage. Actor, producer, real estate developer, promoter, hotelier, benefactor, and murder suspect, Curtis reached the highs of celebrity and fame as well as the lows of failure, illness, and a faltering career.  The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty  rescues his story from the dusty archives of forgotten history and reexamines an actor whose creativity and cultural influence still resonate today. In this outstanding new biography of that remarkable immigrant thespian M.B. Curtis, Richard Schwartz gives readers a lost episode in the story of the Statue of Liberty and her torch—that it was none other than Curtis himself who helped pay for Miss Liberty's first electric lighting bills in November 1886. This is just one of the many absorbing episodes in this biography of one of the most talented character actors of his time. - Barry Moreno - Historian and author, the Bob Hope Memorial Library at Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty National Monument In this well-researched, in-depth biography, historian Schwartz (Berkeley 1900) traces the meteoric rise and slow fall of M.B. Curtis, a Hungarian Jewish actor who thrived on American stages from the 1870s to 1890s, then sank into obscurity. Schwartz's intriguing portrayal of celebrity, status, and desperation illuminates the underbelly of an exciting, rapidly changing time. - (BookLife) Publishers Weekly An impeccably researched, skillfully written, deftly organized, accessibly presented biography of an inherently interesting man whose accomplishments had faded into obscurity, The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty: The Extraordinary Rise and Fall of Actor M.B. Curtis is a simply fascinating read and highly recommended for personal reading lists, as well as both community and academic library American Biography collections. - Midwest Review of Books As the Statue of Liberty stood unlit and unloved by American politicians in 1886, one of her saviors was creating a theatrical sensation at New York's Fourteenth Street Theatre. Actor M. B. Curtis, who had achieved overnight success in Sam'l of Posen, a groundbreaking play that transcended the common stereotypes of Jewish characters current at the time, was basking in public accolades at every curtain call when he came to Lady Liberty's aid. Curtis's rise to the top of his profession and his resulting fall from grace is a dramatic arc that rivals anything created for the stage. Actor, producer, real estate developer, promoter, hotelier, benefactor, and murder suspect, Curtis reached the highs of celebrity and fame as well as the lows of failure, illness, and a faltering career. The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty rescues his story from the dusty archives of forgotten history and reexamines an actor whose creativity and cultural influence still resonate today. Richard Schwartz is a historian and the author of Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley; Earthquake Exodus, 1906; Berkeley 1900 ; and The Circle of Stones . An outdoor enthusiast and animal lover, he worked on a Pennsylvania Dutch farm before heading west to find higher mountains. He now lives in Berkeley, California, where he works as a building contractor and documents early Native American sites in the Bay Area.