The Emperor Norton character had only a few lines — but, the lines he had were good ones.

Both the character and the lines arrived on Broadway courtesy of one of the most influential theater collectives of the twentieth century.

Today, Lee Strasberg, Clifford Odets, Elia Kazan, Stella Adler and Sanford Meisner are household names to students of the American theater. Their legacy approach, “the Method,” and their legacy project, The Actors Studio — founded in 1947 — is known to millions.

But, in 1934, when these playwrights, directors and actors — and their Group Theatre — brought their play Gold Eagle Guy to Broadway, they were unknowns.

It appears that the Broadway production of Gold Eagle Guy marked the first time that Emperor Norton was portrayed on a Broadway stage.

The Emperor was played by Stella Adler’s brother, Luther Adler.

The fascinating story of this play — and of how the character of Emperor Norton gave voice to ideas expressed in the recently published Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley — is on the flip.

Includes archival Playbill images; an early cartoon by Al Hirschfeld; and a wonderful rare live-stage photograph of the Broadway production of Gold Eagle Guy, showing Luther Adler playing Emperor Norton.