Muskegon Actors' Colony - Faulkner and Jewel

Rex Faulkner & Lillian Jewel

Rex R. Faulkner Born: 1882 Indiana Died: December 24, 1947 Los Angeles, CA	Lillian (Jewel) Faulkner Born: 1889 England Died: 1968
Son: Rex Faulkner, Jr Born: 1920 Died: Unknown Brother: Harry Faulkner Born: Unknown Died: 1956
With his brother Harry, Rex Faulkner was a founding member of the American Newsboys Quartette. The singers and conversationalists were a top draw on the vaudeville circuit. Among their hits was a rendition of Think it Over Mary" by Thomas J. Gray (The Bard of Broadway), and Somebody's Waiting for You. The act performed at Muskegon's Lake Michigan Park Theater in July of 1908.
	Rex Faulkner and his bride Lillian Jewel moved to Muskegon around 1909 and resided in the Actors' Colony at 1796 Edgewater. According to the Indianapolis Star in 1913, Lillian was a fourth-generation marionette operator from England. According to the report: "Her great-grandfather won fame and fortune by his enterprise in popularizing this form of entertainment, while her father, the late Jesse Jewell, perfected the improved Manikins of today by using paper mache and wax instead of wood, the material of which the old marionettes were made." Around 1925, the Faulkners moved to the west coast, allowing them to remained active in show business.
A 1926 review by the Lima (OH) News of a performance of their act, now titled "Faulkner's Manikins", "Play Ball" noted: "With strings attached to little wooden figures, Miss Faulkner keeps her audience in an uproar with the manikins. They do everything from the Charleston to playing baseball. A very clever act." Rex later worked as an insurance agent.
Advertisement from the April 12, 1926 Lima News