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Dion Boucicault, Jr.
Dion Boucicault Jr. (born Darley George Boucicault; 23 May 1859 – 25 June 1929) was an actor and stage director. A son of the well-known playwright Dion Boucicault and actress Agnes Robertson, he followed his father into the theatrical profession and made a career as a character actor and a director. In addition to extensive work in the West End of London, he spent considerable time in Australia, where he went into management in the 1880s. As an actor, his greatest successes included ''Trelawny of the 'Wells''' and '' Mr. Pim Passes By''. His best-known success as a manager was ''Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'', of which he presented the premiere and many revivals. His last big success was '' Lilac Time'' in 1922. Early life Boucicault was born in New York,Banerji, Nilanjana"Boucicault, Dion, the younger (1859–1929)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2008, accessed 13 January 2011 the third chi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Brough (actor)
Robert Brough (1857 – 21 April 1906) was born in England to a family prominent in literature and the theatre. He had a notable career as actor and manager in Australia. History Brough was born Lionel Barnabas Brough in England, son of Robert Barnabas Brough (1828–1860) journalist, poet and librettist, and Elizabeth Brough, nḗe Romer. Actress Fanny Brough was a sister. His parents had ambitions for him in the world of commerce, but he soon decided on a stage career, and Edward Saker found a part for him in his show '' Little Em'ly'', an adaptation of ''David Copperfield'', in Glasgow in 1870. Brough was introduced to Florence Trevelyan when he started working with the D'Oyley Carte No. 2 Company, and shortly after they married he was put on a three-year contract at the Gaiety. They moved to Australia under contract to J. C. Williamson, first appearing in Melbourne in the Australian première of ''Iolanthe''. His first Sydney appearance was in July 1885 under contract to Wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German university. He became a medical student in London and qualified as a physician in 1897. He never practised medicine, and became a full-time writer. His first novel, ''Liza of Lambeth'' (1897), a study of life in the slums, attracted attention, but it was as a playwright that he first achieved national celebrity. By 1908 he had four plays running at once in the West End theatre, West End of London. He wrote his 32nd and last play in 1933, after which he abandoned the theatre and concentrated on novels and short stories. Maugham's novels after ''Liza of Lambeth'' include ''Of Human Bondage'' (1915), ''The Moon and Sixpence'' (1919), ''The Painted Veil (novel), The Painted Veil'' (1925), ''Cakes and Ale'' (1930) and ''The Razor's Edge'' (1944). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Aherne
William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States. His first Broadway appearance in ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' in 1931 teamed him with Katharine Cornell, with whom he appeared in many productions. In films, he played opposite Madeleine Carroll, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth and Carole Lombard, and was Oscar-nominated for his role as Emperor Maximilian in '' Juarez'' (1939). On TV, he appeared in ''The Twilight Zone'' episode, "The Trouble With Templeton", ''Wagon Train'' and '' Rawhide''. Early life and career Early life He was born in King's Norton, Worcestershire, the second and younger son of the architect William de Lacy Aherne and his wife Louise (née Thomas). His elder brother Pat Aherne was also an actor. Educated in Edgbaston, Birmingham, he received stage training at Italia Conti Academy in London as a ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irene Vanbrugh
Dame Irene Vanbrugh DBE ( Barnes; 2 December 1872 – 30 November 1949) was an English actress. The daughter of a clergyman, Vanbrugh followed her elder sister Violet into the theatrical profession and sustained a career for more than 50 years. In her early days as a leading lady she was particularly associated with the plays of Arthur Wing Pinero and later had parts written for her by J. M. Barrie, Bernard Shaw, Somerset Maugham, A. A. Milne and Noël Coward. More famous for comic rather than dramatic roles, Vanbrugh nevertheless played a number of the latter in both modern works and the classics. Her stage debut was in Shakespeare, but she seldom acted in his works later in her career; exceptions were her Queen Gertrude in ''Hamlet'' in 1931 and her Meg Page in ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'', opposite her sister Violet as Alice Ford, in 1937. Vanbrugh appeared frequently in fundraising shows for various charities. She was active over many years in the support of the Royal Ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Notably, he produced ''Peter Pan'', both in London and the US, the latter production starring Maude Adams who would be strongly identified with the part. In 1896, Frohman co-founded the Theatrical Syndicate, a nationwide chain of theaters that dominated the American touring company business, until the Shubert brothers grew strong enough to end its virtual monopoly. He partnered with English producers, including Seymour Hicks, with whom he produced a string of London hits prior to 1910, such as '' Quality Street'', ''The Admirable Crichton'', ''The Catch of the Season'', ''The Beauty of Bath'', and ''A Waltz Dream''. Frohman produced over 700 shows. At the height of his fame, Frohman died in the 1915 sinking of the RMS ''Lusitania''. Life and career Charles Frohman was born to a Jewish family in Sandusky, Ohio, the youn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Much Ado About Nothing
''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play was included in the ''First Folio'', published in 1623. The play is set in Messina and revolves around two romantic pairings that emerge when a group of soldiers arrive in the town. The first, between Claudio and Hero, is nearly altered by the accusations of the villain, Don John. The second romance, between Claudio's friend Benedick and Hero's cousin Beatrice, takes centre stage as the play goes on, with both characters' wit and banter providing much of the humour. Through "noting" (sounding like "nothing", and meaning gossip, rumour, overhearing), Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing their love for each other, and Claudio is tricked into believing that Hero is not a maiden (virgin). The title's play on words references t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the " Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. He remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted. Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna Hall, Susanna, and twins Hamnet Shakespeare, Hamnet and Judith Quiney, Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Melford
Mark Melford (c.1850 - 4 January 1914) born in Fareham, Hampshire, was a British "dramatic author, actor and variety artiste". His career encompassed the era of the late Victorian farce, the music halls and early British cinema. Mark Melford was a prolific playwright and wrote not only dramas, farces, melodramas and comic sketches, but also a musical drama, and a comic opera. He was also an accomplished comic actor often taking the leading role in his own works. As a playwright, the genre in which he was most prolific was farce; Jeffrey H. Huberman in his ''Late Victorian Farce'' writes that Mark Melford wrote and had produced more full-length original farces than any other Victorian playwright.Huberman, Jeffrey H. ''Late Victorian Farce'' Michigan:UMI Research Press 1986 The hand-list of plays in Allardyce Nicoll's six-volume ''A History of English Drama, 1660-1900'' lists thirty nine works by Mark Melford up to 1900. From 1912 onwards he also wrote, directed, and acted in many s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Wing Pinero
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (24 May 185523 November 1934) was an English playwright and, early in his career, actor. Pinero was drawn to the theatre from an early age, and became a professional actor at the age of 19. He gained experience as a supporting actor in British provincial theatres, and from 1876 to 1881 was a member of Henry Irving's company, based at the Lyceum Theatre, London, Lyceum Theatre, London. Pinero wrote his first play in 1877. Seven years later, having written 15 more, three of them highly successful, he abandoned acting and became a full-time playwright. He first became known for a series of farces, of which ''The Magistrate (play), The Magistrate'' (1885) was the longest-running. During the 1890s he turned to serious subjects. ''The Second Mrs Tanqueray'' (1893), dealing with a woman with a scandalous past, was regarded as shocking, but ran well and made a large profit. His other successes included ''Trelawny of the 'Wells', Trelawny of the "Wells"'' (1898), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas William Robertson
Thomas William Robertson (9 January 1829 – 3 February 1871) was an English dramatist and stage director. Born to a theatrical family, Robertson began as an actor, but he was not a success and gave up acting in his late 20s. After earning a modest living writing articles for the press, translating and adapting foreign plays and writing several of his own plays he achieved success in 1865 with his play ''Society (play), Society'', which the actor-manager Marie Wilton presented at a small London theatre, the Scala Theatre, Prince of Wales's. Over the next five years Robertson wrote five more plays for the Prince of Wales's. Their naturalistic style and treatment of contemporary social issues was in strong contrast to the melodramas and exaggerated theatricality to which the public had been accustomed, and Robertson's plays were box-office and critical successes. Robertson supervised their productions and was a pioneer of modern stage directing. Among later theatrical figures inf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
