Benjamin Nottingham Webster (3 September 17973 July 1882) was an English
actor-manager and
dramatist.
Early life
Webster was born in
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
, the son of a dancing master.
Career
First appearing as
Harlequin, and then in small parts at
Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster.
Notable landmarks ...
, he went to the
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...
in 1829, and was given leading comedy character business.
Webster was the lessee of the Haymarket from 1837 to 1853; he built the new
Adelphi Theatre (1859); later the
Olympic Theatre,
Princess's Theatre, London and
St James's Theatres came under his control; and he was the patron of all the contemporary playwrights and many of the best actors, who owed their opportunity of success to him. He wrote, translated or adapted nearly a hundred plays.
As a character actor he was unequalled in his day, especially in such parts as Triplet in ''Masks and Faces'', Joey Ladle in ''No Thoroughfare'', and John Peerybingle in his own dramatization of ''The Cricket on the Hearth''.
Webster took his formal farewell of the stage in 1874.
Later life
Webster died in 1882, and is buried in
Brompton Cemetery, London. The grave lies 10m east of the main path, midway between the north entrance and the colonnades on an east–west path.
Personal life
His daughter, Harriette Georgiana (died 1897), was the first wife of
Edward Levy-Lawson, 1st Baron Burnham.
His son, W.S. Webster, had three children –
Benjamin Webster (b. 1864; married to
Miss (Dame) May Whitty), Annie (Mrs A.E. George)
and Lizzie (Mrs
Sydney Brough)
– all well known on the London stage, and further connected with it in each case by marriage.
References
Further reading
*
Scott
Scott may refer to:
Places Canada
* Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec
* Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380
* Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saska ...
, ''The Drama of Yesterday and To-Day'' (London, 1899)
*
Matthews
Matthews may refer to:
People
* Matthews (surname)
Places
* Matthews Island, Antarctica
* Matthews Range, Kenya
* Mount Matthews, New Zealand
United States
* Matthews, Georgia
* Matthews, Indiana
* Matthews, Maryland
* Matthews, Missouri
* Mat ...
and
Hutton, ''Actors and Actresses of Great Gritain and the United States'' (New York, 1886)
*
External links
*
Theater Arts Manuscripts:An Inventory of the Collection at the
Harry Ransom Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Benjamin Nottingham
1797 births
1882 deaths
English male stage actors
English theatre managers and producers
Burials at Brompton Cemetery
19th-century English male actors
Actor-managers
English male dramatists and playwrights
19th-century English dramatists and playwrights
19th-century English male writers
19th-century English businesspeople