Harry Arthur Saintsbury, usually called H. A. Saintsbury (18 December 1869 – 19 June 1939), was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and playwright. A leading man, he became well known for his stage interpretation of Sherlock Holmes, was an early

mentor Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

of Charlie Chaplin, and is considered an authority on the work of

Sir Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

. Called Arthur by his friends, professionally he used his initials.Robert W. Pohle, Douglas C. Hart, ''Sherlock Holmes on the screen: the motion picture adventures of the world's most popular detective'' (A. S. Barnes, 1977), pp. 54
56
57 Most of his plays appeared under the

nom-de-plume A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of Jay Nibb.

Early life

The son of Frederic Saintsbury,

Esq. Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman a ...

, of the Bank of England, Saintsbury was born in

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, London, on 18 December 1869, into a middle-class family. His father had married Sarah Charlotte, second daughter of Robert Lemon, FSA, of

Her Majesty's State Paper Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...

, at

St Luke's Church, Chelsea The Parish Church of St Luke, Chelsea, is an Anglican church, on Sydney Street, Chelsea, London SW3, just off the King's Road. Ecclesiastically it is in the Deanery of Chelsea, part of the Diocese of London. It was designed by James Savage in 1 ...

, on 13 October 1854. He was educated at St John's College, Hurstpierpoint, and began his working life as a clerk in the Bank of England.'SAINTSBURY, H. A., actor and dramatic author', in ''Who's Who in the Theatre 1936'', p. 1283

Career

In March, 1887, Saintsbury made his first appearance on stage at the Opera Comique Theatre as a super in

Kate Vaughan Kate Vaughan (1852 – 21 February 1903) was the stage name of Catherine Alice Candelin, a British dancer and actress. She was best known for developing the skirt dance and has been called the "greatest dancer of her time".St Johnston, pp. 170� ...

's revival of Reade and

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) ** List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) Pl ...

's ''Masks and Faces''. His first leading part was as Captain Temple, touring in Pettitt and

Harris Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle of ...

's melodrama ''Human Nature''.

As 'Jay Nibb', Saintsbury wrote several plays for the stage. Those produced include ''Betrayed by a Kiss'' (1891), ''The Friend of the People'' (1893), ''The Doctor's Shadow'' (1896), ''His Relations'' (1896), ''The Eleventh Hour'' (1896, in collaboration with Ronald MacDonald), ''The Three Musketeers'' (1898), ''Chicot the Jester'' (1898), ''The First Night'' (1899), ''Don Caesar de Bazan'' (1899), and ''Jim: a Romance of Cockayne'' (1903).Nicoll, ''op. cit.''
p. 554
/ref> Saintsbury made his name as a romantic actor of the "cloak and swords school", and by the end of the 19th century was a considerable force in the Victorian stage. Shortly after the Lyceum Theatre,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, opened in May 1901, and before it was renamed the Alexandra Theatre, its promoters engaged Saintsbury, "the first star from the great outside to walk the theatre's boards". From the middle of June 1901 he was at the new theatre as leading man for ten weeks, playing flamboyantly in

costume drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swa ...

s such as ''Jane Shore'', '' David Garrick'', and his own ''Don Cesar de Bazan''. In 1903, Saintsbury took the thirteen-year-old Charlie Chaplin under his wing when Chaplin was hired for a small stage part after being sent to meet Saintsbury at the

Green Room Club The Green Room Club was a London-based club, primarily for actors, but also for lovers of theatre, arts and music. It was established in in a restaurant in Piccadilly Circus, and moved to premises on Adam Street in 1955, where it remained unt ...

in Leicester Square for his approval. He was given the role of 'Sam, a news boy' in Saintsbury's play ''Jim: a Romance of Cockayne'', in which Saintsbury was the leading man. The play ran for two weeks, when Chaplin was given the part of Billy, the page boy of Sherlock Holmes in

William Gillette William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage-manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 1916 ...

's play '' Sherlock Holmes'', in which the title role was again played by Saintsbury. Chaplin was paid two pounds, ten shillings, a week, a good income for a boy.A. J. Marriot, ''Chaplin: stage by stage'' (Marriot, 2005), pp. 42, 51 & 214 By 1903, Saintsbury was living at the Green Room Club, which was to remain his home for the rest of his life. In 1910, Saintsbury played Sherlock Holmes for five months in

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for '' A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

's own stage play '' The Speckled Band''. Charles Millward took over the role when the production moved to New York, but Saintsbury returned as Holmes in a West End revival of the play in 1921. Saintsbury played the role of Holmes again in a 1916 film, ''

The Valley of Fear ''The Valley of Fear'' is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. It is loosely based on the Molly Maguires and Pinkerton agent James McParland. The story was first published in the ''Strand Magazine ...

'', which is believed lost, opposite Booth Conway as Professor Moriarty. By the time the film was made, Saintsbury had played Holmes more than a thousand times on stage, and by 1921 he had taken this total to 1,400 performances. His interpretation of Holmes was notably restrained and made a powerful impression on the young Charlie Chaplin, who wrote of Saintsbury in 1964: A former colleague of

, near the end of his own life Saintsbury edited and collated ''We Saw Him Act: a symposium on the art of Sir Henry Irving'', consisting of essays, articles, and anecdotes written by Irving's contemporaries. First published in 1939, the work of editing the book was completed by Cecil Palmer and the result was reprinted in 1969. Palmer noted in his introduction Saintsbury is now considered an authority on the work of Irving.

Personal life

Saintsbury married an Irishwoman, Florence. According to the 1911 census, they were married in 1893, but there is no record of a marriage in England. Saintsbury had two daughters, Dorothie Helen (known as Helen) (1895-1932) and Kathleen (1899-1995). Both became actresses. Helen married first the actor

Edgar Norfolk Edgar Norfolk (5 November 1893 – 1980) was a British actor. Norfolk was born Edgar Greenwood. He was the first husband of the actress Helen Saintsbury (a daughter of the actor H.A. Saintsbury); her second husband, Captain Buckley Rutherford, a ...

and, after a divorce, Captain Buckley Rutherford, a son of Sir Ernest Rutherford (a wine importer, not the physicist

Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who came to be known as the father of nuclear physics. ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' considers him to be the greatest ...

, although they were both born in 1871 and are sometimes confused). The marriage to Rutherford took place in 1932; four months later Rutherford shot himself. Distraught, less than a month after Rutherford’s suicide, Helen also shot herself. There is some suggestion that Helen was married three times, but it is possible this reflects that her first husband was originally called Edgar Greenwood, and changed his name to Norfolk for the stage. Saintsbury died at

St Thomas's Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large National Health Service, NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy' ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, on 19 June 1939, when his home address was 88 Woodstock Road, Bedford Park, leaving an estate valued at £544.

Publications

*''Betrayed by a Kiss'' (play, 1891, as Jay Nibb) *''The Friend of the People'' (play, 1893, as Jay Nibb) *''The Doctor's Shadow'' (play, 1896, as Jay Nibb) *''His Relations'' (play, 1896, as Jay Nibb) *''The Eleventh Hour'' (play, 1896, as Jay Nibb, in collaboration with Ronald MacDonald) *''The Three Musketeers'' (play, 1898, as Jay Nibb) *''Chicot the Jester'' (play, 1898, as Jay Nibb) *''The First Night'' (play, 1899, as Jay Nibb) *''Don Caesar de Bazan'' (play, 1899, as Jay Nibb) *''Jim: a Romance of Cockayne'' (play, 1903, as H. A. Saintsbury) *''The "Speckled band" on its errand of death: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's new play at the Adelphi'' (Illustrated London News & Sketch, 1910, with Cyrus Cunfo) *''The Cardinals' Collation (freely adapted from the Portuguese of Julio Dantas)'' (Cecil Palmer, 1926) *''We Saw Him Act: a symposium on the art of Sir Henry Irving'' (ed. by Saintsbury, 1939)

Filmography

* ''

'' (1916)

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saintsbury, Harry Arthur 1869 births 1939 deaths English male film actors English male silent film actors English male stage actors English dramatists and playwrights People educated at Hurstpierpoint College 20th-century English male actors English male dramatists and playwrights