Isabel Irving (February 28, 1871 –September 1, 1944) was an American stage

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), 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 ...

. Irving made her

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

debut at the Lyceum Theatre in 1890 as Daisy in ''Nancy and Company''. In 1894, she signed a three-year contract with the manager of the Lyceum Theatre in New York, stipulating "for the first time in her short career on stage," that she shall have "leading business." Until that time she had played the ingenue and other small parts.

Life

Isabel Irving was born in

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

on February 28, 1871 to Charles Washington and Isabella Irving.Leonard, John William (1914)
''Woman's Who's Who of America: a Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada'', American Commonwealth Company, pg. 423.
She made her New York stage debut in c. 1886 at the Standard Theatre in ''

The Schoolmistress ''The Schoolmistress'' is a farce by Arthur Wing Pinero. It depicts the complications at a girls' boarding school when the headmistress is away, leaving her feckless husband in charge. The play opened at the Court Theatre, London in March 18 ...

'' under Rosina Vokes. In 1899, after a secret engagement, Irving married the actor William H. Thompson who died in 1923. In 1907, an Oregon newspaper ( ''The'' ''Morning Oregonian'') called her a "brilliant American actress" and "a charming actress and comedienne" during her national tour performance there in ''Susan In Search of a Husband''. She retired from her long career in theater in 1936 after completing her final tour in ''Three Wise Fools.'' She died in 1944 in

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

at 73.

Selected appearances

Irving appeared in numerous productions during her 50-year career. * ''

'' (as Gwendoline) * ''Pantomime Rehearsal'' *''Nancy and Company'' (as Daisy) * ''Gwynee's Oath'' (as the ingenue) * ''Popping the Question'' (as the waiting maid) * ''The Great Unknown'' (as Pansy) * ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...

'' (as Audrey) * ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' (as Oberon) * ''The Hunchback'' (as Helen) * ''The Last Word'' (as Miss Rutherell) * ''The Arabian Nights'' (as Maitland) * ''Needles and Pins'' * ''The Critic'' * ''The Lottery of Love'' * ''

The Cabinet Minister ''The Cabinet Minister'' is an 1890 comedy (drama), comedy play by the British writer Arthur Wing Pinero. A cabinet minister spends well beyond his means, leading to massive debts.Booth p.106 References Bibliography * Booth, Michael R. ''Prefa ...

'' *''

She Stoops to Conquer ''She Stoops to Conquer'' is a comedy by Oliver Goldsmith, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in the English-speaking world. It is one of the few plays from the 18th ...

'' *''

Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'' *''

The Age of Innocence ''The Age of Innocence'' is a 1920 novel by American author Edith Wharton. It was her twelfth novel, and was initially serialized in 1920 in four parts, in the magazine ''Pictorial Review''. Later that year, it was released as a book by D. Apple ...

'' *''

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the direct ...

'' *''Three Wise Fools''

Gallery

References

External links

*
Isabel Irving
photo gallery at th
NYP Library

from the Nantucket Historical Association Digital Exhibition 'Sconset 02564 {{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, Isabel 1871 births 1944 deaths Actresses from Bridgeport, Connecticut 19th-century American actresses American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses