Robert James Heir (10 February 1832 – 27 February 1868) was an actor in Australia, best known as the first husband of the great actress Fanny Cathcart.

History

Heir arrived in Melbourne by the George Marshall, and made his first appearance on 11 April 1855 at the

Queen's Theatre, Melbourne The Queen's Theatre was a playhouse in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, Australia. Situated on Queen Street, it was Melbourne's first purpose-built venue for staging plays, musicals and opera. History Originally named the Queen's Theatre Roya ...

as "Icilius" in Knowles' drama '' Virginius'' with G. V. Brooke and Fanny Cathcart. Heir and Cathcart were playing

Morris Barnett Morris Barnett (1800 – 18 March 1856), was a British actor and dramatist. Biography Born into a Jewish family,William D. Rubinstein, Michael Jolles, Hilary L. Rubinstein, ''The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History'', Palgrave Macm ...

's comedy, '' The Serious Family'', for

George Coppin George Selth Coppin (8 April 1819 – 14 March 1906) was a comic actor, a theatrical entrepreneur, a politician and a philanthropist, active in Australia.Sally O'Neill,Coppin, George Selth (1819–1906), '' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', ...

at his newly-opened

Olympic Theatre The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout ...

, with G. V. Brooke and R. Younge, when they married and after the last performance defected to the rival company of John Black at the Theatre Royal to play Thomas Morton's comedy ''A Roland for an Oliver'', which they had performed for Coppin a few months earlier.

Death

Mr and Mrs Heir were booked to appear at the Invercargill Theatre, New Zealand, in 1868, but he died on the passage across, and was buried at The Bluff, one of the most southerly towns in that country. A later pilgrim to the cemetery was surprised at the condition of his grave, unmarked and unkempt. It was in a similar condition thirty years later, when the Mayor of Invercargill wrote to

Nellie Stewart Nellie Stewart, born Eleanor Stewart Towzey (20 November 1858 – 21 June 1931) was an Australian actress and singer, known as "Our Nell" and "Sweet Nell". Born into a theatrical family, Stewart began acting as a child. As a young woman, she ...

, who brought the matter to the attention of the Australasian Dramatic and Musical Association, and a headstone was procured.

Personal

Heir married Mary Fanny Cathcart (3 August 1833 – 3 January 1880) around early 1855. A daughter was born on 23 March 1856, the first of five children, who all died young. She married

George Darrell George Frederick Price Darrell (1851–1921) was an Australian playwright best known for '' The Sunny South'' (1883), which was made into a film '' The Sunny South or The Whirlwind of Fate''. Darrell began his professional career with Simonsen's ...

(1851–1921) on 20 January 1870.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heir, Robert 1832 births 1868 deaths 19th-century Australian male actors People from the Colony of Victoria