Irving, SIR HENRY

Irving, SIR HENRY (born JOHN HENRY BRODRIBB), actor, was born in 1838 at Keinton-Mandeville, Somerset. Educated in London, he was for a time engaged as a clerk in the city, but, having a strong inclination for the stage, made his first appearance at the Sunderland Theatre in 1856. After next playing at Edinburgh for nearly three years, he first performed in London on September 25, 1859, at the Princess's Theatre. He achieved but a moderate success, though some dramatic readings which he gave at this time at Crosby Hall were warmly commended by the critics. He next played at Glasgow, and then for nearly five years at the Manchester Theatre Royal. After a brief engagement at Liverpool in 1866 he appeared with Miss Kate Terry at Manchester in Hunted Down. An invitation to London followed, and he appeared at St James's Theatre with much success as Doricourt in The Belle's Stratagem, Dornton in The Road to Ruin, and (at the Gaiety) as Mr Chenevix in Uncle Dick's Darling. Performances at other London theatres followed, and in 1870, at the Vaudeville Theatre, he made a distinct mark as Digby Grant in Albery's comedy of Two Roses. Migrating to the Lyceum in November 1871, he further added to his reputation by his fine representation of Mathias in The Bells. Other impersonations succeeded, including Charles I., Eugene Aram, Richelieu, and Louis XI., until, on the 31st of October 1874, he created genuine interest by his unconventional performance of Hamlet. This Shakespearian masterpiece ran for two hundred nights, and, although the public were divided as to the general merits of the representation, full justice was done to the actor's abilities, and it was universally admitted that Mr Irving had established his reputation as a tragedian of real power and originality. Among other successes under Mrs Bateman's management of the Lyceum were Macbeth, Othello, Richard III., and The Lyons Mail. In December 1878 Mr Irving entered upon his memorable management of the Lyceum Theatre, where his triumphs have been shared by Miss Ellen Terry. He soon added a succession of romantic characters to his répertoire. After performances of Hamlet, Othello, and The Merchant of Venice, which were marked by scenic as well as histrionic excellence, this popular actor appeared in 1880 in The Corsican Brothers; in Lord Tennyson's drama of The Cup in 1881; in Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado about Nothing in 1882; Twelfth Night in 1884; W. G. Wills's Olivia in 1885; Faust, adapted by Wills, in 1886; The Dead Heart in 1889; King Lear in 1892; Becket in 1893; King Arthur in 1895; Cymbeline in 1896, &c. Since 1883 Irving and his company have repeatedly been received with enthusiasm in the United States. He was knighted in 1895, and made D.C.L. of Oxford in 1896. Notwithstanding certain mannerisms of voice, gait, and gesture, he is undoubtedly at the head of contemporary English actors, and he has done much to redeem the stage from formality and mediocrity. See works on Irving by Joseph Hatton (1884), Frederic Daly (1884), William Archer (1885), and Percy Fitzgerald (1893).