Actor; born in Keinton, near
Glastonbury, England, Feb. 6, 1838.
His real name was
John Henry Brodribb, but he preferred the name of “
Irving,” and in 1887 was permitted by royal license to continue the use of it. He was educated in a private school in
London, and began his dramatic career in 1856, when he took the minor part of
Orleans in
Richelieu.
In 1866 he established his reputation as an actor of merit at the
St. James Theatre, in
London, as Doricourt in
The Belle's stratagem.
In 1870 he appeared as
Digby Grant in the
Two Roses, which was played for 300 nights; and in 1871, after playing the part of
Mathias in
The bells at the
Lyceum Theatre, he came to be regarded as the greatest actor in
England.
He assumed the management of the
Lyceum Theatre in 1878, and raised that house to an international reputation.
In May, 1881, he opened a memorable engagement with
Edwin Booth, producing
Othello, in which the two actors alternated the parts of Othello and Iago.
He has made several successful tours of the
United States in company with
Ellen Terry, on one of which (1884) he delivered an address on
The art of acting before the students of Harvard University.
In a lecture on
Amusements, before the
Church of
England Temperance Society, he made a strong defence of the morality of the stage.
He published
Impressions of America (1884). In 1895 he received the honor of knighthood.
