(February 6, 1838 - October 13, 1905)
Henry Irving was one of the most famous stage actors and theatre managers of the Victorian era, distinguishing himself in over five hundred roles. The son of a salesman, Irving was born John Henry Brodribb in Keinton Mandeville in the county of Somerset, England. Although his formal schooling initially prepared him for a career in clerical work, Irving found himself captivated by the magical visual and oratory powers of the theatre. When he was bequeathed one hundred pounds in a will, he used the opportunity to supply himself with an arsenal of theatrical tools: costumes, props, and wigs. In September 1856 he made his professional debut at Sunderland as Gaston, Duke of Orleans, in the play Richelieu. Here he also made his first appearance with his stage name, chosen as an homage to two personal heroes: author Washington Irving and preacher Edward Irving.
Irving spent the next ten years training in various stock theatre companies, steadily earning a positive reputation as an actor with a distinctive style that included remarkable vocal prowess. Of his personal style, he was known to say, "If you do not pass a character through your own mind it can never be sincere." 1 In 1871, he began his long association with the famed Lyceum Theatre and had his first real commercial success playing Mathias, a murderer, in The Bells. The engagement, which ran for 150 performances, solidified Irving's reputation for complex, "macabre" characters, a trait which surely connects to the lore that he is the inspiration for his great friend Bram Stoker's famous villain: Count Dracula. 2
For many years, Irving enjoyed extreme critical and commercial success. He played starring roles in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, Othello, and King Lear; Tennyson's Queen Mary; Goethe's Faust; and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Waterloo. He was known for his decades-long professional partnership with famed actress Ellen Terry, and played extensively all over England and gave seven extensive tours in America, performing in such states as New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Illinois, California, Michigan, and Ohio.
As the turn of the century progressed, Irving spent much of his distinguished career at the Lyceum in London. While he maintained the training and values of the Victorian Era, the changes in more modern material left his personal acting passions unsatisfied. Irving had a noted feud with critic George Bernard Shaw, who, after sending him Ibsen's play John Gabriel Borkman, was met with and rejected by Irving's comment, "Threadworms and leeches are an interesting study, but they have no interest to me." 3 Although a series of personal illnesses and unfortunate financial disasters left him with little support in his final years, Irving remained a respected student of a particular style and method of actor training.
In 1895, Irving was knighted by the Queen of England, the first of his profession to be granted that honor. He died in 1905 after complications derived from suffering a stroke while onstage during a performance.
1. Stoker XLIII
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica
3. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Resources
Irving, Laurence. Henry Irving: The Actor and His World. London: Faber and Faber, 1951.
This is probably the definitive source on Irving. Written by his son, it is full of dates, writings, appendices, anecdotes, pictures, etc. Extraordinarily detailed and intimate portrait. Here's the bad news - his seven odd American tours are well documented in the book, and it doesn't mention Toledo at all, although it does Cincinnati, Columbus, and Detroit. Here's hoping he actually played at the Valentine.
"Irving, Sir Henry." Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9042826 6 Oct. 2007.
Saintsbury, A.A. We Saw Him Act: A Symposium on the Art of Henry Irving. London: Jurst and Blackett, 1939.
This book is a series of synopsis of plays, reviews, and personal anecdotes of critics and friends' experiences of Irving. Detailed and interesting stories. Also includes basic information on when and where he performed.
Stoker, Bram. Personal Remembrances of Henry Irving: Volumes 1 and 2. London: William Heinemann, 1906.
Stoker details his famous friendship with Irving over the course of two volumes. Written rather as an organized memoir of Irving's life and career. Fascinating to look at.
"Henry Irving." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Irving 6 October 2007.