Albery, Sir Donald Arthur Rolleston (1914–1988), theatre manager, was born on 19 June 1914 at 33 Cumberland Terrace, Regent's Park, London, the elder son and second of the four children of Sir Bronson James Albery (1881–1971), theatre director, and his wife, Una Gwynn (...
Article
Albery, Sir Donald Arthur Rolleston (1914–1988), theatre manager
Wendy Trewin
revised
Article
Alexander, Sir George [real name George Alexander Gibb Samson] (1858–1918), actor and theatre manager
J. P. Wearing
Alexander, Sir George [real name George Alexander Gibb Samson] (1858–1918), actor and theatre manager, was born on 19 June 1858 at 1 Russell Villas, Russell Street, Reading, the eldest son in the family of at least three sons and one daughter of ...
Article
Anderson, James Robertson (1811–1895), actor and theatre manager
Joseph Knight
revised by Katharine Cockin
Anderson, James Robertson (1811–1895), actor and theatre manager, was born in Glasgow on 8 May 1811, the son of an actor, John Symon Anderson. He was educated at a day school on Leith Walk, Edinburgh. He made his stage début as an infant in 1813 at the ...
Article
Bancroft [née Wilton], Marie Effie, Lady Bancroft (1839–1921), actress and theatre manager
George Taylor
Bancroft [née Wilton], Marie Effie, Lady Bancroft (1839–1921), actress and theatre manager, was born on 12 January 1839, probably in Doncaster, the eldest of the six daughters of Robert Pleydell Wilton (1800–1873), a provincial actor, and his wife, Georgina Jane (1818–1866), the daughter of ...
Article
Bateman, Hezekiah Linthicum (1812–1875), actor and theatre manager
Gayle T. Harris
Bateman, Hezekiah Linthicum (1812–1875), actor and theatre manager, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, on 6 December 1812, the fourth child and second son of Amzi Bateman (c.1777–1816) and his wife, Catherine Schaeffer Evans Bateman (c.1784–1870). Amzi Bateman, a fisherman by trade, was a member of the ...
Article
Baylis, Lilian Mary (1874–1937), theatre manager
Elaine Aston
Baylis, Lilian Mary (1874–1937), theatre manager, was born at 19 Nottingham Street, Marylebone, London, on 9 May 1874, the eldest daughter of Edward William Baylis, an employee of Gillows furniture store in Oxford Street and a baritone singer (known as Newton Baylis), and his wife, ...
Article
Benson, Sir Francis Robert [Frank] (1858–1939), actor and theatre manager
J. P. Wearing
Benson, Sir Francis Robert [Frank] (1858–1939), actor and theatre manager, was born at Eden House, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on 4 November 1858, the third son and fourth child of William Benson (1816–1887), a barrister and justice of the peace of Alresford, Hampshire, and his wife, ...
Article
Betterton, Thomas (bap. 1635, d. 1710), actor and theatre manager
Judith Milhous
Betterton, Thomas (bap. 1635, d. 1710), actor and theatre manager, was baptized on 11 or 12 August 1635 at St Margaret, Westminster, London. His father, Matthew (d. 1663), was an under-cook to Charles I, according to Betterton's first biographer, Gildon. His mother was ...
Article
Bing, Sir Rudolf Franz Joseph (1902–1997), opera manager
Elizabeth Forbes
Bing, Sir Rudolf Franz Joseph (1902–1997), opera manager, was born in Vienna on 9 January 1902, the son of Ernst Hoenigsvald Bing, head of the Austro-Hungarian Steel and Iron Trust, and his wife, Stefanie. The youngest of four children, he left school at the age of sixteen. He trained his attractive light baritone voice, but did not consider becoming a professional. In 1919 he obtained a job with the Viennese booksellers ...
Article
Boucicault, Dion [Darley George], the younger (1859–1929), actor and theatre manager
Nilanjana Banerji
Boucicault, Dion [Darley George], the younger (1859–1929), actor and theatre manager, the second son of the actor and playwright Dion Boucicault (1820–1890) and his wife, Agnes Kelly Robertson (1833–1916), was born in New York city on 23 May 1859. He was given the name ...
Article
Buchanan, Walter John [Jack] (1890–1957), actor and theatre manager
Andrew H. Spicer
Buchanan, Walter John [Jack] (1890–1957), actor and theatre manager, was born on 2 April 1890 at Helensburgh, near Glasgow, the son of Walter John Buchanan (d. 1902), auctioneer, and his wife, Patricia Purves McWatt (d. 1936). When his father died leaving little provision, the family, including ...
Article
Calvert, Charles Alexander (1828–1879), actor and theatre manager
Richard Foulkes
Calvert, Charles Alexander (1828–1879), actor and theatre manager, was born in London on 28 February 1828, the son of William Henry Calvert (d. 1857), a silk merchant, who claimed descent from George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore. A. W. Ward's assertion (...
Article
Carte, Dame Bridget Cicely D'Oyly (1908–1985), theatre manager
C. M. P. Taylor
Carte, Dame Bridget Cicely D'Oyly (1908–1985), theatre manager, was born on 25 March 1908 at Suffolk Street, Pall Mall, London, the elder child of Rupert D'Oyly Carte (1876–1948), chairman of the Savoy group of companies and proprietor of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company...
Article
Céleste [married name Céleste-Elliott], Céline [known as Madame Céleste] (1810/11–1882), actress and theatre manager
Jane Moody
Céleste [married name Céleste-Elliott], Céline [known as Madame Céleste] (1810/11–1882), actress and theatre manager, was born in Paris. Contemporary biographers usually cite 1814 as the year of her birth, but a more likely date is 1810 or 1811. She showed acting and musical talent at an early age, and was enrolled as a pupil at the ...
Article
Cibber, Colley (1671–1757), actor, writer, and theatre manager
Eric Salmon
Cibber, Colley (1671–1757), actor, writer, and theatre manager, was born on 6 November 1671 at Southampton Street, Bloomsbury, London, the eldest child of Caius Gabriel Cibber (1630–1700), sculptor, and his second wife, Jane (c.1646–1697), daughter of William Colley of Glaston, Rutland...
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Colman, George, the elder (bap. 1732, d. 1794), playwright and theatre manager
Olive Baldwin and Thelma Wilson
Colman, George, the elder (bap. 1732, d. 1794), playwright and theatre manager, was born in Florence and baptized there at the church of San Giovanni on 18 April 1732, the son of Francis Colman (bap. 1691, d. 1733), envoy to the court of the ...
Article
Colman, George, the younger (1762–1836), playwright and theatre manager
William J. Burling
Colman, George, the younger (1762–1836), playwright and theatre manager, was born in London on 21 October 1762, the son of George Colman the elder (bap. 1732, d. 1794), playwright and theatre manager, and his mistress, later his wife, Sarah Ford (d. 1771)...
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Cooper, Dame Gladys Constance (1888–1971), actress and theatre manager
Sheridan Morley
revised
Cooper, Dame Gladys Constance (1888–1971), actress and theatre manager, was born at Lewisham in London on 18 December 1888, the eldest of the three daughters of Charles William Frederick Cooper, journalist and editor of Epicure, founded by himself, and of his second wife, ...
Article
Davenant [D'Avenant], Sir William (1606–1668), poet, playwright, and theatre manager
Mary Edmond
Davenant [D'Avenant], Sir William (1606–1668), poet, playwright, and theatre manager, was the second of four sons of John Davenant, vintner, and Jane, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Sheppard.
Article
Doggett, Thomas (c. 1670–1721), actor and theatre manager
William J. Burling
Doggett, Thomas (c. 1670–1721), actor and theatre manager, was born in Castle Street, Dublin, though nothing is known of his family or upbringing. Apparently by his early teens he was already engaged as a thespian, being listed in a 1684–5 manuscript cast for an intended production of ...
