William John Lawrence

“ Toole began his first professional engagement in London by originating at the St. James's Theatre the poorly drawn character of Samuel Pepys in Taylor and Reade's ineffective comedy, 'The King's Rival,' and the more congenial role of Weazle, the disguised sheriff's officer, in Selby's farce, 'My Friend the Major.' But the engagement proved disquieting, and on 26 March 1855 he returned with relief to the Edinburgh stock company. ”

“ On its production in London at the Queen's Theatre, Long Acre, on 8 Jan. 1868, Toole was supported by a new cast, comprising Charles Wyndham, Henry Irving, Lionel Brough, and Henrietta Hodson, and the harmony of the acting concealed the defective construction of the play. Toole's mingled exhibition of grief, passion, and humour as the brave old man who could endure starvation with a pleasant face raised him higher in critical estimation. In association with Henry Irving, he subsequently fiilfilled an engagement of seven weeks at the Standard Theatre. ”

“ His last appearance on the stage was at His Majesty's at a matinee on 29 April 1910, when he played Sir Oliver in a scene from 'The School for Scandal.'
Neville's art reflected his buoyant, breezy nature and his generous mind. A romantic actor of the old flamboyant school, he succeeded in prolonging his popularity by an adroit compromise with latter-day conditions. He believed that the principles of acting could be taught, and in 1878 established a dramatic studio in Oxford Street, in whose fortunes he continued for many years to take a vivid interest. ”

“ In November she returned to the Queen's to play Ariel in a spectacular revival of 'The Tempest.' Henry Labouchere had then bought out the other lessees and the proprietor, and had assumed control of the theatre. Miss Hodson's technical knowledge and experience proved invaluable to her husband. Her sister Kate (acting as Miss Kate Gordon) joined the company as the principal soubrette. In April 1871 Miss Hodson made a new departure by appearing as Imogen in 'Cymbeline,' and, although somewhat lacking in dignity and passion in the earlier scenes, showed discretion and grace in the boy's disguise. ”

“ Henry Labouchere died at the Villa Christina on 16 Jan. 1912.
An actress of individuality and high technical accomplishment, Henrietta Hodson was seen at her best in characters where she could mingle demureness with an underlying sense of fun and mischief. When pathos or sentimentality was demanded she was found wanting. Her art was somewhat too delicate and refined for burlesque, in which she showed a lack of animal spirits. ”

“ In the autumn of 1844 the Adelphi reopened under the management of Benjamin Webster and Madame Celeste, and the golden period of Miss Woolgar's career at that theatre began. On 14 October she showed dramatic feeling as Lazarillo in Boucicault's 'Don Cesar de Bazan.' At the Haymarket on 18 Nov. (owing to the sudden illness of Madame Vestris) she played Lady Ahce Hawthorn, on half a day's notice, in the same author's new comedy 'Old Heads and Young Hearts.' She returned to the Adelphi at Easter 1845, and afterwards fulfilled some provincial engagements with her father. ”

“ TEARLE, OSMOND (1852–1901) , actor, whose full name was George Osmond Tearle, born at Plymouth on 8 March 1862, was son of George Tearle, colour-sergeant in the royal marines. After serving in the Crimean and China wars his father retired on pension to Liverpool. Educated there at St. Francis Xavier's College, Tearle took part in amateur theatricals, and in 1868 in 'penny readings' with Mr. T. Hail Caine. Inspired by Barry Sullivan's acting, he took to the stage, making his debut at the Adelphi Theatre, Liverpool, on 26 March 1869, as Guildenstern to Miss Adelaide Ross's Hamlet. ”

“ After seeing this masterly performance Dickens wrote to Forster that Toole had shown ' a power of passion very imusual indeed in a comic actor, as such things go, and of a quite remarkable kind.' But the play proved unattractive and was not revived. On 26 June 1865 he originated with acceptance another semi-serious plebeian character, Joe Bright, in Walter Gordon's comedy-drama 'Through Fire and Water,' and surprised his audience in the opening act by a grimly realistic exhibition of drunken savagery. In the summer of 1866 he went on tour with Henry Irving. ”

“ On 17 May following she began a new engagement at the Fourteenth Street Theatre, New York, and was seen again in New York in the winter seasons of 1888–9 and 1891. Meanwhile, on 21 Sept. 1886, she opened the Strand Theatre, under her own management, with ‘The Sultan of Mocha,’ then first given in London, and on 26 Jan. 1888 was heartily welcomed on making her reappearance there as Antonio the page in the comic opera ‘Barbette.’ Thenceforth her vivacity showed signs of decay. ”

“ Neville's impassioned and romantic style of acting, which gave a character to the Olympic productions, contrasted with the over-charged, highly coloured style then current at the Adelphi. But early in 1867 he migrated to the Adelphi, where, on 16 March, he was the original Job Armroyd in Watts Phillips's 'Lost in London,' and on 1 June the original Farmer Allen in Charles Reade's version of Tennyson's 'Dora.' On 31 Aug., on Miss Kate Terry's farewell, he played Romeo to her Juliet, and on 26 Dec. ”

“ Toole's Caleb Plummer undoubtedly ranks among the histrionic masterpieces of his century. Among succeeding triumphs in drama or burlesque are to be noted his rendering of Azucena in Byron's burlesque 'Ill-treated II Trovatore' (21 May) , and of Mr. Tetterby in 'The Haunted Man' at the Adelphi (27 June 1863) .
Toole had now attained a salary of 35l. per week. On 7 March 1864 he was the original policeman in Brough and Halliday's farce 'The Area Belle' to the soldier of his ally Paul Bedford. ”

“ Following the Bancrofts to the Haymarket, Kemble appeared there on the opening night of their management (31 January 1880) as Mr. Stout in 'Money,' and subsequently played Dr. Sutcliffe in a revival of 'School.' During the recess he toured the provinces with Miss Ellen Terry, returning to the Haymarket on 20 Sept. to play Captain Mouser in a revival of Buckstone's 'Leap Year.' A few weeks later he played Sir Lucius O'Trigger to the Bob Acres of John S. Clarke. ”

“ KEMBLE, HENRY (1848–1907) , actor, born in London on 1 June 1848, was son of Henry Kemble, captain of the 37th foot. Charles Kemble [q. v.] was his grandfather. He was educated by his aunt, Fanny Kemble [q. v. Suppl. I] , at Bury St. Edmunds and King's College school, London. In 1865 he entered the privy council office, but devoted most of his time to amateur theatricals. Yielding to the hereditary bias, he made his professional debut on the stage at the Theatre Royal, Dublin, on 7 Oct. ”

“ HODSON, HENRIETTA (afterwards Mrs. Henry Labouchere) (1841–1910) , actress, born at Upper Marsh, in St. Mary's parish, Westminster, on 26 March 1841, was eldest daughter of George Alfred Hodson, Irish comedian and singer (1822-1869) , by his wife Henrietta Elizabeth Noel. Her father kept the Duke's Arms inn at Westminster (Reg. Births, Somerset House) . ”

“ Toole had all Wright's propensitfes for ’gagging,' and (especially in the provinces) gratified them to the full. If his humour was neither so rich nor so spontaneous as Wright's, it at least lacked his coarseness and lubricity. The last great low comedian of the old school, Toole was certainly the cleanest. A portrait of him by the Hon. John Collier, presented in 1895 by Sir Henry Irving, hangs in the Garrick Club (No. 340) . Several other portraits of the comedian in character were sold at the auction of his effects at Sotheby's on 8 Nov. ”

“ Mrs. Mellon died at her residence, Vardens Road, Wandsworth Common, after a very brief illness, on 8 Sept. 1909, and was buried in Brompton cemetery beside her husband, whom she survived forty-two years. She left two daughters, of whom the younger. Miss Mary Woolgar Mellon, became an actress. 'In her prime,' writes John Coleman, 'Miss Woolgar was one of the most accomplished all-round actresses of her day; tragedy, comedy, melodrama, farce, or burlesque — nothing came amiss to her. . . . In high comedy she lacked distinction and hauteur ”

“ Henry Morley hailed him as 'a new actor of real mark.' After other provincial engagements he spent four years at the Olympic under Robson and Emden (1862-6) , and the experience proved the turning-point in his career. ”

“ There he was the original Sir Geoffrey Champneys in H. J. Byron's comedy 'Our Boys' on 16 Jan. 1875, and played the part, without intermission, until July 1878. Subsequently he was seen at the Royal Aquarium (afterwards Imperial Theatre) as Grandfather Whitehead (9 Nov. 1878) , in which he was deemed inferior in pathos to his father; as young Marlow; as Archer in 'The Beaux' Stratagem' (Oct. 1879) ; as Sir Robert Bramble in 'The Poor Gentleman'; and as Adam in Miss Litton's revival of 'As You Like It' — a role which he repeated later at the opening of the Shaftesbury Theatre (20 Oct. 1888) . ”

“ On 9 Oct. 1843 Miss Woolgar made her London debut at the Adelphi as Cleopatra in Selby's burletta 'Antony and Cleopatra.' With the Adelphi she was long associated. Her first original character there was in T. Egerton Wilks's romantic drama 'The Roll of the Drum' on 16 October. ”

“ Lydia Thompson reappeared at the Gaiety, London, on 13 Feb. as Morgiana in the famous amateur pantomime of ‘The Forty Thieves.’ On 25 Jan. 1879 she played Carmen at the Folly in Reece's new burlesque of ‘Carmen, or Sold for a Song.’ After some two years in retirement, she reappeared at the Royalty on 12 Nov. ”

“ An excellent amateur actor, Pemberton frequently lectured on theatrical subjects. In 1889 he was elected a governor of the Shakespeare Memorial theatre, Stratford-on-Avon, and showed much interest in its work. ”

“ In 1887, in conjunction with H. B. Conway, Farren started the Conway-Farren old comedy company at the Strand, appearing there as Lord Ogleby in 'The Clandestine Marriage,' old Domton, and other characters. At the Criterion on 27 Nov. 1890 he played with great acceptance his father's original part of Sir Harcourt Courtly in 'London Assurance.' After 1896 his appearances on the stage were confined to occasional performances of Simon Ingot in 'David Garrick' with (Sir) Charles Wyndham. On his retirement in 1898 he settled at Rome. He died at Siena on 25 Sept. ”

“ Faucit's two legitimate children. Beginning life as a vocalist, 'young William Farren' sang at the Antient Concerts in 1848. Turning to the stage, he, after slight training in the country, made his London début in the name of Forrester at the Strand Theatre, under his father's management, on 6 Sept. ”

“ Frederick Arthur Wellesley, third son of the first Earl Cowley. Her husband divorced her in 1897. A water-colour drawing of her as Morgiana in 'The Forty Thieves,' by Jack, was shown at the Victorian Era Exhibition in 1897. ”

“ Joseph Hatton's Reminiscences of J. L. Toole; W. Clark Russell's Representative Actors; Forster's Life of Charles Dickens; J. C. Dibdin's Annals of the Edinburgh Stage; Theatrical Journal for 1852–5; The Bancroft Memoirs; Recollections of Edmund Yates; Pascoe's Dramatic List; Era Almanack for 1877; W. Davenport Adams's Dict. of the Drama; T. Edgar Pemberton's Dickens and the Stage; Dramatic Notes 1879–88; Col. T. Allston Brown's History of the New York Theatres; William Archer's The Theatrical World for 1894–5 ”

“ Finally, on 8 Oct., he made his professional debut in the same character at the Queen's Theatre, Dublin, where he was engaged by Charles Dillon as stock low comedian at a salary of 2l. per week, and, becoming an Immediate favourite, remained six months. ”

“ A variety of engagements of small importance occupied him for the next fifteen years, during which he was the original Mr. Parr on 6 Jan. 1888 in Robert Buchanan's 'Partners' at the Haymarket, where he remained for some time, and he made an acceptable Polonius at the Theatre Royal, Manchester, on 9 Sept. ”

“ But, failing to keep step with the steady march towards naturalness, she came to be considered stilted and over pronounced, and she gradually lost caste. On 15 May 1878 a testimonial performance of 'The Green Bushes' was given on her behalf at Drury Lane, when Madame Celeste made her last appearance on the stage. ”

“ Terminating her engagement at the Queen's in August 1870, she opened the Royalty on 3 Sept. for a season under her own management, appearing with acceptance in Reece's ' Whittington and his Sensation Cat' and other pieces, chiefly burlesques. ”

“ T. W. Robertson (1892) ; John Hare (1895) ; Ellen Terry and her sisters (1902) ; and Sir Charles Wyndham (1905) . He was personally familiar with most of his themes, but his biographic method had no literary distinction. ”