Benjamin Nottingham Webster
Benjamin Nottingham Webster | |
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| Born | 3 September 1797 Bath, England |
| Died | 3 July 1882 (aged 84) |
| Resting place | Brompton Cemetery, London |
| Occupations | Actor, dramatist |
| Relatives |
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Benjamin Nottingham Webster (3 September 1797 – 3 July 1882) was an English actor-manager and dramatist.
Early life
[edit | edit source]Webster was born in Bath, the son of a dancing master.[1]
Career
[edit | edit source]This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2010) |
First appearing as Harlequin, and then in small parts at Drury Lane, he went to the Haymarket Theatre in 1829, and was given leading comedy character business.
Webster was the lessee of the Haymarket from 1837 to 1853; he built the new Adelphi Theatre (1859); later the Olympic Theatre, Princess's Theatre, London and St James's Theatres came under his control; and he was the patron of all the contemporary playwrights and many of the best actors, who owed their opportunity of success to him. He wrote, translated or adapted nearly a hundred plays.[1]
As a character actor he was unequalled in his day, especially in such parts as Triplet in Masks and Faces, Joey Ladle in No Thoroughfare, and John Peerybingle in his own dramatization of The Cricket on the Hearth.[1]
Webster took his formal farewell of the stage in 1874.[1]
Later life
[edit | edit source]Webster died in 1882, and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.[2] The grave lies 10m east of the main path, midway between the north entrance and the colonnades on an east–west path.
Personal life
[edit | edit source]His daughter, Harriette Georgiana (died 1897), was the first wife of Edward Levy-Lawson, 1st Baron Burnham.[3]
His son, W.S. Webster, had three children – Benjamin Webster (b. 1864; married to Miss (Dame) May Whitty), Annie (Mrs A.E. George)[4][5] and Lizzie (Mrs Sydney Brough)[6] – all well known on the London stage, and further connected with it in each case by marriage.[1]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b c d e One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ List of Brompton cemetery residents Archived 23 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ According to Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film by R. G. Young, A. E. George played Napoleon in the 1915 silent film Brigadier Gerard.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Further reading
[edit | edit source]- Scott, The Drama of Yesterday and To-Day (London, 1899)
- Matthews and Hutton, Actors and Actresses of Great Gritain and the United States (New York, 1886)
- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]- Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
- Theater Arts Manuscripts: An Inventory of the Collection at the Harry Ransom Center
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- 1797 births
- 1882 deaths
- English male stage actors
- English theatre managers and producers
- Burials at Brompton Cemetery
- 19th-century English male actors
- English actor-managers
- English male dramatists and playwrights
- 19th-century English dramatists and playwrights
- 19th-century English male writers
- 19th-century English businesspeople
- Male actors from Bath, Somerset