Tree, Sir Herbert Beerbohm

Tree, Sir Herbert Beerbohm (1853-1917), English actor-manager, who was one of the greatest figures of the Victorian theatre. He was born in London; the noted caricaturist and writer Max Beerbohm was his half-brother. Beerbohm Tree became manager of the Haymarket Theatre in 1887 and of Her Majesty's Theatre, which he had built, in 1897. He was best known for his elaborate productions of Shakespeare's plays and for his adaptations of Charles Dickens's novels, in all of which he took leading parts. As an actor he had a remarkably wide range, from romantic leading roles to such character parts as Svengali and Fagin. In 1904 he founded the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He was knighted in 1909.