Irving, Sir Henry

Irving, Sir Henry, professional name of John Henry Brodribb (1838-1905), English actor and theatrical manager, born in Keinton-Mandeville, Somersetshire. He made his stage debut at the age of 18 at the Lyceum Theatre, Sunderland. After acting briefly in London, Edinburgh, Liverpool, and Dublin, he spent five seasons in Manchester before settling (1866) in London.

In 1871 Irving first appeared at the Lyceum Theatre, London; he remained there as an actor for 28 years and as manager and lessee for 21 of those years. In 1878, the first year of Irving's management of the Lyceum, the famous English actress Ellen Terry joined his company and was Irving's leading lady until 1902.

Irving was particularly successful with his Shakespearean productions. He was responsible for restoring much of the text that had been excised from the plays by earlier producers and actors. He also occasionally performed in and produced contemporary melodramas and verse plays. As a manager, Irving was famous for the visual opulence of his productions. As an actor, he was at the same time highly mannered and enormously magnetic. In 1895 he became the first actor to be knighted, thus fulfilling his lifelong ambition of raising the acting profession to respectability. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Irving made several successful tours of the United States and Canada between 1883 and 1904. He wrote several books, notably The Drama (1893), and he frequently lectured on acting and the theatre. As the intelligent and articulate advocate of a new subtlety and historical accuracy in performance, Irving is regarded as the most influential figure in the English theatre of the Victorian era. Irving's elder son, Henry Brodribb Irving, was also a successful actor, and his younger son, Laurence Sidney Irving, was an actor and playwright.