RARE! “Renowned 19th Century English Dramatist" Henry Neville Cut Signature

Description: Up for auction "Dramatist" Henry Neville Hand Clipped Signature. ES-7351E Thomas Henry Gartside Neville (20 June 1837 – 19 June 1910) was an English actor, dramatist, teacher and theatre manager. He began his career playing dashing juvenile leads, later specialising in Shakespearean roles, modern comedy and melodrama. His most famous role was as Bob Brierley in Tom Taylor's The Ticket-of-Leave Man. As the manager of the Olympic Theatre from 1873 to 1879, he presented numerous successful productions. In later years, he became a respected character actor. Neville was born in Manchester, England, son of John Garside Neville and his second wife Mary Anna, née Gartside (died 1895). He was the twentieth child of his father, an actor and the manager of Queen's Theatre, Spring Gardens, Manchester, who himself was the twentieth child of his father. Though Neville senior was in the theatre, there were strong military traditions on both sides of the family, and John Neville was opposed to his son's decision to pursue a theatrical rather than a military career and refused to help him. Neville had one brother, George (born c. 1839), one sister, Josaphine (c. 1838–1895), and nineteen half-brothers and sisters. From 1857 to 1860 Neville acted in the English provinces and Scotland. When the tragedian John Vandenhoff made his farewell performance in 1858 at the Theatre Royal, Liverpool, Neville played Cromwell to Vandenhoff's Wolsey in Shakespeare's King Henry VIII. He made his London debut in 1860 as Percy Ardent in Dion Boucicault's The Irish Heiress at the Lyceum Theatre. The Observer said of his performance: "Mr Henry Neville, a new importation from Liverpool, was gentlemanly and easy, of good manners and dashing appearance; and he promises to fill a dreary gap in the London theatrical world – the line of jeunes premières." He attracted further good notices for his next role, in The Love Chase, receiving encouragement from The Times "as a representative of young men of something like rank and position." The same year, he played Victor Savignie in Arrienne at the Lyceum and, at the Olympic Theatre, he played Ivan in Serf and Valjean in an adaptation of Les Miserables. In May 1863, still at the Olympic, Neville created the role of Bob Brierley in Tom Taylor's drama about the dismal life of a released convict, The Ticket-of-Leave Man, a character in which he made the success of his career. He played in its long first run and revivals for a total of about 2000 performances. In 1865, he played the title role in Taylor's Henry Dunbar at the Olympic opposite Kate Terry, and in 1867 was her chosen Romeo to her Juliet in her farewell London performances at the Adelphi Theatre. 1867 had been a busy year for Neville at the Adelphi, where he played Job Arnroyd in Lost in London, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Dunbar again, Farmer Allan in Dora, Richard Watt in His First Champagne, Claude Meinotee in Lady of Lyons, Walter Maidenblush in Little Treasure, Sir Thomas Clifford in Hunchback, and George Vendale in No Thoroughfare, another notable success. The next year at the Adelphi, he played the title role in Hamlet and repeated Robert Brierley. In 1869, still at the Adelphi, he portrayed the role of Vernon Wainwright in Eve. At the Gaiety Theatre in the same year, he played an important role in W. S. Gilbert's early comedy, An Old Score. Neville continued building his reputation on the London stage in the 1870s as actor and also as the manager of the Olympic Theatre from 1873 to 1879, where his company included rising actors such as Rutland Barrington, Helen Ernstone, Emily Fowler and Johnston Forbes-Robertson. In 1870, he played Henry Little in Put Yourself in His Place at the Adelphi. In 1872 he had a great success in The School for Scandal of which The Times said, "Mr Henry Neville is the leading actor in the class of characters in which Charles Surface is comprised." This was followed, at the Olympic, by The School for Intrigue, in which he played the part of Almaviva. Other successes during the 1870s, both as manager and actor, included his portrayal of Lord Clancarty in Taylor's Lady Clancarty, Pierre in John Oxenford's The Two Orphans in 1874, an 1874–75 revival of The Ticket-of-Leave Man, and Franklin Blake in a dramatisation of Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone in 1877. In the same year he produced and starred in a revival of Lady Audley's Secret by Robert Walters. He also produced W. S. Gilbert's plays The Ne'er-do-Weel in 1878 and Gretchen in 1879. In 1878, Neville opened a successful drama school which he managed for many years. By the 1880s, he had become famous in melodrama roles, playing the romantic lead. His Shakespeare roles included Jaques in As You Like It, produced by Madame Modjeska (1882) and Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing. In 1888, he played Count Heidegger in Handsome Is that Handsome Does, a comedy by C. J. Ribton Turner at the Vaudeville Theatre. At the Olympic that year, he reprised the role Pierre in The Two Orphans and appeared in Hands Across the Sea by Henry Pettitt.

Price: 299.99 USD

Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

End Time: 2024-11-09T17:14:43.000Z

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