Irving, Sir Henry

Irving, Sir Henry (1838-1905), actor, b. Keinton Mandeville, Somerset, England.

John Henry Brodribb, who changed his name to Henry Irving, was the greatest English actor of his time and the first actor to be knighted.

He first appeared on the stage in Sunderland at the age of eighteen, and made a great hit in 1871 in his performance in The Bells at the Lyceum Theatre in London.

In 1878 he became manager of the Lyceum and acted for the first time with Ellen Terry. For thirty years afterwards they appeared together often, and in 1889 they gave a special performance of The Bells for Queen Victoria at Sandringham.

Irving's ashes are buried in Westminster Abbey.