James Young

(1878?-1948) Young was an American actor who was famous for his Shakespeare roles and lecture on Shakespeare’s works and characters. He appeared in over 30 films from 1909 onward. The NYPL indicates that he was an avid collector of theatrical photographs and perhaps postcards. If you have anymore leads, contact us and let us know! Here is some valuable information from the New York Public Library. Thanks, Laura Pokalsky, for finding this! Here is a video clip of Young in anRead more

Arthur Bourchier

(1863-1927) Arthur Bourchier was born in 1863; he attended Oxford University, where through the Oxford University Drama Society he first became interested in the theatre and Shakespeare. His first professional performance in 1889 was in Wolverhampton as Jaques in As You Like It; at the time he was performing with the company of Lillie Langtry. Bourchier acted in dozens of plays besides his regular roles in Shakespeare, and he played every season; he was still acting as late as 1924,Read more

Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree

(1853-1917) Born in 1853, Tree’s real name was Herbert Draper Beerbohm. He assumed his famous stage name in the 1870s. After a string of performances, he joined Frank Benson’s company in 1886, where he played Iago before going on to London and the Haymarket Theatre where he eventually became the manager. “He elevated the Haymarket’s status as a Shakespearian playhouse, and his productions of The Merry Wives of Windsor (1889), Hamlet (1892), and Henry IV, Part 1 (1896) earned himRead more

Robert B. Mantell

(1854-1928) Mantell was born in Scotland and first appeared on stage in Belfast, Northern Ireland; for a time he used the stage name Robert Hudson, but he reassumed his name Mantell after he joined the company of Helena Modjeska in 1878 and came to the United States. His first professional appearance was at the Theatre Royal in Rockdale in 1876. His first role with Dame Modjeska was as Tybalt in Hamlet at the Leyland Opera House in Albany, New York. HeRead more

Sir Henry Irving

(1838-1905) Sir Henry Irving was the stage name of John Henry Brodribb, who was born in 1838 and raised in a working-class family. He was one of the most famous British actor-managers and dominated the late Victorian Stage (along with Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree). He was born in Somerset but lived in London from the age of ten. It was seeing Samuel Phelps (also a mentor to Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson) playing Hamlet that inspired Irving to take to the stage,Read more

Charles Doran

(1877-1964) Like so many actors who played Shakespeare, Irish-born Doran made his stage debut with Frank Benson in Belfast’s Theatre Royale in 1899; he had a part in Julius Caesar. The next year, 1900, again with Benson’s company, he first appeared in London at the Lyceum as MacMorris in Henry V. He played with Benson, doing mainly Shakespeare, until he left in 1903 to perform with several different companies. In 1906, he made his first trip to the US withRead more