George Alexander (actor)
Encyclopedia
Sir George Alexander born George Alexander Gibb Samson, was an English
actor
and theatre manager
.
Alexander was born in Reading, Berkshire
. He began acting in amateur theatricals in 1875. Four years later he embarked on a professional acting career, making his London
debut in 1881. He played many roles in the leading companies, including Sir Henry Irving
's Lyceum.
In 1890, he produced his first play at the Avenue Theatre and in 1891 he became the actor manager of St James's Theatre
, where he produced several major plays of the day such as Lady Windermere's Fan
by Oscar Wilde
(1892). He appeared in The Second Mrs Tanqueray
by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero
in which he played Aubrey Tanqueray and which made Mrs Patrick Campbell
into a theatrical star.
One of the most famous first nights in Victorian Theatre occurred on 14 February 1895 when The Importance of Being Earnest
by Oscar Wilde hit the stage. The Prince of Wales
was in attendance and a good dozen policemen could be seen patrolling the streets outside. A tip-off had warned both the author and the actor/manager that Lord Alfred Douglas
's father, the Marquess of Queensberry
was hoping to get into the theatre and create havoc during the play. Fortunately the Marquess was ushered from the premises and in disgust threw his grotesque bouquet of vegetables that he was carrying into the gutter.
Queensberry then set into motion the events that led to Wilde's downfall and disgrace. Upon his release from prison in 1897, Wilde moved to the continent
. He claimed to have seen Alexander in the south of France but that the actor gave him "a crooked, sickly smile and hurried on without stopping." Later in 1900, Alexander, who had acquired the acting rights for The Importance of Being Earnest and Lady Windermere's Fan, visited Wilde in Paris and offered the poverty-stricken former writer some voluntary payments on the plays and to bequeath the rights to Wilde's estranged sons.
Under Alexander, the St James's Theatre was said to be modern in outlook and attire. The imaginative fancy of Mr. Walter Crane had created designs for the decoration of the walls in the foyer. They were covered with embossed paper of green and gold. On the one side a curiously carved mantelpiece in walnut, was surmounted by a picture of Venus emerging from a shell, painted by Mr. J. Macbeth. While on the other side sat the ticket box, having all the appearance of an elegant cabinet, with antique clock and choice 'blue and white' as ornaments. On the floor were spread rich and costly rugs and Indian carpets. A flight of stairs made of Siena marble, covered with Indian carpet, and having brass standards on either side of the banisters, conducted one to the crush-room. Again, fancifully furnished, draped with printed tapestry, and resplendent with mirrors. From the scheme, and the designers, it appears that Oscar Wilde must have advised on the house decoration.
Later The Prisoner of Zenda
by Anthony Hope
followed in 1896. Then more Pinero premieres added to the already overwhelming successes at the St. James's, including Stephen Phillips
's Paolo and Francesca (1902). Henry James
's Guy Domville
(1895) was a rare disaster.
Having become an actor rather than a financier, as his family wished, Alexander threw himself into the development of the modern drawing room comedy. It was here his true talent shone. With a light comic air and a delicate grace Alec, as he was affectionately known, brought many care-free parts to life. As lessee of the St. James' he was characteristically closely supported by his wife, who undertook much of the set-dressing and wardrobe organisation. This included selecting props and fashionable attire, attending fittings, for both costume and wigs, and also working with a host of scenic artists. Many well-known artists from the Royal Academy either advised or actually painted the St. James's backdrops. One notable worth mention was Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
. Alma-Tadema had also worked for Sir Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre.
George Alexander remained at the St. James's Theatre to the end of his life. He appears as a character in David Lodge
's novel about the life of Henry James, Author, Author
. He was knighted
for his services to the theatre in 1911. By 1912, he was a member of the London County Council, with "LCC" after his name. He was active in the Actors' Orphanage Fund (now the Actors' Charitable Trust), serving as a Trustee for more than 10 years, and chairing general meetings after the death of Sir Henry Irving.
He is the great, great uncle of actor/comedian Hugh Laurie
(House
).
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and theatre manager
Actor-manager
An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the company's business and financial arrangements, sometimes taking over the management of a theatre, to perform plays of their own choice and in which they will usually star...
.
Alexander was born in Reading, Berkshire
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
. He began acting in amateur theatricals in 1875. Four years later he embarked on a professional acting career, making his London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
debut in 1881. He played many roles in the leading companies, including Sir Henry Irving
Henry Irving
Sir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility for season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as...
's Lyceum.
In 1890, he produced his first play at the Avenue Theatre and in 1891 he became the actor manager of St James's Theatre
St James's Theatre
The St James's Theatre was a 1,200-seat theatre located in King Street, at Duke Street, St James's, London. The elaborate theatre was designed with a neo-classical exterior and a Louis XIV style interior by Samuel Beazley and built by the partnership of Peto & Grissell for the tenor and theatre...
, where he produced several major plays of the day such as Lady Windermere's Fan
Lady Windermere's Fan
Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman is a four act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first produced 22 February 1892 at the St James's Theatre in London. The play was first published in 1893...
by Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
(1892). He appeared in The Second Mrs Tanqueray
The Second Mrs Tanqueray
The Second Mrs. Tanqueray is a problem play by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero. It adopts the "Woman with a past" plot, popular in nineteenth century melodrama.-Plot:...
by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero
Arthur Wing Pinero
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero was an English actor and later an important dramatist and stage director.-Biography:...
in which he played Aubrey Tanqueray and which made Mrs Patrick Campbell
Mrs Patrick Campbell
Mrs Patrick Campbell was a British stage actress.-Early life and marriages:Campbell was born Beatrice Stella Tanner in Kensington, London, to John Tanner and Maria Luigia Giovanna, daughter of Count Angelo Romanini...
into a theatrical star.
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
by Oscar Wilde hit the stage. The Prince of Wales
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
was in attendance and a good dozen policemen could be seen patrolling the streets outside. A tip-off had warned both the author and the actor/manager that Lord Alfred Douglas
Lord Alfred Douglas
Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas , nicknamed Bosie, was a British author, poet and translator, better known as the intimate friend and lover of the writer Oscar Wilde...
's father, the Marquess of Queensberry
John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry
John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry GCVO was a Scottish nobleman, remembered for lending his name and patronage to the "Marquess of Queensberry rules" that formed the basis of modern boxing, for his outspoken atheism, and for his role in the downfall of author and playwright Oscar...
was hoping to get into the theatre and create havoc during the play. Fortunately the Marquess was ushered from the premises and in disgust threw his grotesque bouquet of vegetables that he was carrying into the gutter.
Queensberry then set into motion the events that led to Wilde's downfall and disgrace. Upon his release from prison in 1897, Wilde moved to the continent
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
. He claimed to have seen Alexander in the south of France but that the actor gave him "a crooked, sickly smile and hurried on without stopping." Later in 1900, Alexander, who had acquired the acting rights for The Importance of Being Earnest and Lady Windermere's Fan, visited Wilde in Paris and offered the poverty-stricken former writer some voluntary payments on the plays and to bequeath the rights to Wilde's estranged sons.
Under Alexander, the St James's Theatre was said to be modern in outlook and attire. The imaginative fancy of Mr. Walter Crane had created designs for the decoration of the walls in the foyer. They were covered with embossed paper of green and gold. On the one side a curiously carved mantelpiece in walnut, was surmounted by a picture of Venus emerging from a shell, painted by Mr. J. Macbeth. While on the other side sat the ticket box, having all the appearance of an elegant cabinet, with antique clock and choice 'blue and white' as ornaments. On the floor were spread rich and costly rugs and Indian carpets. A flight of stairs made of Siena marble, covered with Indian carpet, and having brass standards on either side of the banisters, conducted one to the crush-room. Again, fancifully furnished, draped with printed tapestry, and resplendent with mirrors. From the scheme, and the designers, it appears that Oscar Wilde must have advised on the house decoration.
Later The Prisoner of Zenda
The Prisoner of Zenda
The Prisoner of Zenda is an adventure novel by Anthony Hope, published in 1894. The king of the fictional country of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus unable to attend his own coronation. Political forces are such that in order for the king to retain his crown his...
by Anthony Hope
Anthony Hope
Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins, better known as Anthony Hope , was an English novelist and playwright. Although he was a prolific writer, especially of adventure novels, he is remembered best for only two books: The Prisoner of Zenda and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau...
followed in 1896. Then more Pinero premieres added to the already overwhelming successes at the St. James's, including Stephen Phillips
Stephen Phillips
Stephen Phillips was a highly famed English poet and dramatist, who enjoyed considerable popularity in his lifetime....
's Paolo and Francesca (1902). Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
's Guy Domville
Guy Domville
Guy Domville is a play by Henry James first staged in London in 1895. The première performance ended with the author being jeered by a section of the audience as he bowed onstage at the end of the play. This failure largely marked the end of James' attempt to conquer the theater...
(1895) was a rare disaster.
Having become an actor rather than a financier, as his family wished, Alexander threw himself into the development of the modern drawing room comedy. It was here his true talent shone. With a light comic air and a delicate grace Alec, as he was affectionately known, brought many care-free parts to life. As lessee of the St. James' he was characteristically closely supported by his wife, who undertook much of the set-dressing and wardrobe organisation. This included selecting props and fashionable attire, attending fittings, for both costume and wigs, and also working with a host of scenic artists. Many well-known artists from the Royal Academy either advised or actually painted the St. James's backdrops. One notable worth mention was Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Lawrence Alma-Tadema, OM, RA was a Dutch painter.Born in Dronrijp, the Netherlands, and trained at the Royal Academy of Antwerp, Belgium, he settled in England in 1870 and spent the rest of his life there...
. Alma-Tadema had also worked for Sir Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre.
George Alexander remained at the St. James's Theatre to the end of his life. He appears as a character in David Lodge
David Lodge (author)
David John Lodge CBE, is an English author.In his novels, Lodge often satirises academia in general and the humanities in particular. He was brought up Catholic and has described himself as an "agnostic Catholic". Many of his characters are Catholic and their Catholicism is a major theme...
's novel about the life of Henry James, Author, Author
Author, Author (novel)
Author, Author is a novel by David Lodge, written in 2004. The book is based on the life of the author Henry James. It was released at about the same time as The Master by Colm Tóibín and other books about James, and Lodge wrote The Year of Henry James: The Story of a Novel about this...
. He was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
for his services to the theatre in 1911. By 1912, he was a member of the London County Council, with "LCC" after his name. He was active in the Actors' Orphanage Fund (now the Actors' Charitable Trust), serving as a Trustee for more than 10 years, and chairing general meetings after the death of Sir Henry Irving.
He is the great, great uncle of actor/comedian Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
(House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
).