Henry Gartside Neville - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Thomas Henry Gartside Neville (20 June 1837 – 19 June 1910) was an English actor, dramatist, teacher 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...

. 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

Tom Taylor

Tom Taylor was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of Punch magazine...

's The Ticket-of-Leave Man. As the manager of the Olympic Theatre

Olympic Theatre

The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street, and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout much of its existence...

from 1873 to 1879, he presented numerous successful productions. In later years, he became a respected character actor.

Early years

Neville was born in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, 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

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, Neville played Cromwell to Vandenhoff's Wolsey in Shakespeare's King Henry VIII

Henry VIII (play)

The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight is a history play by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. An alternative title, All is True, is recorded in contemporary documents, the title Henry VIII not appearing until the play's publication...

. He made his London debut in 1860 as Percy Ardent in Dion Boucicault

Dion Boucicault

Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot , commonly known as Dion Boucicault, was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the...

's The Irish Heiress at the Lyceum Theatre. The Observer

The Observer

The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...

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

Olympic Theatre

, he played Ivan in Serf and Valjean in an adaptation of Les Miserables

Les Misérables

Les Misérables , translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century...

.
In May 1863, still at the Olympic, Neville created the role of Bob Brierley in Tom Taylor

Tom Taylor

Tom Taylor was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of Punch magazine...

'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

Kate Terry

Kate Terry was an English actress. Elder sister of the famous Ellen Terry, she was born into a theatrical family, made her debut when still a child, became a leading lady in her own right, and left the stage in 1867 to marry. In retirement she commented that she was 20 years on the stage, yet...

, and in 1867 was her chosen Romeo to her Juliet in her farewell London performances at the Adelphi Theatre

Adelphi Theatre

The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...

. 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

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....

, 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

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

and repeated Robert Brierley. In 1869, still at the Adelphi, he portrayed the role of Vernon Wainwright in Eve. At the Gaiety Theatre

Gaiety Theatre, London

The Gaiety Theatre, London was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was established as the Strand Musick Hall , in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. It was rebuilt several times, but closed from the beginning of World War II...

in the same year, he played an important role in W. S. Gilbert

W. S. Gilbert

Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...

's early comedy, An Old Score

An Old Score

An Old Score is an 1869 three-act comedy-drama written by English dramatist W. S. Gilbert based partly on his 1867 short story, Diamonds, and partly on episodes in the lives of William Dargan, an Irish engineer and railway contractor, and John Sadleir, a banker who committed suicide. It was...

Actor-manager

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

Rutland Barrington

Rutland Barrington was an English singer, actor, comedian, and Edwardian musical comedy star. Best remembered for originating the lyric baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1896, his performing career spanned more than four decades...

, Helen Ernstone

Helen Ernstone

Helena Cécile Ernstone was an English actress who appeared in London theatres from 1868 to 1879.-Biography:Ernstone was born Helena Schott, the daughter of Adam Joseph Schott , German-born music publisher and bandmaster in England. Her sister, Angie Schott, was an actress active in the U.S...

, Emily Fowler

Emily Fowler

Emily Fowler was an English actress, singer and theatre manager. Beginning in musical burlesques, she later played in contemporary drama and English classics.-Career:...

and Johnston Forbes-Robertson

Johnston Forbes-Robertson

Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson was an English actor and theatre manager. He was considered the finest Hamlet of the nineteenth century and one of the finest actors of his time, despite his dislike of the job and his lifelong belief that he was temperamentally unsuited to acting.-Early life:Born in...

. 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

The School for Scandal

The School for Scandal is a play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 8, 1777.The prologue, written by David Garrick, commends the play, its subject, and its author to the audience...

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

John Oxenford

John Oxenford , English dramatist, was born at Camberwell, London, England.-Life:He began his literary career by writing on finance...

'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

Wilkie Collins

William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...

's The Moonstone

The Moonstone

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel, generally considered the first detective novel in the English language. The story was originally serialized in Charles Dickens' magazine All the Year Round. The Moonstone and The Woman in White are considered Wilkie...

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

W. S. Gilbert

's plays The Ne'er-do-Weel

The Ne'er-do-Weel

The Ne'er-do-Weel is a three-act drama written by the English dramatist W. S. Gilbert. It is the second of three plays that he wrote at the request of the actor Edward Sothern. The story concerns Jeffery Rollestone, a gentleman who becomes a vagabond after Maud, the girl he loves, leaves him. He...

in 1878 and Gretchen

Gretchen (play)

Gretchen is a tragic four-act play, in blank verse, written by W. S. Gilbert in 1878–79 based on Goethe's version of part of the Faust legend....

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

Melodrama

The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...

roles, playing the romantic lead. His Shakespeare roles included Jaques in As You Like It

As You Like It

As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...

, 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

Vaudeville Theatre

The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on The Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous...

. At the Olympic that year, he reprised the role Pierre in The Two Orphans and appeared in Hands Across the Sea by Henry Pettitt.

Later years

In 1890, Neville went to America with Augustus Harris

Augustus Harris

Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris , was a British actor, impresario, and dramatist.-Early life:Harris was born in Paris, France, the son of Augustus Glossop Harris , who was also a dramatist, and his wife, née Maria Ann Bone, a theatrical costumier...

's company, appearing for 200 nights as Captain Temple in Human Nature, renamed The Soudan for its U.S. production. On his return to England he resumed his successful place in the autumn melodramas at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...

.

The last phase of Neville's career was with Herbert Beerbohm Tree's company at His Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...

, where his roles included Leonato and, in Richard II

Richard II (play)

King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...

, John of Gaunt. His last engagement was in Tree's revival of The School for Scandal in 1909. By this stage in his career, Neville had moved to the role of Sir Oliver Surface, with Robert Loraine in Neville's old role as Sir Oliver's nephew, Charles. The Manchester Guardian found Neville "admirably sonorous" in the part. The Observer wrote: "the weighty Sir Oliver of Mr Henry Neville, so well remembered as the dashing Charles Surface of thirty years ago, is exactly in tune with the quietly humorous Moses of Mr Lionel Brough

Lionel Brough

Lionel Brough was a British actor and comedian. After beginning a journalistic career and performing as an amateur, he became a professional actor, performing mostly in Liverpool during the mid-1860s...

".

Neville wrote six plays, all melodramas. He also published some short books on the theatre, entitled The Stage, its Past and Present, in Relation to Fine Art; Gesture; Her First Appearance; and His First and Last Benefit,

Neville died at Seaford

Seaford

-In the United States of America:*Seaford, Delaware*Seaford, New York*Seaford, Virginia*Seaford Hundred, an unincorporated subdivision of Sussex County, Delaware; see List of Delaware Hundreds-In Australia:*Seaford, Victoria**Seaford railway station, Melbourne...

, Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

, one day short of his 73rd birthday, of a heart attack induced by a minor accident and was buried at Christ Church in Denshaw

Denshaw

Denshaw is a village in Saddleworth—a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies by the source of the River Tame, high amongst the Pennines above the village of Delph, northeast of Oldham, and north-northwest of Uppermill...

, Saddleworth

Saddleworth

Saddleworth is a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and hamlets amongst the west side of the Pennine hills: Uppermill, Greenfield, Dobcross, Delph, Diggle and others...

, Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

. He left four sons, from his marriage to Harriet Jane Waddell (c. 1837–1903). The Times concluded its obituary notice of Neville: "He had troops of friends, and there are not two opinions as to his reputation for fair dealing with his fellow men. As well as an actor, he was a man of business, with a fund of common sense, fond of sport, and a glutton for outdoor exercise. He was well known as a Freemason and generally respected by all with whom he was associated, and beloved by those who knew him intimately."

External links

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