Sir Henry Irving, christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, 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 West End's Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as representative of English classical theatre. In 1895 he became the first actor to be awarded a knighthood, indicating full acceptance into the higher circles of British society.
Portrait of Irving in 1878
Image: Henry Irving Signature
Sir Henry Irving, as Hamlet, in an 1893 illustration from The Idler magazine
Caricature (by Ape) of Irving in The Bells. Vanity Fair, 19 December 1874.
An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the business, sometimes taking over a theatre to perform select plays in which they usually star. It is a method of theatrical production used consistently since the 16th century, particularly common in 19th-century Britain and the United States.
Actor-manager Henry Irving
Henry Irving in The Bells, 1874