John Martin-Harvey

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John Martin Harvey (22 June 1863 – 14 May 1944), known after his knighthood in 1921 as Sir John Martin-Harvey, was one of last great romantic actors of the English theatre.

Born at Bath Street, Wivenhoe in the English county of Essex, he was the son of John Harvey, a yacht-designer and shipbuilder, and Margaret Diana Mary Goyder. His father expected him to follow his own profession, but Martin Harvey had his sights set on the stage.

One of his father's clients was the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, and it was through Gilbert that young "Jack" Martin Harvey met his first teacher, John Ryder.

Martin Harvey joined Sir Henry Irving's Lyceum Theatre company in 1882. For many years he played only minor parts in Irving's productions.

Martin Harvey's most famous play was first produced at the Lyceum on 16 February 1899. This was The Only Way, an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities in which Martin Harvey played the lead role of Sydney Carton.

Many other plays followed and many tours in both Great Britain and North America. His success was always greater in Canada than the United States.

After Sir Henry Irving's death in 1905, Martin Harvey continued to revive his old manager's plays, often using Irving's own props which he had bought. These plays included The Bells and The Lyons Mail.

His early successes included Pelleas in Maeterlinck's Pelleas and Melisande, with Mrs Patrick Campbell as Melisande and incidental music written for the production by Gabriel Fauré.

His later successes included A Cigarette-maker's Romance, Oedipus (in Max Reinhardt's Covent Garden production), Bernard Shaw's The Devil's Disciple, and Maeterlinck's The Burgomaster of Stilemonde.

By the time he retired, Martin Harvey claimed to have performed The Only Way more than 3,000 times, though this would not have been possible in reality.

In 1889 he married Angelita Helena Maria de Silva Ferro, daughter of a Chilean consul and a fellow actor in Irving's company who used the stage name Miss N. de Silva. They had two children, Muriel Martin-Harvey and Michael Martin-Harvey, both successful actors.

Martin Harvey died at his home in East Sheen, Richmond, Surrey aged 80.

One of Martin Harvey's admirers was Robertson Davies, who used him as a model for Sir John Tresize in The Deptford Trilogy (1970-75).

[edit] External links

[edit] Bibliography

  • Busby, Brian: Character parts: who's really who in Canlit. Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2003
  • Butler, Nicholas: John Martin-Harvey: the biography of an actor-manager. Wivenhoe: Nicholas Butler, 1997.
  • Disher, Maurice Willson: The last romantic: the authorised biography of Sir John Martin-Harvey. London: Hutchinson, 1948
  • Edgar, George: Martin Harvey: some pages of his life. London: Grant Richards, 1912.
  • Martin-Harvey, John, Sir: The book of Martin Harvey. London: Henry Walker, 1930.
  • Martin-Harvey, John, Sir: The autobiography of Sir John Martin-Harvey. London: Sampson Low, 1933.