Irving, Sir Henry

(John Henry Brodribb), born near Glastonbury; was at first a clerk in London, appeared on the Sunder land stage in 1856, spent three years in Edinburgh, and gradually worked his way at Glasgow and Manchester, till he was invited to London ten years afterwards; his performance of Hamlet at the Lyceum in 1874 established his reputation as a tragedian; since then he has remained at the head of his profe ion, and both in this country and in America secured many triumphs in Macbeth, Shylock, and other Shake spear i an characters, and in roles like those of Matthias in "The Bells," "Me phis top heles in Faust," .; he has contributed to the literature of Acting, and received knighthood in 1895: b . 1838.