Laurence Irving

Laurence Sydney Brodribb Irving (21 December 1871 – 29 May 1914) was an English dramatist and actor. He died along with his wife, Mabel, in the RMS Empress of Ireland disaster. Life and career Born in London, Laurence Irving was a son of the great Victorian actor-manager, Sir Henry Irving and his wife Florence (née O'Callaghan), and brother to actor manager Harry Brodribb Irving. He was educated at Marlborough College and the College Rollin in Paris, following which he was in Russia for three years studying for the Foreign Office. However, instead he took up acting, making his first appearance in 1891 as Snug in The Dream in F. R. Benson's theatrical company – not counting childhood performances. In 1892 he appeared at Toole's Theatre in Daisy's Escape, and after a time toured as Svengali in Trilby. In 1898 he then joined his father's Company at the Lyceum Theatre taking minor roles or juvenile leads as in Peter the Great (1898), Robespierre (1899), as Courriol in The Lyons Mail (1900), Coriolanus (1900–01), Dante (1902–03), Much Ado About Nothing (1904–05), and as Nemours in Louis Xl. Robespierre was his own translation from the French of Victorien Sardou, as also was Dante, in which his father acted. Soon after he became an actor-manager starring with his own Company, playing the title role in Hamlet. He adapted Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment into The Unwritten Law and just before sailing for the United States and Canada in 1912 he made a success in London with his own adaptation from the Hungarian of a Japanese subject entitled The Typhoon. A topical play set in the time of the Russo-Japanese War, with Irving playing a Japanese officer, it was first produced by him at the Haymarket Theatre in April 1912 before taking it on a tour of the provinces. His talents as an actor were recognised in his portrayal of the crafty old Nikolas Arnesson, Bishop of Oslo in Ibsen's tragedy The Pretenders at the Haymarket. He was Iago in a production of Othello at His Majesty's Theatre.