Sir Henry Irving - first Knight of the Victorian theatre

Sir Henry Irving was a pioneering English stage actor and theatrical manager in the Victorian Era. He was the first actor to be knighted in 1895, setting a standard of social respectability for a profession previously regarded as rather disreputable.

Irving - whose birthname was John Henry Brodribb - was born in 1838 to a working class family in Somerset. He began his acting career in 1856, and over the following ten years, played over 600 parts.

Irving was known to be a multi-talented man, and with the skill to be an actor-manager. During his time at Lyceum Theatre in London from 1878-1903, Irving was in charge of supervising sets, lighting, direction, casting, as well as playing leading roles. He also employed Bram Stoker, the writer of Dracula, as the theatre's Business Manager - and Stoker even based part of his forbidding character on Irving!

He was arguably the leading person to establish the theatre as we know it today as a popular art form in the nineteenth century, meeting a growing demand from a newly emerging middle class, keen for cultural experience. Irving offered high quality performances and sought collaborations with many famous figures of Victorian culture such as the artist Burne-Jones, composer Arthur Sullivan and writers Pinero, Tennyson, and Conan Doyle.

Irving was dedicated to his profession. Early in his career, when his wife criticised his choice of occupation, Irving jumped out of the carriage they were travelling in and never saw her again. Neither ever remarried.

Irving had a long professional relationship with famed actress Ellen Terry, but whether it was also romantic has been the subject of much speculation.

Irving died on stage of a stroke at the age of 67 in 1905.