Augustus Harris

Updated on Jan 27, 2024

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Years active 1873–1896		Name Augustus Harris

Full Name Augustus Henry Glossop Harris Born 18 March 1852 ( 1852-03-18 ) Paris, France Died 22 June 1896(1896-06-22) (aged 44) Folkestone, England Occupation Actor, impresario, dramatist Spouse(s) Florence Edgcumbe (1881–1896)

Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris (18 March 1852 – 22 June 1896), was a British actor, impresario, and dramatist.

Early life and career

Harris was born in Paris, the son of Augustus Glossop Harris (1825–1873), who was also a dramatist, and his wife, née Maria Ann Bone, a theatrical costumier. He had three sisters, Ellen (Nelly), Maria, and Patience, a theatrical costumer, and a brother, Charles. He spent his childhood in London, returning to Paris for schooling at age 12. In 1877, he starred in one of the most successful London plays of the day, The Pink Dominos, at the Criterion Theatre, alongside Charles Wyndham.

Career

From 1879, Harris was manager of the Drury Lane Theatre in London, and was nicknamed the "Father of Modern Pantomime" and "Augustus Druriolanus". He introduced Jean de Reszke, Nellie Melba, Emma Eames, and Emma Calvé. His first pantomime production was Bluebeard, the next Forty Thieves. He produced and co-wrote the scripts for large-scale pantomimes at Drury Lane every Christmas that became the most popular holiday entertainments in London, assembling a famous company, including Herbert Campbell, Dan Leno and Harry Nicholls.

Plays

The World, co-written with Paul John Meritt (1843/4–1895) and Henry Pettitt, was Harris's first production, performed at Drury Lane, 1880

Youth, co-written with Meritt, 1881

Pluck: A Story of £50,000, co-written with Pettitt, produced at Drury Lane, 1882

A Sailor and His Lass, co-written with Robert Williams Buchanan, 1883

Human Nature, co-written with Pettitt, 1885

A Run of Luck, co-written with Pettitt, 1886

Pleasure, co-written with Meritt, 1887

The Spanish Armada, co-written with Henry Hamilton, 1888

Babes in the Wood, 1888, starring Dan Leno, E. L. Blanchard and Harry Nicholls

The Royal Oak, co-written with Hamilton, 1889, was the basis of a 1923 silent film of the same name.

Jack and the Beanstalk, or, Harlequin and the midwinter night's dream, co-written with Harry Nicholls, 1889

A Million of Money, co-written with Pettitt, performed at Drury Lane, 1890

Beauty and the Beast, co-written with W. Yardley, 1890

Humpty Dumpty, co-written with Harry Nicholls (comedian), 1891

The Prodigal Daughter, co-written with Pettitt, produced at Drury Lane, 1892

Little Bo-Peep, Little Red Riding Hood and Hop o' My Thumb, co-written with Wilton Jones, 1892

A Life of Pleasure, co-written with Pettitt, 1893

Robinson Crusoe, co-written with Harry Nicholls (comedian), 1893

Dick Whittington, co-written with Cecil Raleigh and Hamilton, 1894

Cheer, Boys, Cheer, co-written with Raleigh and Hamilton, 1895

The Derby Winner, co-written with Hamilton and Raleigh, 1895, was produced in the United States under the title The Sporting Duchess. It was the basis of silent films of the same names in 1915 and 1923

Cinderella, co-written with Raleigh and Arthur Sturgess, 1895

Burmah, co-written with Pettitt, produced on Broadway in 1896

The Little Genius, adaptation from the German with Sturgess

The Soudan, co-written with Pettitt

The Opera Cloak, adaptation from the French with L. D. Powles

A Puzzled Painter, co-written with Francis Clement Philips, was published after his death.

Later life

Harris took an interest in politics, and became a member of the London County Council in 1890, representing the Strand division. He was appointed a sheriff in 1891 and deputy lieutenant of the city of London. He was knighted in 1891 and was a chairman of the Eccentric Club.

He died at Folkestone, England in 1896 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London at the south side of the central enclosed roundel, marked by a suitably dramatic monument.

Personal life

On 9 November 1881 he married Florence Edgcumbe Rendle at St Luke's Church, Redcliffe Gardens. The bride was given away by her brother, Mr. Francis Rendle. The wedding was strictly a private one and they then went to Paris by the ten o'clock express. After the death of Sir Augustus she married Edward O'Connor Terry on 24 October 1904 at Barnes, where she later lived. She died on 5 September 1914.

Legacy

Harris is commemorated at the Drury Lane Theatre with a publicly funded memorial fountain featuring masonic symbols, as he was a freemason, and member of Savage Club Lodge in London.

Filmography

Writer

1923

The Royal Oak (play)

1920

The Sporting Duchess (play)

1915

The Derby Winner (play)