Cecil Raleigh (27 January 1856 – 10 November 1914, London, England) was an English actor and playwright.
He was the son of Dr. John Fothergill Rowlands, and took the stage name of Raleigh. He played for a time in musical comedy, but deserted acting for playwriting and, either alone or in collaboration, produced an immense number of melodramas, staged at first chiefly at the Comedy Theatre, London, and in later years at Drury Lane. Cheer, Boys, Cheer (1895); Hearts are Trumps (1899); The Best of Friends (1902); and The Whip (1909–10) are typical examples. Several of his plays were later made into motion pictures. He also acted as dramatic critic to two or three London papers, and became secretary to the School of Dramatic Art in Gower Street, London.
Raleigh married Effie Adelaide Henderson (later Madame Albanesi, 1859 – 16 October 1936), a British novelist who published as Effie Adelaide Rowlands, whom he later divorced. He later married Saba Raleigh (1866–1923), an actress, with whom he remained married until his death in 1914.
The Whip, 1909, with Henry Hamilton, the basis for silent films of 1917 and 1928Sporting Life, with Seymour Hicks, the basis for silent films of 1918 and 1925Hearts Are Trumps, 1900, the basis for the 1920 silent filmThe Marriages of Mayfair, the basis for the 1920 silent film The Fatal HourThe Hope, with Hamilton, the basis for the 1920 silent filmThe Best of Luck, with Hamilton and Arthur Collins, the basis for the 1920 silent filmThe Derby Winner, co-written with Hamilton and Augustus Harris, 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 1923Cheer, Boys, Cheer, with Harris and Hamilton, 1895The Sporting Duchess, the basis for silent films of 1915 and 1920Dick Whittington, with Harris and HamiltonThe White Heather, 1897, with Hamilton, the basis for the 1919 silent film The White HeatherThe Sins of Society, 1909, with Hamilton, the basis for the 1915 silent filmThe Great Ruby, 1898, with Hamilton, the basis for the 1915 silent filmThe King's Minister, the basis for the 1914 silent filmThe Best of FriendsThe Price of PeaceThe Grey Mare, with George Robert SimsThe Guardsman, with SimsStolen Orders, 1915, with Hamilton, turned into a motion picture in 1918Little Christopher Columbus, 1893 burlesque, co-written with SimsDick Whittington and His Cat, 1894 pantomime, co-written with Augustus Harris and HamiltonThe Yashmak, 1897 musical, co-written with Seymour HicksThe Sunshine Girl, 1912 musical, book co-written with Paul A. Rubens
