John Baldwin Buckstone

John Baldwin Buckstone (September 14 1802 - October 31 1879) was an English playwright and comedian who wrote 150 plays, the first of which was produced in 1826. From 1853 to 1856 he managed the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

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Life and career

Born in Hoxton, London, Buckstone was articled to a solicitor but soon exchanged the law for the stage.

His first professional appearance was at the age of 19 as Gabriel in "The Children of the Wood". [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9500E6D71F3FE63BBC4953DFB7678382669FDE "New York Times" obituary] ] After some years as a provincial actor he made his first London appearance, on January 30 1823, at the Surrey Theatre, as Ramsay in "The Fortunes of Nigel". In 1924 at that theatre, he played Peter Smink in "The Armistice." His successes led to his engagement in 1827 at the Adelphi Theatre, where he remained as leading low comedian until 1833. He also appeared as Bobby Trot in his own play, "Luke the Labourer". Several of Buckstone's plays were produced at the Adelphi. Perhaps the most successful of these was his 1833 play, "The Bravo".

He first appeared at the Haymarket Theatre during the summer season in 1833, also writing plays for this theatre. In 1839-40 he returned to the Adelphi to write and star in a number of plays, including his extraordinarily successful play "Jack Sheppard", based on the novel of the same name published that year by William Harrison Ainsworth. After his return from a visit to the United States in 1840, Buckstone played in "Married Life" at the Haymarket. He then appeared at several London theatres, among them the Lyceum, where he was Box at the first representation of "Box and Cox", by John Maddison Morton, in 1847. [ [http://www.royalengineers.ca/BoxandCox02.html "Box and Cox"] ] There he also created the roles of Bob in "Old Heads and Young Hearts" and Golightly in "Lend Me Five Shillings", among many others, and played in several Shakespeare plays. He returned to the Haymarket in 1848.

He became lessee of the Haymarket from 1853 to 1878. For this theatre, he wrote numerous plays and farces. As manager of the Haymarket, he surrounded himself with an admirable company, including Edward Askew Sothern and the Kendals. He produced the plays of James Planché, Thomas William Robertson, Tom Taylor and W. S. Gilbert, as well as his own, and in most of these he acted. He was the author of 150 plays, some of which have been very popular, including "The Green Bushes" and "The Flowers of the Forest".

For many years, Buckstone was closely associated with leading actress Fanny Fitzwilliam (nee Copeland), who he was engaged to marry in 1854. She died of cholera a month before the wedding, and Buckstone married Fanny's sister Isabella Copeland. His daughter, Lucy Isabella Buckstone (1858-1893) and his sons John Copeland Buckstone and Rowland Buckstone also took to the stage.

Notes

References

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9500E6D71F3FE63BBC4953DFB7678382669FDE "New York Times" obituary, November 1, 1879]
*1911

External links

* [http://gettysburg.cdmhost.com/u?/p126301coll1,96 John Baldwin Buckstone Photograph part of the Nineteenth Century Digital Collection at Gettysburg College]

* [http://www.garrickclub.co.uk/librarysearchcataloguenumber.asp?cataloguesearch=G0097 Oil Painting by John Prescott Knight R.A. at the Garrick Club]