Henry Irving

A carte-de-visite portrait of the British actor Henry Irving (1838-1905).

Born in Keinton-Mandeville, Somerset, Irving worked as a clerk in London for a while, but in 1856 made his first appearance on the stage at the Sunderland Theatre. He acted in Edinburgh (1857-1860), Manchester (1860-1865) and Liverpool (1865) before making his London debut in 1866. His performances of Hamlet (1874), Macbeth (1875) and Othello (1876) gained him a reputation as the greatest British actor of his time.

In 1878 he formed a partnership Ellen Terry at the Lyceum, where he became actor-manager. Their successes together included Hamlet and Goethe’s Faust. In 1895 Irving became the first actor in British history to receive a knighthood.

Photographed by the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company.