Tag Archives: Henry Irving

“Imagination! Imagination! I put it first years ago, when I was asked what qualities I thought necessary for success on the stage.” –Ellen Terry

“It is only in comedy that people seem to know what I am driving at!” — Ellen Terry In 1907, great English actress Ellen Terry (approaching her 50th year onstage) appeared in George Bernard Shaw’s satirical Captain Brassbound’s Conversion. Shaw … Continue reading

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Recommended: Biographies

For starters: My recommended Fiction books My recommended Non-Fiction books BIOGRAPHIES: American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, by Joseph Ellis I’ve written a lot about Joseph Ellis’ work here. While I love David McCullough’s work so much, Ellis is … Continue reading

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The Books: Ellen Terry & Bernard Shaw: A Correspondence

Daily Book Excerpt: Memoirs: Next book on the Memoir/Letters/Journals shelf is ELLEN TERRY & BERNARD SHAW: A CORRESPONDENCE., edited by Christopher St. John (a woman, who was the longtime companion of Ellen Terry’s daughter – both formidable women in their … Continue reading

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“Enter a chorus of lepers.”

A biography that I am drooling to read (eventually, when I get back up on the reading horse for real): Michael Holroyd’s A Strange Eventful History: The Dramatic Lives of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, and Their Remarkable Families, a dual … Continue reading

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The Books: “The Story Of My Life” (Ellen Terry)

Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir The Story of My Life, by Ellen Terry This is one of my favorite books in my entire collection, just in terms of it as an object. Second only to the first-edition Ulysses that my … Continue reading

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Ellen Terry on Henry Irving

Ellen Terry – from Ellen Terry’s Memoirs Henry Irving is the monument, the great mark set up to show the genius of will. For years he worked to overcome the dragging leg … he toiled, and he overcame this defect, … Continue reading

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