Weedon Grossmith

. Weedon Grossmith also illustrated the book to much acclaim.

Life and career

Grossmith was born in London and grew up in St. Pancras and Hampstead, London. His father, George Grossmith (1820–80), was the chief court reporter for "The Times" and other newspapers at the Bow Street police court and a lecturer and entertainer. His mother was Louisa Emmeline Grossmith née Weedon (d. 1882). In addition to his brother, George, Grossmith had another actor brother, Lawrence and two sisters, Sylvia and Cordelia. His nephew (George's son), George Grossmith, Jr., became a famous actor, playwright and producer of Edwardian musical comedies.

Grossmith was educated at Massingham House on Haverstock Hill in the district of Hampstead then North London Collegiate in Camden Town and Simpson's School, a local private establishment. [cite book|last=Grossmith|first=George|year=1888|title=A Society Clown: Reminiscences|location=Bristol/London|publisher=Arrowsmith [http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/books/grossmith/gg02.html Chapter II, available online here] ] Interested in art, Grossmith trained as a painter at the West London School of Art, the Slade and the Royal Academy. [http://www.phryne.com/artists/87-42-62.HTM Biography of Grossmith] ] His goal was to become a fashionable portrait painter, but, although he had portraits and other pictures hung at the Academy, the Grosvenor Gallery and elsewhere, his career as an artist was not as successful as he had hoped.Joseph, Tony. "Grossmith, George (1847-1912)" in "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press (2004). [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33590 Available online here] , accessed 21 Oct 2007] One surviving work is called "Such is Life".

Acting career

's "Cabinet Minister" (1890).

He would go on to appear in plays by playwrights such as Henry Arthur Jones, and Jerome K. Jerome, opposite actors such as Herbert Beerbohm Tree at the Haymarket Theatre and with Mrs. John Wood at the Court Theatre. In 1892, he played in W. S. Gilbert's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern", a parody of "Hamlet", at the Royal Court Theatre. He became known for playing comedy character roles, noting, "I am almost invariably cast for cowards, cads and snobs", and he was particularly good at portraying harassed, misunderstood little men sinc, like his brother George, he was small in stature. He portrayed Archibald Bennick in Arthur Law's "The New Boy" (1894), Hamilton Preedy in "Mr. Preedy and the Countess" (1905), Jimmy Jinks in "Baby Mine" (1911), the Earl of Tweenwayes in "The Amazons", Boney in "The Misleading Lady", and the Judge in "Stopping the Breach", his last role (1917). Critic B. W. Findon wrote, "Among... the artists who thoroughly understand the requirements of farcical comedy, who know how to treat its humour with breadth, and grapple successfully with its ludicrous situations – is Mr. Weedon Grossmith. He is one of the best – I think I may say the best actor of farce on the stage of to-day." [ [http://footlightnotes.tripod.com/20040403home.html Quote about Grossmith in Footlightnotes.com] ]

He was also the lessee of London's Vaudeville Theatre from 1894 to 1896 and Terry's Theatre until 1917.

Author and playwright

[
Broadstairs, from Chapter VI of "Diary of a Nobody"] In 1892, Grossmith collaborated with his brother George to expand a series of amusing columns they had written in 1888–89 for "Punch". "The Diary of a Nobody" was published as a novel (Bristol, J. W. Arrowsmith, 1892) and has never been out of print since. The book was a sharp analysis of social insecurity, and Charles Pooter of The Laurels, Brickfield Terrace, Holloway, was immediately recognized as one of the great English comic characters. Grossmith created 33 black and white line drawings for the novel. According to biographer Tony Joseph, "In their precise and careful detail these illustrations... reinforce the text to perfection." The work has itself been the object of dramatization and adaptation, including three times for television: 1964, [imdb title|title=Diary of a Nobody (1964)|id=0058015 accessed 21 Oct 2007] 1979 [imdb title|title=Diary of a Nobody (1979)|id=0078599 accessed 21 Oct 2007] and 2007. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/cinema/features/diary-nobody.shtml "Diary of a Nobody" (2007) (BBC website)] accessed 21 Oct 2007]

Grossmith also published another novel, "A Woman with a History", in 1896. He also wrote a number of plays, the most successful of which was "The Night of the Party" (1901). One of his plays, "The Duffer", was about students at the Royal Academy, which was successful and enjoyed a Royal command performance. In 1913 he published his autobiography, "From Studio to Stage". [http://www.phryne.com/books/87-31-80.HTM]

In 1895, he married Mary Palfrey (1867-1929), an actress. They had one child, a daughter, Nancy (1896-1921). He died in London at the age of 65. [Johnson, Jan-Christine, [http://www.geocities.com/the_gaiety/biblio.html "Discovering George Grossmith in Folkestone"] in "The Gaiety", Spring 2005, pp. 37-43. Editor: Roderick Murray.]

Notes

References

*Grossmith, George and Grossmith, Weedon, "Diary of a Nobody" (1892). Introduction available online at [http://books.google.com/books?id=GG4Osa8a7XoC&dq=%22weedon+grossmith%22&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=tgjsRpwTFp&sig=fmLIbM5ezQTTlKra_YPJGUVEC_s#PPR1,M1 Google Books]
*Grossmith, Weedon. "A Woman with a History". London: F V White, 1896.
*Grossmith, Weedon. "From Studio to Stage: Reminiscences of Weedon Grossmith Written by Himself". London: John Lane, 1913

External links

*
*imdb name|0343750|Weedon Grossmith
* [http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/english/DON/Chronology.html Biographical chronology]
* [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp01930 Photos and drawings of Grossmith]
* [http://footlightnotes.tripod.com/20040403home.html Review of Grossmith in "Baby Mine"]