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104:, where he remained as the leading low comedian until 1833. Buckstone's acting was described as "a union of shrewdness and drollery, with their interaction upon each other ... was irresistibly comic." Buckstone wrote most of his plays in the first half of his career, and many of these were produced at the Adelphi. As his acting career reached the height of its success, his playwriting output declined. At the Adelphi, he appeared as Bobby Trot in his first really successful play, the melodrama
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55:, London, the son of John Buckstone, a retired shopkeeper, and his wife Elizabeth (née Baldwin). He was educated at Walworth Grammar School and was briefly apprenticed on a naval ship at age 10 but returned to school. He studied law and was articled to a
443:. In 1873 Buckstone introduced the innovation of matinées starting at 2.00 pm. By the mid-1870s, however, Buckstone's company was disbanding, and in 1877, ill and bankrupt after sustaining heavy losses, he gave up management of the theatre.
356:, as well as his own, and in most of these he acted. Buckstone's management made the Haymarket into the premier comedy theatre of the age. His own gifts as a comic actor contributed much to the theatre's remarkable success. According to
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Buckstone was first married in 1828 to Anne Maria
Honeyman, with whom he had at least five children before she died in 1844. Their son Frederick was an actor. For many years, Buckstone was closely associated with the actress
360:, "Few men... have possessed to a greater extent the power of communicating the spirit of mirth to an audience. ... He was helped, too, in his vocation by remarkable physical attributes" and a peculiar, hilarious voice.
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According to director Nigel
Everett and stagehands at the Haymarket Theatre, Buckstone's ghost has often been seen at the theatre, particularly during comedies and "when he appreciates things" playing there. In 2009,
456:, who was widowed in 1852 and whom he was engaged to marry in 1854. She died of cholera a month before the wedding. In 1857 Buckstone married Fanny's cousin Isabella Copeland, the great-niece of the theatre manager
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Parish
Registers (births) of: St John the Evangelist, Lambeth; St Mary, Lambeth; Holy Trinity, Brompton; Caterham Church (Bishop's Transcripts); London Metropolitan Archives
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407:. W. S. Gilbert premiered seven of his plays at the Haymarket during this time including his blank verse "fairy comedies" starring the Kendals, such as
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32:(14 September 1802 – 31 October 1879) was an English actor, playwright and comedian who wrote 150 plays, the first of which was produced in 1826.
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195:. After his return from a visit to the United States in 1840, where he met with little success, Buckstone played in his own play,
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In 1839–40 he returned to the
Adelphi to write and star in a number of plays, including his extraordinarily successful play
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Parish
Register (marriages) of St John the Evangelist, Lambeth, 1828, p. 168, No.502; London Metropolitan Archives
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at the
Haymarket in 1871. In 1868, Buckstone's son Frederick appeared at the theatre in Walter Gordon's farce
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Buckstone became lessee of the
Haymarket from 1853 to 1877. For this theatre, he continued to write plays and
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of the
Haymarket, he surrounded himself with an admirable and effective ensemble company, including
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
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London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and
Allegations, 1597–1921 for Elizabeth Baldwin
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After three years of ill health, Buckstone died at his home, Bell Green Lodge, in Lower
71:. and toured for three years, mostly in the southeast of England. He found a mentor in
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Register of Deaths Index, 1844 Q3, volume 3, p. 89, General
Register Office, London
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541:, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, January 2008, accessed 3 January 2015
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278:. During this period, he memorably played Moses in Stirling Coyne's adaptation of
682:, volume 24, No. 3, October 1972, pp. 289–301, The Johns Hopkins University Press
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during the summer season in 1833, also writing plays for this theatre, including
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He starred as a comic actor during much of his career for various periods at the
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was a hit in 1864, also with Sothern in the title role. Sothern also starred in
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118:(1832) Perhaps the most successful of these early plays was his 1833 play,
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633:. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 733.
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75:. He made his first London appearance, on 30 January 1823, at the
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by Robertson. In 1861–1862, Buckstone produced a 314-night run of
221:, and played several other memorable roles, including, Slowboy in
110:(1827), which he had written in 1826. Other well known plays were
676:"General Utility: Victorian Author-Actors from Knowles to Pinero"
460:, and they had 12 children between 1857 and 1876. Their daughter
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Buckstone first joined a travelling troupe in 1821 as Gabriel in
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General Register Office, London, for the years from 1857 to 1876
174:(all in 1834). He stayed at the Haymarket until 1838, producing
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Cartoon portraits and biographical sketches of men of the day
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Cartoon Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Men of the Day
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saw the ghost standing in the wings during a performance of
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85:. In 1824 he joined that theatre and played Peter Smink in
769:, Oxford University Press (2004), accessed 3 January 2015
824:"Patrick Stewart saw ghost performing Waiting for Godot"
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and in many Shakespeare productions with Mr. and Mrs.
213:, in 1847. There he also created the role of Bob, in
146:(1833). Another hit for the Haymarket was the drama
266:For the Haymarket, in 1848, he wrote and played in
100:His successes led to his engagement in 1827 at the
89:with great success. He also began to write plays.
425:(1873). Buckstone also produced Gilbert's dramas,
203:, where he was Box at the first representation of
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922:19th-century British dramatists and playwrights
468:and Rowland Buckstone also took to the stage.
150:. At that theatre, his acting was praised in
854:. London: Tinsley Brothers. pp. 116–117.
947:Comedians from the London Borough of Hackney
43:, managing the Haymarket from 1853 to 1877.
902:People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan
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475:in 1879 at the age of 77 and was buried in
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767:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
538:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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844:Anonymous (1873). "J. B. Buckstone".
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795:, 1916, p. 71. Retrieved 29 July 2013
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533:"Buckstone, John Baldwin (1802–1879)"
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257:, both in 1847. He also dramatised
868:Portraits of John Baldwin Buckstone
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437:(1876), as well as his 1877 farce
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932:19th-century British male writers
872:National Portrait Gallery, London
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649:, Tinsley brothers: London (1873)
363:In the 1850s, Buckstone produced
249:roles. For the Adelphi, he wrote
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662:(Boston, 1888), volume II, p. 90
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59:but turned to acting by age 19.
859:Works by John Baldwin Buckstone
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809:. 7 November 1879. p. 2.
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680:Educational Theatre Journal
332:. He produced the plays of
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724:. 21 July 1868. p. 2.
454:Fanny Copeland Fitzwilliam
219:Old Heads and Young Hearts
193:William Harrison Ainsworth
897:English male stage actors
805:"The late JR Buckstone".
375:by Westland Marston, and
284:, Appleface in Jerrold's
255:The Flowers of the Forest
231:, MacDunnum of Dunnum in
138:He first appeared at the
807:Dundee Evening Telegraph
793:Who's Who in the Theatre
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489:reported that the actor
405:Pay to the Bearer a Kiss
338:Thomas William Robertson
260:The Last Days of Pompeii
162:, and in his own plays,
69:The Children in the Wood
722:London Evening Standard
630:Encyclopædia Britannica
625:Buckstone, John Baldwin
592:, p. 2, 1 November 1879
572:, 1 November 1879, p. 5
466:John Copeland Buckstone
462:Lucy Isabella Buckstone
434:Dan'l Druce, Blacksmith
288:, Shadowly Softhead in
191:published that year by
942:English male comedians
281:The Vicar of Wakefield
243:Lend Me Five Shillings
189:novel of the same name
128:novel of the same name
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51:Buckstone was born in
30:John Baldwin Buckstone
26:
25:John Baldwin Buckstone
765:, rev. J. Gilliland,
720:"Haymarket Theatre".
416:Pygmalion and Galatea
326:Charles James Mathews
294:Not as Bad as We Seem
268:An Alarming Sacrifice
233:A School for Scheming
223:Cricket on the Hearth
124:James Fenimore Cooper
96:Portrait of Buckstone
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82:The Fortunes of Nigel
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912:19th-century theatre
658:Marston, Westland.
401:An English Gentleman
318:Edward Askew Sothern
238:The Beaux' Stratagem
211:John Maddison Morton
828:The Daily Telegraph
707:, 2 May 1871, p. 12
486:The Daily Telegraph
410:The Palace of Truth
382:Our American Cousin
178:among other plays.
952:People from Hoxton
789:"Buckstone, J. C."
674:Stedman, Jane W.
643:Waddy, Frederick.
499:at the Haymarket.
369:The Overland Route
160:Pyramus and Thisbe
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863:Project Gutenberg
850:. Illustrated by
660:Our Recent Actors
496:Waiting for Godot
477:Ladywell Cemetery
373:A Hero of Romance
241:and Golightly in
140:Haymarket Theatre
107:Luke the Labourer
41:Haymarket Theatre
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693:Box and Cox
431:(1874) and
419:(1871) and
397:H. J. Byron
350:H. J. Byron
330:the Kendals
290:Lord Lytton
247:Shakespeare
235:, Scrub in
206:Box and Cox
122:, based on
114:(1830) and
73:Edmund Kean
881:Categories
342:Tom Taylor
164:Uncle John
134:Peak years
705:The Times
569:The Times
358:The Times
272:Leap Year
228:John Bull
225:, Dan in
120:The Bravo
57:solicitor
47:Biography
590:obituary
473:Sydenham
413:(1870),
158:(1833),
39:and the
870:at the
618::
440:Engaged
428:Charity
286:Catspaw
116:Forgery
612:
310:farces
201:Lyceum
53:Hoxton
503:Notes
209:, by
377:Home
352:and
328:and
274:and
253:and
170:and
861:at
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