Abbey, Henry (Edwin)

Abbey, Henry [Edwin] (1846–96), manager. Characterized by Odell as “a restless genius of far‐reaching vision and managerial astuteness,” he was born in Akron, Ohio, the son of a clockmaker and jeweler. A practice of the time was to sell theatre tickets at jewelry stores, so he began his career as a ticket seller, later doing the same at the Akron Opera House, which he was managing two years later. After running theatres in Buffalo and Boston, Abbey assumed the reins of the Park Theatre in New York City, then also Booth's and Wallack's. He brought great players under his aegis, including Edwin Booth, E. A. Sothern, and Otis Skinner, and was the first to pair William H. Crane and Stuart Robson when he presented them in Our Boarding House (1877). Abbey was equally instrumental in bringing to America many great foreign companies and performers, and for several seasons he ran the Metropolitan Opera. In 1893 he built Abbey's Theatre on Broadway, bringing over Henry Irving and Ellen Terry to open the house. His early death cut short a remarkable career. Some sources give his middle name as Eugene.