Ainley, Henry Hinchliffe

Ainley, Henry Hinchliffe (1879–1945), English actor, possessor of a remarkably fine voice and great personal beauty and charm. He made his first success in Stephen Phillips's Paolo and Francesca (1902), at the St James's Theatre under George Alexander, and soon became known as an excellent romantic actor in such plays as Justin McCarthy's If I were King later the same year. In 1912 he made a great impression as Leontes in The Winter's Tale, directed by Granville-Barker, showing his versatility a year later by playing Ilam Carve in Arnold Bennett's The Great Adventure. One of his finest parts was Hassan in James Elroy Flecker's poetic play of that name in 1923, which was staged at His (now Her) Majesty's Theatre, one of several London theatres with whose management he was associated. Illness kept him from the stage for many years, but he returned in 1929 to score an instantaneous success as James Fraser in St John Ervine's The First Mrs Fraser, playing opposite Marie Tempest. A year later he was seen as an excellent Hamlet in a Command Performance; he finally retired in 1932.