Barrie, Sir James Matthew

Barrie, Sir James Matthew (1860–1937), Scottish novelist and dramatist, whose whimsical children's play Peter Pan, based on one of his own novels, was once a feature of the London theatrical scene at Christmas. It was first produced in 1904, with Nina Boucicault as Peter. Barrie's early plays were unsuccessful, and he first came into prominence with a farce, Walker, London (1892), in which Toole appeared. The success of The Professor's Love Story (1894) and The Little Minister (1897) established him as a promising playwright, and he consolidated his position with the romantic costume play Quality Street (1902) and the social comedies The Admirable Crichton (also 1902) and What Every Woman Knows (1908). The mixture of fantasy and sentimentality which runs through much of Barrie's work was uppermost in Dear Brutus (1917) and Mary Rose (1920), both of which invoke supernatural elements in a realistic setting. Among his shorter plays, the one-act The Old Lady Shows her Medals (1917) and Shall We Join the Ladies? (1922) have been popular with amateur companies. His last play, The Boy David (1936), was specially written for Elisabeth Bergner, who played the biblical David. It was not a success, and he is more likely to be remembered for The Admirable Crichton, whose title has passed into everyday speech to describe a man of all-round excellence, and Peter Pan.