Collins, Sam

The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre | 1996 | 700+ words | Copyright

Collins, Sam [ Sam Vagg] (1826–65), chimney-sweep who went on the ‘halls’, and was probably the first, and certainly the best remembered, of the Irish Comedians. He first appeared at Evans's ‘song-and-supper rooms’, making his reputation with such ballads as ‘The Rocky Road to Dublin’, ‘Paddy's Wedding’, and ‘The Limerick Races’. He starred at the Canterbury and most of London's other major halls, and in 1858 opened the Marylebone Music-Hall. Later he took over the Lansdowne Tavern in Islington Green, which he opened as Collins's Music-Hall in 1863, his widow continuing to run it with great success. In 1897 it became a repertory theatre, and it was eventually demolished. On Collins's grave in Kensal Green cemetery are carved pictures of his billycock hat, his shillelagh, and the shamrock he always wore on stage.

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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Collins, Sam." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Collins, Sam." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-CollinsSam.html

PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Collins, Sam." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-CollinsSam.html

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