Sir John Hare

Sir John Hare 1844-1921, English actor-manager, whose original name was John Fairs. From 1856 to 1874 he was a prominent actor with the Bancrofts' company in the plays of Tom Robertson. He managed (1875-79) the Court Theatre and later with the Kendals co-managed (1879-88) the St. James Theatre. In 1889 he became manager of the Garrick Theatre, built for him by W. S. Gilbert. He was knighted in 1907.

Hare, Sir John [ Sir John Fairs] (1844–1921), English actor-manager. In 1865 he was engaged by the Bancrofts to appear with them at the Prince of Wales Theatre in the plays of T. W. Robertson. He was manager of the Royal Court from 1875 to 1879 and then went into partnership with Kendal at the St James's, where one of his outstanding successes was Pinero's The Money Spinner (1881). From 1889 to 1895 he was at the Garrick, where he first played Benjamin Goldfinch in Grundy's A Pair of Spectacles (1890), a part with which his name is always associated. He made his first appearance in New York in 1895 in Pinero's The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith and then revived several of his former successes, touring as Old Eccles in Robertson's Caste, in which he had played Sam Gerridge on its first production in 1867, and finally retiring in 1911.