Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson

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Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson 1853-1937, English actor-manager. He was trained by Samuel Phelps, made his first appearance in 1874, and thereafter performed with the Bancrofts (1878), John Hare, and Henry Irving (1882). His portrayal of Hamlet was said to be the greatest of his time. In 1900 he married Gertrude Elliott, an American actress, with whom he often starred. Forbes-Robertson was gaunt in appearance, but graceful and elegant in style, and possessed a magnificent speaking voice. He was knighted in 1913 and retired in the same year.

Bibliography: See his autobiographical Player under Three Reigns (1925).

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Forbes-Robertson, Sir Johnston

The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre | 1996 | | © The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Forbes-Robertson, Sir Johnston (1853–1937), English actor-manager. He studied art but gave it up for the stage, learning his perfect elocution from Samuel Phelps. He made his first outstanding success at the Haymarket Theatre in W. S. Gilbert's Dan'l Druce, Blacksmith (1876). Two years later he joined the Bancrofts, and was then engaged by Wilson Barrett to play opposite Modjeska. In 1882 he went to the Lyceum under Irving, later touring with Mary Anderson with whom he made his first appearance in New York as Orlando to her Rosalind in As You Like It (1885). He returned to the Lyceum to give outstanding performances as the Duke of Buckingham in Irving's production of Henry VIII (1892), Romeo to the Juliet of Mrs Patrick Campbell (1895), and, for the first time, Hamlet (1897), his voice, fine ascetic features, and graceful figure being ideally suited to the part. An outstanding later role, in the style of the time, was the Stranger in Jerome K. Jerome's The Passing of the Third-Floor Back (1908), with which he inaugurated his final season at the St James's. He made his last appearance at Drury Lane as Hamlet in 1913. He married in 1900 Gertrude Elliott (see ELLIOTT, MAXINE) who acted with him until 1913. Their daughter Jean Forbes-Robertson was also on the stage, as were Forbes-Robertson's three brothers.

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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Forbes-Robertson, Sir Johnston." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 15 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Forbes-Robertson, Sir Johnston." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (November 15, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-ForbesRobertsonSirJohnstn.html

PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Forbes-Robertson, Sir Johnston." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved November 15, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-ForbesRobertsonSirJohnstn.html

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