Actor. He was the son of John Harvey, yacht designer and builder, and Mary Margaret Diana, née Goyder, the daughter of the Rev. David George Goyder. Born John Martin Harvey and known to his family as Jack, he adopted the double-barrelled name John Martin-Harvey after his knighthood in 1921.
He was educated at King's College School in London and was expected to follow his father's career. Instead, he studied acting and elocution under John Ryder. He made his first public appearance on the London stage in 1881 and, the following year, joined Henry Irving's Lyceum Company. He remained with Irving for fourteen years, during which he made four visits to the United States.
In 1889, he played Sydney Carton in The Only Way, adapted from Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities. This was suggested, planned, and named by his wife, who played 'Mimi' and whom he had married in 1889. However, it was written by two Irish clergymen, Freeman Wills and Frederick Langbridge. In 1924, this became one of Martin-Harvey's very few film appearances.
His other stage appearances included the eponymous Hamlet (1909) and Richard III (1910), Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew (1913), as well as Oedipus in the Max Reinhardt production of 1912.
In 1924, he was made a Chief of the Sarcee tribes of North-West America under the name Ta-Decasze (Red Feather).
Although for many years he was better known in the provinces than in London, he was one of the earliest advocates of a National Theatre. His autobiography was published in 1933. He died at his home, Primrose Cottage, Fife Road in East Sheen, and was buried in the nearby cemetery on 17 May 1944.
Actor. He was the son of John Harvey, yacht designer and builder, and Mary Margaret Diana, née Goyder, the daughter of the Rev. David George Goyder. Born John Martin Harvey and known to his family as Jack, he adopted the double-barrelled name John Martin-Harvey after his knighthood in 1921.
He was educated at King's College School in London and was expected to follow his father's career. Instead, he studied acting and elocution under John Ryder. He made his first public appearance on the London stage in 1881 and, the following year, joined Henry Irving's Lyceum Company. He remained with Irving for fourteen years, during which he made four visits to the United States.
In 1889, he played Sydney Carton in The Only Way, adapted from Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities. This was suggested, planned, and named by his wife, who played 'Mimi' and whom he had married in 1889. However, it was written by two Irish clergymen, Freeman Wills and Frederick Langbridge. In 1924, this became one of Martin-Harvey's very few film appearances.
His other stage appearances included the eponymous Hamlet (1909) and Richard III (1910), Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew (1913), as well as Oedipus in the Max Reinhardt production of 1912.
In 1924, he was made a Chief of the Sarcee tribes of North-West America under the name Ta-Decasze (Red Feather).
Although for many years he was better known in the provinces than in London, he was one of the earliest advocates of a National Theatre. His autobiography was published in 1933. He died at his home, Primrose Cottage, Fife Road in East Sheen, and was buried in the nearby cemetery on 17 May 1944.
Bio by: Iain MacFarlaine
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