John Lawrence Toole
(1830-1906), Actor and theatre managerLater Victorian Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 38 portraits
Beginning his acting career at the age of twenty-two, for nearly forty years he sustained a position at or near the summit of his adopted profession. He was considered to be a master of the twin staples of Victorian entertainment, farce and domestic melodrama, and it was this dual ability that helped him remain dominant for so long. In 1879 he became the resident manager of the Folly Theatre. It was relaunched as Toole's Theatre, thus making him the first actor to have a West End theatre named after him. In his day his popularity was such that in 1870 he starred nightly at two theatres in different plays, but his repertory died with him, and in the twentieth century he was all but forgotten.
by Herbert Watkins
albumen print, arched top, late 1850s
NPG P301(137)
John Lawrence Toole as Fanfaronde in 'Belphegor the Mountebank'
by Herbert Watkins
albumen print, late 1850s
NPG P301(160)
John Lawrence Toole as Tom Cranky in 'The Birthplace of Podgers'
by Herbert Watkins
albumen print, late 1850s
NPG P301(161)
by Harry Furniss
pen and ink, 1880s-1900s
NPG 3528
by Sydney Prior Hall
pencil, published in The Graphic 16 February 1889
NPG 2264
by Herbert Watkins
albumen print, late 1850s
NPG Ax36251
by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s
NPG x26919
by Horatio Nelson King
albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s
NPG x132418
by Unknown photographer
albumen print, 1860s
NPG x139998
by William Walker & Sons
albumen carte-de-visite, 1865
NPG x26915
by William Walker & Sons
albumen carte-de-visite photomontage, 1865
NPG x26921
John Lawrence Toole; Paul John Bedford; John Lawrence Toole
by William Walker & Sons
albumen carte-de-visite photomontage, 1865
NPG x26922
by Marcus Ward & Co
albumen carte-de-visite, 1865
NPG Ax39869
John Lawrence Toole as Mr Tittums in 'The Steeple Chase; or, In the Pigskin'
by Unknown photographer
albumen print on paper mount, 1865
NPG x26920
John Lawrence Toole as Serjeant Buzfuz in 'Bardell v. Pickwick'
by Ovinius Davis
albumen carte-de-visite, 1871
NPG Ax18165
by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
albumen carte-de-visite, 1874 or before
NPG Ax28512
by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
albumen carte-de-visite, circa 1874
NPG Ax46239
by Fradelle & Marshall
woodburytype, circa 1874
NPG x26916
by Fradelle & Marshall
woodburytype, circa 1874
NPG Ax7611
by Fradelle & Marshall, published by Hardwicke & Bogue
woodburytype, published 1879 (circa 1874)
NPG Ax45754
by Fradelle & Marshall
woodburytype, circa 1874
NPG x26917
after Lock & Whitfield, and Elliott & Fry, and Fradelle & Marshall, and Pierre Petit, and Louis Bertin, and Unknown photographers
woodburytype, late 1870s
NPG x132955
by Thomas Cranfield
woodburytype, published 1 October 1879
NPG x26923
John Lawrence Toole as Barnaby Doublechick in 'The Upper Crust'
by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
woodburytype, 1880
NPG Ax7707
John Lawrence Toole in 'The Artful Cards'
by York & Son, after Elliott & Fry
glass lantern slide, 1890s (circa 1880)
NPG x3674
John Lawrence Toole as Barnaby Doublechick in 'The Upper Crust'
by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
woodburytype, published June 1880
NPG x26924
by Herbert Rose Barraud, published by Eglington & Co
carbon print, published 1889
NPG Ax5448
by Direct Photo Engraving Co Ltd, after Barrauds Ltd
collotype, (circa 1889)
NPG x26926
by Herbert Rose Barraud, published by Eglington & Co
carbon print, published 1889
NPG x26925
by W. & D. Downey, published by Cassell & Company, Ltd
carbon print, published 1892
NPG Ax16007
by Sir Emery Walker
half-plate glass negative
NPG x19633
by Walker & Boutall, after Sir Emery Walker
photogravure
NPG x19635
Paul John Bedford; John Lawrence Toole
by Henry Calton Terrence Maguire, printed by Stannard & Dixon, after Southwell Brothers
chromolithograph, mid 19th century
NPG D46005
John Lawrence Toole ('A Lad in Aladdin')
published by Frederick Arnold, after Unknown artist
lithograph, published in the Hornet 15 February 1871
NPG D48223
John Lawrence Toole ('Men of the Day. No. 132.')
by Sir Leslie Ward
chromolithograph, published in Vanity Fair 29 July 1876
NPG D43755
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