Sir John Martin-Harvey
(1863-1944), Actor and theatre managerSitter in 31 portraits
Actor and theatre manager. A chance visit to a London theatre while he was apprenticed to his father's shipwright business persuaded Harvey to train as an actor. He joined Irving's Lyceum Theatre in 1882 and stayed for fourteen years. After a period as a freelance actor, he ventured into management in February 1899 with The Only Way, an adaptation of Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities that proved a phenomenal success, registering over 5000 performances over forty years and guaranteeing Harvey's financial security. Although costumed romance and melodrama were the bedrock of Harvey's repertoire, he also produced Shakespeare, a revolutionary production of Oedipus Rex, and contemporary plays by writers such as Maeterlinck.
Tell us more back to top
Can you tell us more about this person? Spotted an error, information that is missing (a sitter’s life dates, occupation or family relationships, or a date of portrait for example) or do you know anything that we don't know? If you have information to share please complete the form below.
If you require information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service. If you wish to license an image, please use our Rights and Images service.
Please note that we cannot provide valuations.
We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.