25 Facts About John Brougham

John Brougham was an Irish and American actor, dramatist, poet, theatre manager, and author.

John Brougham staged his first play in that city in 1831.

John Brougham performed for a decade in the theatre troupe of actress Lucia Elizabeth Vestris and her husband Charles James Mathews, first at the Olympic Theatre and then the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden.

In 1840 John Brougham became manager of the Lyceum Theatre, London.

John Brougham rapidly became a favorite actor among the American public in a wide range of contemporary plays.

John Brougham toured the United States in theatre troupes led by the impresarios William Evans Burton and James William Wallack, in addition to appearing on Broadway with some frequency.

John Brougham became a naturalized American citizen in 1844 upon his second marriage, to American actress Annette Hawley.

John Brougham left the United States at the height of his popularity just prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War.

John Brougham returned to England in September 1860 to work on the London stage.

John Brougham died eight months later in New York City in June 1880.

John Brougham was mired in poverty and arranged for John Brougham to be raised in the home of his uncle.

John Brougham was prepared for college at an academy at Trim, County Meath, twenty miles from Dublin.

John Brougham became acquainted with the actress Lucia Elizabeth Vestris, and became involved with a social set of friends who produced their own plays.

John Brougham's uncle encouraged his education with the goal of becoming a surgeon.

John Brougham briefly was a surgical student at Peter Street Hospital.

John Brougham made his professional London stage debut in July 1930 portraying six characters in that work.

In 1831 John Brougham was a member of Vestris's company which was the resident troupe at London's Olympic Theatre, and was managed by Vestris's husband Charles Mathews.

John Brougham wrote his first play, a burlesque as a starring vehicle for her in 1832.

John Brougham remained with Madame Vestris's company for a decade; continuing with the organization after it left the Olympic Theatre in 1839 to take up residency at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden.

However, the relationship between Boucicault and John Brougham soured, and after the work premiered John Brougham relinquished his authorship rights in a lawsuit settlement and left the production at the Theatre Royal.

In 1840 John Brougham was appointed manager of the Lyceum Theatre, London, for which he wrote several light burlesques.

John Brougham became a member of WE Burton's company, for which he wrote several comedies, including Met-a-mora; or, the Last of the Pollywogs, a parody of John A Stone and Edwin Forrest's Metamora; or The Last of the Wamponoags, and Irish Yankee; or, The Birthday of Freedom.

John Brougham was later connected with Wallack's and Daly's theatres, and wrote plays for both.

John Brougham's Theatre was opened in 1869 with his comedies Better Late than Never and Much Ado About a Merchant of Venice, but this managerial experience was a failure, due to disagreements with his business partner, Jim Fisk, and he took to playing the stock market.

John Brougham was a founding member and first vice president of the Lotos Club in New York, and for a time its president.