Theatre Register

Lawrence Grossmith

Shows · Lawrence Grossmith

Actor 1877–1944 On stage 19001936

Lawrence Randall Grossmith (29 March 1877 – 21 February 1944) was an English actor, the son of the Gilbert and Sullivan performer George Grossmith and the brother of the actor-manager George Grossmith Jr. After establishing his career in Edwardian musical comedy in London from the first years of the 20th century until the First World War (except for a brief period in the U.S.), Grossmith left England on an extensive tour of the U.S. and Australia, playing in both musicals and non-musical plays. He continued his stage career in England and America from 1924. From 1933 until his death in 1944, he acted in films as well as on stage.

On stage 14 productions, 36 years

1900 The Degenerates Garden Theatre · Original 36 perf.
1906 About Town Herald Square Theatre · Original · directed by Julian Mitchell 85 perf.
1906 The Great Decide Herald Square Theatre · Original · directed by Julian Mitchell 53 perf.
1916 Flora Bella Casino Theatre · Original · directed by Richard Ordynski 112 perf.
1917 Love o' Mike Shubert Theatre · Original · directed by J. H. Benrimo 233 perf.
1919 Too Many Husbands Booth Theatre · Original 102 perf.
1921 The New Morality Playhouse Theatre · Original 5 perf.
1921 The Silver Fox Maxine Elliotts Theatre · Original · directed by William Faversham 112 perf.
1928 The Happy Husband Empire Theatre · Original · directed by A. E. Matthews 72 perf.
1929 The First Mrs. Fraser Playhouse Theatre · Original · directed by Grace George 352 perf.
1931 The Cat And The Fiddle Globe Theatre · Revival · directed by José Ruben 395 perf.
1935 A Slight Case of Murder 48th Street Theatre · Original · directed by Allen Delano 69 perf.
1935 The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles Guild Theatre · Original · directed by Harry Wagstaff Gribble 40 perf.
1936 Call It a Day Morosco Theatre · Original · directed by Tyrone Guthrie 194 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once12 names

Lillian Devere 3 productions
Viola Roache 2 productions
Vernon Castle 2 productions
Topsy Siegrist 2 productions
Ruthita Field 2 productions
May Leslie 2 productions
Mae Murray 2 productions
Lynn D Arcy 2 productions
Loretta Macdonald 2 productions
Ida Doerge 2 productions
Harry Fisher 2 productions
Gladys Zell 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 10 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

In the literature2 passages

  • Cast: Georges Metaxa, Bettina Hall, Odette Myrtil, Eddie Foy Jr., José Ruben, Lawrence Grossmith, Doris Carson, George Meaderebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • Michelena, “Marrying Mary” starring Marie Cahill, “About Town” with Lew Fields, Edna Wallace Hopper, Lawrence Grossmith, Louise Dresser, George Beban, Jack Norworth, Mae Murray and Vernon Castle part of the impressive cast, Richard Carle assisted by Bessie McCoy and Adele Rowland in “The Spring Chicken,” Sam Bernard in “The Rich Mr. Hogge…theatre-pdfs/A Pictorial History of the American Theatre, 1860-1985 (Blum).txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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