Austin Leigh

Austin Leigh (born 1860) was a British stage and film actor.[1][2]

Actor-manager

Anthony Austin-Leigh was born in north London in 1860, the son of a solicitor. He was educated at Bruce Castle School and attended King's College, London.[1] A clerk in the Civil Service, he was an amateur actor in the 1880s.[3] After some coaching from Mrs. Chippendale and Miss Glyn, he went for a few weeks to the School of Dramatic Art on Argyle Street that had opened in 1882.[1][4]

Austin-Leigh's professional debut was at the original Theatre Royal, Windsor.[3] He appeared in a theatrical directory listing in 1888, at an address on Highbury New Park, moving the following year to Belsize Park Gardens.[5][6] In 1888 he married Emmie O'Reilly, also on the stage, with a similar background, coached by Mrs. Chippendale and Horace Wigan, and a student at the School of Dramatic Art. She had a long run at the Lyceum Theatre, London with Mary Anderson, and was a leading lady with Augustus Harris.[7]

In 1909, Austin-Leigh was the subject of bankruptcy proceedings, as an actor and theatrical manager, living in Pimlico.[8] His stage career continued until at least 1917, when he appeared in The Little Damozel at the Palace Pier, Brighton.[9]

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ a b c The Green Room Book; Or, Who's who on the Stage. T.S. Clark. 1906. p. 12.
  2. ^ "Austin Leigh". BFI. Archived from the original on 18 January 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Mr. A. Austen-Leigh". South Eastern Advertiser. 31 August 1907. p. 6.
  4. ^ Haydn, Joseph (1892). Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information Relating to All Ages and Nations. Ward, Lock, Bowden. p. 295.
  5. ^ Scott, Clement; Capes, Bernard Edward Joseph; Eglington, Charles; Bright, Addison (1888). The Theatre. Wyman & Sons. p. ix.
  6. ^ The Theater: A Monthly Review and Magazine. Wyman & Sons. 1889. p. 11.
  7. ^ The Green Room Book; Or, Who's who on the Stage. T.S. Clark. 1906. p. 263.
  8. ^ "No. 28253". The London Gazette. 21 May 1909. p. 3933.
  9. ^ "Provincial News: Brighton". The Era. 27 June 1917. p. 7.