GROSSMITH, GEORGE (1847-1912), English comedian, was born on Dec. 9, 1847, the son of a law reporter and enter tainer of the same name. After some years of journalistic work he started about 187o as a public entertainer, with songs and recitations; but in 1877 he began a long connection with the Gil bert and Sullivan operas at the Savoy Theatre, London, in The Sorcerer. For 12 years he had the leading part, his capacity for "patter-songs," and his humorous acting, dancing and singing marking his creations of the chief characters in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas as the expression of a highly original individuality. In 1889 he left the Savoy, and again set up as an entertainer, visiting all the cities of Great Britain and the United States, but retiring in 1901. Among other books he wrote The Reminiscences of a Society Clown (1888); and, with his brother Weedon (q.v.), The Diary of a Nobody (1894). He died at Folkestone, March I, 1912. His two sons, Laurence and George, Jr., were both actors, the latter, a well-known figure, dying June 6, 1935, aged 61.