BOIICICAULT, DIoN, dramatic author and actor, was b. at Dublin on the 26th of Dec., 1822. lie was brought up under the guardianship of Dr. Dionysius Lardner, the well-known popular writer on science, and was educated at University college. Lon don. He produced his first dramatic work very early—before he was 19 rears old. It was signally successful, and its success determined his career. This was London Assur ance. It was first performed at, Covent Garden theater in Mar., 1841; and it has eve: since remained a favorite with play-goers, both throughout Great Britain and in America. Much of the success it had in London must be ascribed to the admirable acting of Mr. Charles Mathews; but it had merits of its own sufficient to secure to it the favorable verdict of the public. The plot was slight, but ingenious; it abounded in comic situa tions; the dialogue was brisk and sprightly; there was no lack of wit, and there was perhaps somewhat too much of those flippancies and pleasant impertinences which aver age theater-goers prefer to wit. Once embarked in the career of a play-writer, B. pro duced piece after piece in rapid succession, and greatly increaSed the reputation which his first attempt had brought him. Old Heads and Young Hearts, Lore in a Maze, U.al Up, Louis XL, and The Corsican Brothers were among the most popular of his eat ly works. Several of these are still stock pieces at our theaters; and to play-goers, the mere enumeration of their names will show that B. distinguished himself equally in comedy, farce, and melodrama. When lie went upon the stage, as he soon did, he added a high reputation as an actor to the reputation he had previously gained as an author. From 1853 till 1860 ho was in America, where his popularity was scarcely less than it had been in England. On his return to England in 1860, he produced at the Adelphi theater, a play, The Colleen Eaten, which proved among the most successful of modern times, and which, if not the first of a new school, has at least supplied a new descriptive name to our dramatic literature. The Colleen Dawn was, happily enough, described as a "sensation drama;" its interest depended largely upon scenery, mainly upon startling incidents and astounding stage-effects. It was not a high kind of work, or fit to stand
the tests of a good dramatic piece, as nobody knew better than the author; but it suited the public taste, and the author made a fortune by it. 'It has been performed at almost every theater in the united kingdom; it had a great run In America too; it was even translated into French, and brought out at the Ambigu theater at Paris. Mr. B. subse• quently produced at the Adelphi—of which he was for some time joint-manager with Mr. B. Webster—another "sensation" drama, The Octoroon, the popularby of which was only inferior to that of The Colleen Buten. having quarreled with Mr. Webster, he, in 1862, opened a new theater in London, the Westminster, erected on the site of what had been for generations known as Astley's amphitheater; but this spt turned out unfortunate, and B. was ruined by it. He afterwards re-established his for tunes by new plays. brought out at the Princess's, the Holborn, and other flamers, in some of which he and his wife—formerly Miss Robertson, a very popular actress—took the leading parts. The Streets of London, _Flying Scud, After Bark, and the Shaughraun have been the most popular of his recent works, all of which are of the "sensation" school, with which, it may be said, he first familiarized the public. He has written upwards of 150 dramatic pieces; and in illustration of the facility with which he has composed works which—all deductions made—are of considerable merit, it may be said that lie lately stated to a royal commission that he would undertake to write plays for all the theaters in London. He is undoubtedly capable of writing better wcrks than any he has yet written; but he found the public taste bad, and instead of making thankles,s attempts at improving it, he has been content to gratify it; and in fact has helped to debauch it. As an actor, B. has always been popular, without attaining to high excel lence in his vocation. He wants some natural gifts, without which a man cannot be a great actor; he has an immobile countenance, an indifferent voice, and a too artificial manner. Any success he has hind has been gained by the soundness of his judgment and his great cleverness. In 1876 he went to live in New York.