John Brougham

John Brougham, born in Dublin on 9 May 1810 and died in New York City on 7 June 1880, was an Irish-American actor, dramatist, theatre manager, poet, and author whose career spanned both the London and New York stages across five decades. The author of more than seventy-five dramatic works, with some sources placing the figure above 150, he earned the nickname "The American Aristophanes" for a substantial body of satirical and burlesque writing. He also published two volumes of miscellaneous writings, including essays and poems.

The eldest of three children and the only one to survive to adulthood, Brougham was raised in Dublin in the home of his uncle after his father, an amateur painter, died young. His mother, the daughter of a Protestant French Huguenot, lived in poverty under conditions of religious and political persecution. Brougham was educated at an academy in Trim, County Meath, before matriculating to Trinity College Dublin, where he received a classical education and participated in student theatrical productions. His uncle had intended for him to pursue surgery, and Brougham briefly studied at Peter Street Hospital, but financial hardship forced an end to his studies. He relocated to London in 1830 to support himself.

In London, a chance reunion with actress Lucia Elizabeth Vestris, whom he had known at Trinity College, secured him work at the Queen's Theatre, Tottenham Court Road, where he made his professional stage debut in July 1830 portraying six characters in a production of William Thomas Moncrieff's Tom and Jerry. By 1831 he had joined Vestris's resident company at the Olympic Theatre, managed by her husband Charles Mathews, and in 1832 he wrote his first play, a burlesque conceived as a starring vehicle for Vestris. He remained with the company for a decade, following it when it relocated in 1839 to the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. During this period he co-authored the 1841 play London Assurance with Dion Boucicault, taking on the role of Dazzle, though a subsequent legal dispute led Brougham to relinquish his authorship rights and leave the production. In 1840 he was appointed manager of the Lyceum Theatre, London, for which he wrote several light burlesques.

Brougham emigrated to the United States in 1842, making his American debut at the Park Theatre in Manhattan in a production of William Bayle Bernard's His Last Legs. He became a member of W. E. Burton's company, for which he wrote 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. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1844 upon his second marriage, to American actress Annette Hawley, daughter of Captain Nelson, R.N., and widow of a Mr. Hodges. His first marriage, in 1838, had been to actress Emma Williams, who died in 1865. Hawley died in 1870.

Brougham went on to manage several New York theatres, including Niblo's Garden, Brougham's Lyceum, which he opened in 1850, and the Bowery Theatre, none of which proved financially successful despite the popularity of works such as Po-ca-hon-tas; or, The Gentle Savage. He also toured with theatre troupes led by impresarios William Evans Burton and James William Wallack. In 1852 he edited a comedic paper called The Lantern and published two collections of miscellaneous writings, A Basket of Chips and The Bunsby Papers. A Day in New York followed in 1857.

At the height of his American popularity, Brougham returned to England in September 1860, where he adapted and wrote several plays for the London stage, among them The Duke's Motto for actor Fechter. In November 1864 he appeared at the Theatre Royal in Dublin in the premiere of Dion Boucicault's Arrah-na-Pogue, alongside Boucicault, Samuel Johnson, and Samuel Anderson Emery. After the conclusion of the American Civil War, Brougham returned to New York City in October 1865 to join the company at the Winter Garden Theatre.

His Broadway career, which extended from 1848 to 1872, encompassed productions including The Dramatic Review for 1868, Minnie's Luck, The Duke's Motto, Met-A-Mora, and Much Ado About A Merchant of Venice, among others. In 1869 he opened Brougham's Theatre with the comedies Better Late than Never and Much Ado About a Merchant of Venice, though this venture also ended in failure following disagreements with his business partner, Jim Fisk. He subsequently performed with Augustin Daly's theatre company. Brougham was a founding member and first vice president of the Lotos Club in New York, established in 1870, and served for a time as its president. His final stage appearance came in 1879, when he played the role of O'Reilly the detective in Boucicault's Rescued. He died in Manhattan eight months later, in June 1880.