English comedian, brother of the second George Grossmith, born in London on the 9th of June. He was educated as a painter and exhibited at the Academy and the Grosvenor Gallery; but in 1885 he joined Rosina Vokes’s theatrical company and went on tour in the provinces and in America. He first appeared in London at the Gaiety theatre in 1887 as Woodcock in Woodcock’s Little Game; but his earliest notable success was made in A Pantomime Rehearsal. He played with Irving at the Lyceum theatre, with Tree at the Haymarket and with Mrs. John Wood at the Court theatre. In 1894 he entered into management on his own account at Terry’s theatre and produced a play of his own, The Night of the Party. His gift of quiet humour brought him much success, and among his best impersonations may be mentioned Archibald Bennick in The New Boy, Jimmy Jinks in Baby Mine, the Earl of Tweenwayes in The Amazons, “Boney” in The Misleading Lady and the Judge in Stopping the Breach, this being the last rôle he ever played (1917). In 1913 he published his autobiography, From Studio to Stage. He married Miss May Palfrey, who was also an actress. He died in London on the 14th of June 1919.
