*GILBERT & SULLIVAN: HENRY LYTTON RARE IOLANTHE SCENE PHOTO*

Description

A magnificent original photographic postcard of the legendary Gilbert and Sullivan actor Henry A. Lytton in a scene from Iolanthe with Clara Dow. Light wear otherwise good. See Henry A. Lytton's extraordinary biography below.
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From Wikipedia:
Sir Henry Lytton
,
né
Henry Alfred Jones
(3 January 1865 – 15 August 1936), was an English actor and singer who was the leading exponent of the comic
patter
-
baritone
roles in
Gilbert and Sullivan
operas from 1909 to 1934. He also starred in
musical comedies
. His career with the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
spanned 50 years, and he is the only person ever knighted for achievements as a Gilbert and Sullivan performer.
Lytton was born in London; he studied there with a painter but then went on the stage in defiance of his family's wishes. At the age of 19 he married
Louie Henri
, an actress and singer who helped him gain a place in a D'Oyly Carte touring company in 1884. After briefly playing in other companies, he and his wife rejoined D'Oyly Carte. He had an early breakthrough in 1887 when the
Savoy Theatre
star
George Grossmith
fell ill, and the 22-year-old Lytton went on for him in
Ruddigore
. Lytton starred in D'Oyly Carte touring companies from 1887 to 1897, playing mostly the comic patter roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan (and other) operas. From 1897 to 1903 he appeared with the company continuously at the Savoy Theatre, playing a range of baritone parts, from romantic leads to character parts in new operas and revivals. During this time a brief and costly attempt at theatrical production in London led to him abandoning thoughts of being an impresario.
The D'Oyly Carte company left the Savoy Theatre in 1903, and Lytton appeared in half a dozen
West End
musical comedies over the next four years, including
The Earl and the Girl
,
The Spring Chicken
and
The Little Michus
. He also wrote for, and performed in,
music hall
and wrote a libretto. During the two D'Oyly Carte repertory seasons at the Savoy between 1906 and 1909, Lytton rejoined the company, again playing a variety of roles, but mostly not the patter roles. Beginning in 1909, and continuously to 1934, he was the principal comedian of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in London and on tour.