Henry V. Esmond

{{Short description|British actor and playwright (1869–1922)}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Henry V. Esmond

| image = Henry V. Esmond LCCN2014695074 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Esmond in the 1910s

| birth_name = Harry Esmond Jack

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1869|11|30|df=yes}}

| birth_place = England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1922|4|17|1869|11|30|df=yes}}

| death_place = Paris, France

| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|playwright}}

| spouse = {{marriage|Eva Moore|1891}}

| children = 3, including Jill Esmond

}}

Henry Vernon Esmond (30 November 1869 – 17 April 1922) was a British actor and playwright.{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bb4722dde|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415104128/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bb4722dde|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 April 2017|title=H.V. Esmond}}{{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/h-v-esmond-27430|title=H. V. Esmond – Broadway Cast & Staff – IBDB|first=The Broadway|last=League}}

Biography

Esmond was born Harry Esmond Jack in Hampton Court, Middlesex, the son of Richard George Jack, a physician and surgeon and his wife Mary Rynd. He was baptised on 22 February 1870 at the Church of St Mary, Hampton Court, Middlesex. He began his career as an actor in London in 1889{{cite magazine|title=ESMOND, Henry V.|magazine=Who's Who|year=1907|volume= 59|page=563|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEcuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA563}} where he had several successes in comedies. He began writing plays, usually comedies, while in his early twenties. These plays were very popular and were also highly fashionable with their themes of light-hearted romance appealing to the audience of the day. He toured with a number of these plays and co-starred in them with his wife, Eva Moore.Joannou, Maroula. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/63879 "Moore, Eva (1868–1955)"], Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 30 January 2013

His plays were also well received in the United States where nine of them were produced on Broadway between 1899 and 1907. For the next Broadway production, Eliza Comes to Stay, Esmond travelled to New York to appear alongside his wife and the popular actor Leslie Banks. This proved to be the greatest success of his career. He continued writing, acting and touring until his sudden death in Paris caused by pneumonia."Death of Mr H. V. Esmond", The Times, 18 April 1922, p. 12 He is buried in the Old Cemetery of Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris.[http://www.landrucimetieres.fr/spip/spip.php?article1898 Cimetières de France et d'ailleurs]

He was the father of the actress Jill Esmond.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_ODoCwz2EsC&q=h.v.+esmond+jill+esmond&pg=PA133|title=Evelyn Brent: The Life and Films of Hollywood's Lady Crook|first1=Lynn|last1=Kear|first2=James|last2=King|date=31 July 2009|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786454686}}

References

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