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After the war Benson made his last appearance at
Stratford in 1919, and then toured South Africa in 1921–22. At about this time he had an affair with an actress, Geneviève Smeek, also known as Townsend (1898–1927); the Bensons separated although they did not divorce. On his return from South Africa
508:. The notices were highly favourable: one reviewer declared that the production was the best in living memory "so conscientious and complete, and so poetical and picturesque". It ran for what was then a record 110 performances. Benson, who hated long runs and preferred a repertory system, added
356:
Each year, Benson gave one new production at
Stratford, which was given on Shakespeare's birthday and became known as the Birthday Play. These productions, often of rarely performed plays, were subsidised by Flower or his fellow governors of the theatre, who paid for the design and making of the
437:
to carry
Shakespeare far and wide over the United Kingdom, to dissolve, in cathedral city, in dingy manufacturing town, and in centres of agricultural life, the lingering prejudice against the stage play, to rescue Shakespeare from death in school examinations, and the never-opened gift-book on
295:
in 1882. Irving was unimpressed and did not extend the young actor's contract. Terry suggested that Benson should join a touring company where he could gain more experience and better parts than in London. He joined first Miss
Alleyne's company, and then that of
600:
during the early years of the war, but longed to make a more tangible contribution to the war effort. He was rejected for active service because of his age. He temporarily abandoned the stage and drove an ambulance in France, receiving the
422:
back into the regular repertory. During his thirty-year association with
Stratford, Benson staged all but two of Shakespeare's plays. In 1910 Benson was awarded the freedom of the borough of Stratford, the first actor so honoured since
441:
Another celebrated aspect of Benson's life and work was the training of new generations of actors. A touring company paying modest salaries inevitably suffered a constant loss of its leading players to stardom and better pay in the
609:
he toured the provinces giving farewell performances, and wrote what
Wearing calls "a book of genial if vague reminiscences" and a brief handbook of advice about the acting profession. In 1924 he starred in the film
309:
One night the manager was missing, and so were the salaries. A quick interchange of telegrams between Benson and his father; the necessary money was received; and the company ... became not
Bentley's but
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Helped by further subsidies from his father, Benson built up his company and extended its touring range to the whole of the country and beyond. In 1886 he married a member of his company,
648:, at the Winter Garden, London on 26 December 1932 in a production by the Old Bensonian Oscar Asche. An injury caused by a bicyclist in March 1933 ended Benson's career. He was awarded a
357:
costumes and sets. Benson was then able to tour the production with his other plays. The extension of the
Stratford repertoire rescued many Shakespeare plays from neglect, such as
430:
When not at
Stratford, the Benson company's repertoire included some non-Shakespearean classics and modern plays, but Shakespeare predominated. Benson's mission, in the words of
222:
in 1878, where he distinguished himself as an athlete (winning the Inter-university three miles) and as an amateur actor. In 1880 he mounted a successful production of
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printed a list of more than 90 "Old
Bensonians" – eminent actors and actresses who "learnt their art under the inspiration of Mr Benson". The men included
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Although Benson's chief successes were gained out of London he sought recognition in the West End. He presented his first London season at the
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Benson's company toured widely, with few London seasons, and became a training ground for several generations of young performers, including
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on the battlefield for rescuing wounded men on the front line. His wife ran a canteen for soldiers in France. Benson was knighted in 1916.
527:
Benson did not return to the West End for ten years, taking the Lyceum for four months in 1900. He had subsequent West End seasons at the
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Benson's productions were not avant-garde: he liked traditional staging and design, but he was the first producer of modern times to give
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198:, Kent, on 4 November 1858, the third son and fourth child of William Benson (1816–1887), a barrister, and his wife, Elizabeth,
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551:(1920). A rare appearance away from his own company was in May 1916 when at a special tercentennial "Shakespeare Day" at the
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found it "one of the very worst it has been our misfortune to witness", and commented that Benson's Romeo resembled
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in 1769. He was later appointed as a governor of the Memorial Theatre and a trustee of Shakespeare's birthplace.
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1025:. Vol. 30 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. p. 448.
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656:, London, where he died on 31 December 1939, aged 81. After a private funeral he was cremated at
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said that Benson's company "was the nursery of modern Shakespearean acting", and both the
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this confused a London public unfamiliar with repertory seasons, and Benson lost money.
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on him in the royal box, the first instance of an actor being knighted in a theatre.
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described the circumstances in which Benson came to take over the company in 1883:
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in 1911 Benson appeared in four films of Shakespeare plays, much abbreviated:
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787:"Benson, Sir Francis Robert (Frank) (1858–1939), actor and theatre manager"
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parlour tables, and to give a glimpse of the meaning and the value of art.
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Benson was the older cousin of the Oscar-nominated and Tony-winning actor
562:
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854:. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 745.
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51:. He founded his own company in 1883 and produced all but two of
317:. They had two children, Eric William (1887–1916, killed at the
206:, became a well-known architect and designer, and the youngest,
249:
In July 1881 Benson and his Oxford Agamemnon Society took the
353:
have some of their roots in his company and productions.
644:
Benson made his last appearance on stage as Dr Caius in
1068:
The Royal Shakespeare Company: A History of Ten Decades
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to the season, but according to the theatre historian
1089:(ninth ed.). London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons.
999:, Shakespeare and the Players. Retrieved 31 July 2021
820:"Sir Frank Benson: A Great Theatrical Personality",
47:(4 November 1858 – 31 December 1939) was an English
561:in an all-star cast. At the end of the performance
961:, Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 August 2021
1070:. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
63:laid down foundations for the creation of the
202:Soulsby Smith (1830–1892). Their eldest son,
27:English actor and theatre manager (1858–1939)
8:
55:plays. His thirty-year association with the
937:"Mr Benson's Canadian and American Visit",
242:the following year, in which Benson played
834:
832:
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710:Among other eminent Old Bensonians were
596:Benson staged patriotic performances of
109:, to whom he bore a strong resemblance.
959:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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791:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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502:in 1889, beginning on 19 December with
59:and the annual Shakespeare Festival in
1178:Male actors from Royal Tunbridge Wells
1163:English theatre managers and producers
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287:to take Benson on to play Paris in
259:. The performance was not admired;
214:politician. In 1871 Benson went to
321:), and Brynhild Lucy (1888–1974).
25:
1008:
793:, Oxford University Press, 2004
333:, the philanthropist behind the
664:on 12 January 1940, led by the
592:First World War and later years
210:, later Baron Charnwood, was a
194:Benson was born at Eden House,
845:"Benson, Francis Robert"
742:, and Benson's distant cousin
1:
1188:20th-century theatre managers
1183:19th-century theatre managers
1148:Alumni of New College, Oxford
672:Notes, references and sources
580:, in which he played Antony;
406:uncut, he purged the text of
1017:"Benson, Sir Francis Robert"
1015:Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922).
983:"Shakespeare Day Surprise",
797:UK public library membership
555:he played the title role in
335:Shakespeare Memorial Theatre
57:Shakespeare Memorial Theatre
275:. Benson then studied with
204:William Arthur Smith Benson
1209:
1143:Actors awarded knighthoods
1085:Parker, John, ed. (1939).
646:The Merry Wives of Windsor
416:'s additions, and brought
395:The Merry Shrews of Venice
390:The Merry Wives of Windsor
315:Constance Featherstonhaugh
1158:English male stage actors
1039:, 30 December 1932, p. 18
941:, 18 September 1913, p. 9
658:Golders Green crematorium
553:Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
505:A Midsummer Night's Dream
347:Royal Shakespeare Company
65:Royal Shakespeare Company
45:Sir Francis Robert Benson
1087:Who's Who in the Theatre
660:. A memorial service at
1193:Shakespearean directors
1153:Benson family (England)
1066:Beauman, Sally (1982).
1052:, 13 January 1940, p. 9
1022:Encyclopædia Britannica
997:"Lady Constance Benson"
851:Encyclopædia Britannica
824:, 1 January 1940, p. 10
662:St Martin-in-the-Fields
582:The Taming of the Shrew
510:The Taming of the Shrew
474:. Among the women were
384:The Taming of the Shrew
324:
208:Godfrey Rathbone Benson
153:The Taming of the Shrew
974:, 3 January 1890, p. 4
886:Beauman, pp. 31 and 34
626:The School for Scandal
621:play of the same title
378:The Merchant of Venice
279:and was encouraged by
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177:The Merchant of Venice
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1035:"The Winter Garden",
689:The missing two were
632:She Stoops to Conquer
588:, in the title role.
576:, in the title role;
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1048:"Sir Frank Benson",
868:, 15 July 1881, p. 8
736:Sir Cedric Hardwicke
698:Troilus and Cressida
137:As Jack Absolute in
987:, 3 May 1916, p. 11
916:Parker, pp. 299–300
339:Stratford-upon-Avon
319:battle of the Somme
220:New College, Oxford
61:Stratford-upon-Avon
925:Beauman, pp. 30–31
904:Beauman, pp. 32–33
877:Beauman, pp. 27–28
650:civil list pension
584:as Petruchio; and
476:Lilian Braithwaite
216:Winchester College
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80:Lilian Braithwaite
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1077:978-0-19-212209-4
970:"Globe Theatre",
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716:William Armstrong
472:Harcourt Williams
366:The Winter's Tale
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565:bestowed a
549:St Martin's
541:Shaftesbury
488:Nancy Price
456:Oscar Asche
409:Richard III
343:James Agate
281:Ellen Terry
118:Early years
92:Nancy Price
76:Oscar Asche
1122:Categories
754:References
654:Kensington
638:The Rivals
567:knighthood
537:St James's
419:Richard II
165:Richard II
140:The Rivals
36:Benson as
1095:473894893
1050:The Times
1037:The Stage
985:The Times
939:The Times
866:The Stage
822:The Times
799:required)
615:based on
448:The Times
432:The Times
372:King John
329:In 1886,
310:Benson's.
303:The Times
262:The Stage
234:Euripides
229:Agamemnon
224:Aeschylus
617:Tennyson
563:George V
543:(1914),
539:(1910),
535:(1905),
531:(1901),
444:West End
349:and the
291:at the
272:Patience
239:Alcestis
1060:Sources
598:Henry V
586:Macbeth
533:Adelphi
518:Othello
212:Liberal
128:Henry V
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612:Becket
529:Comedy
516:, and
514:Hamlet
494:London
403:Hamlet
293:Lyceum
244:Apollo
40:, 1896
38:Hamlet
677:Notes
545:Court
434:was:
412:from
189:Romeo
1113:IMDb
1091:OCLC
1072:ISBN
953:and
695:and
635:and
486:and
470:and
387:and
369:and
98:and
1111:at
619:'s
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200:née
187:As
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126:As
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20:)
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